Bacán Pizzas de Autor

Bacán Pizzas de Autor sits on Plaça son Bordoy in Campanet, an inland village spread across a hilltop at the foot of the Serra de Tramuntana. From the terrace the view runs out over the Raiguer country to the mountain range behind it; indoors there is a dining room for the cooler months. The name is a promise, and the house keeps it. Pizzas de Autor means pizzas with a signature of their own rather than a standard menu. There are a good two dozen compositions listed, each with its own name and its own topping. If you cannot decide, you order two of them half and half. What Bacán means by Pizzas de Autor The names on the menu are not marketing labels, they are a family tree. The Nonna Rossa carries goat cheese, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and bacon; the Nonna Maria arrives on a white alioli base with prawn tail, cuttlefish, ricotta and spinach. Then come Tía Gaby, Tío Alfredo, Sofía & Victor — half the family is on the menu. The Argentine humour is part of it. The Messi-as is topped with Italian mortadella, pistachio, confit tomato and rocket, the Maradó with meatballs, trampó, rocket and parmesan. The Fugazza picks up the onion pizza of Buenos Aires: a white alioli base, white and red onion, spring onion, feta and green olives, with no tomato at all. And then there is the island. The Tía Gaby combines marinated onion and spinach with butifarrón and Mallorcan sobrassada, plus chimichurri and piparras — this is a pizza that could only exist here. Trampó, the Mallorcan raw chopped salad, tops several of the pizzas, and the house chimichurri is served on the side so that it does not cook. Flor, Rodrigo and the obrador Behind Bacán stand Florencia and Rodrigo, two Argentine cooks and the descendants of Italian and Spanish immigrants. They started in an old village house in Campanet, with a wood-fired oven and their first pizzas. Their grandmothers, Rossa and María, cooked for the whole family, and pizza day was a celebration every time — sometimes thin, sometimes thick, with vegetables, meat, potatoes, whatever was to hand. That freedom is what the menu rests on today, and both nonnas are on it. The work happens in the house's own obrador. The doughs are made there daily and rest for at least a full day before they go into the oven. You can choose thin and crisp, airy focaccia, wholemeal or gluten-free, and any pizza can be topped entirely with plant-based ingredients. The toppings are made in house too: bolognese, pulled pork, smoked chicken, the vegetables, the Tártara Bacán and the vegan cheese. Baking happens on stone, which is what gives the thin base its bite. Vegan, gluten-free and everything in between The plant-based menu here is not an afterthought. There are vegan empanadas of mushroom, spinach and red pepper, vegan garlic bread, tacos and quesadillas. Among the pizzas, the Green Nataly carries vegan tuna made from textured soy with nori seaweed, the Green Sofi rests on a sweet potato base with truffled artichoke, shiitake and hazelnuts, and the BBQ Soja brings together pineapple, jalapeños and black beans. The gluten-free dough is enriched with turmeric and pepper; tacos and desserts come gluten-free as well. Before the pizza, the picoteo is worth it: Argentine empanadas, nachos, quesadillas and the Ensalada Fresca, a long line of fresh ingredients with the house Tártara dressing. To finish, the tiramisù that most guests share, or in summer a scoop from the ice cream cabinet. Campanet, a village off the route Campanet belongs to the Raiguer and sits between Inca, sa Pobla, Búger and Selva — far enough from the coastal resorts that most holidaymakers never lay eyes on it. A few thousand people live here, the lanes of the old centre are narrow, the baroque parish church stands on the Plaça Major, and the weekly market is held there too. Two natural landmarks lie on the doorstep: the Coves de Campanet with their fine dripstone formations, and the Fonts Ufanes, a natural monument where after heavy rainfall the groundwater bursts out of the earth in the middle of a holm oak wood. Both are a few minutes away by car, as is the Ermita de Sant Miquel. Then a pizza on Plaça son Bordoy — this is exactly what the place is for.