Anima e Farina

Anima e Farina is an Italian focaccia bar with its own wine shop, a few steps from the Plaça Major in the old town of Pollença. The name translates as soul and flour, and that is not an empty phrase: the baking is done in house every day, and focaccia here is not a side dish but the main event. The house is not especially fond of the word restaurant and prefers to call itself a gathering place. That fits. In the morning it works as a coffee bar, at midday as a quick and good address for a filled focaccia, in the evening as a wine bar with aperitivo. It was founded by a Roman who lived outside Italy for a long time, together with two Italian business partners. Some of the ingredients come straight from Italy, some from the island. What goes on the focaccia at Anima e Farina The focaccia list is unusually long, and every version carries its own name. The Mortazza puts mortadella together with burrata cream and pistachio pesto. The SPQR is a nod to Rome: porchetta, semi-dried tomatoes, scamorza and sautéed friarielli. The Fuoco goes for spicy Italian sobrassada, taleggio, honey, rocket and walnuts, the Boscaiola for mixed mushrooms, smoked mozzarella and truffle sauce. The Vikinga brings smoked salmon, burrata cream and avocado, the Montagna bresaola, rocket and parmesan, the Finocchiona the fennel salami it is named after, with buffalo mozzarella and pistachio pesto. If you eat without meat, there is the Pecorina with artichokes and truffle pecorino, and a fully vegan version with artichokes, hummus and semi-dried tomatoes. Pizza is on the list as well, though in the Roman manner: rectangular and by the slice rather than round. The oven also turns out lasagne, a vegetable lasagne and parmigiana di melanzane. To start, the crisp pane carasau with bresaola, stracciatella and semi-dried cherry tomatoes is worth it, or the baked provolone with mushrooms, or the aperitivo de la casa with focaccia, cheeses, cold cuts, pesto, pickled onions and olives. For sharing there are boards of cheese and cold cuts in three grades, plus three salads, among them the Ortolana with burrata cream, artichokes and walnuts. Wine bar and wine shop The second half of the concept sits on the shelves. The focus is on Italian and Spanish wines, with French and Mallorcan bottles alongside. This is expressly a wine shop and not merely a wine list: you can take a bottle away instead of emptying it here. There is tasting every day, accompanied by Italian, Spanish and Mallorcan artisan cheeses, and the selection gets explained rather than simply put in front of you. Anyone who does not know much about wine is therefore in good hands. Dolci, coffee and aperitivo The dolci are made in house too. The sfogliatella napoletana is filled with ricotta cream and orange and is the most characterful choice on the sweet list. Beside it stand cheesecake, a pistachio cheesecake, mini cannoli with ricotta and pistachio cream, chocolate cake and a pistachio tiramisu. Pistachio runs as a thread through the whole house in any case, from the pesto on the focaccia into the coffee cup. Because coffee is taken seriously here, from espresso through cortado to cappuccino, plus a latte with pistachio. In the evening Italian craft beer on tap, prosecco, Aperol spritz and vermouth join in, Mallorcan vermouth among them. Breakfast is served as well, and everything can be taken away. Pollença around it Pollença lies in the north of the island, and its old town is among the most self-contained on Mallorca: narrow natural-stone lanes, the Plaça Major at the centre, the Calvari steps above. Carrer d'Alcúdia leads away from the square, and Anima e Farina sits far enough off it to stay quiet but close enough that you come across it while wandering. It is a good six kilometres down to the sea at Port de Pollença — one more reason to spend the afternoon up here rather than at the water.