Opening a restaurant in a pandemic: Barcelona Bistro Bar takes a leap of faith
Barcelona Bar Bistro opened in early May for carry-out. (Photos courtesy of Barcelona Bar Bistro)
When the coronavirus pandemic led government leaders to close down restaurants, bars and a wide array of other businesses to limit the spread of the deadly virus that grips us, many if not most food and drink establishments quickly shifted to a carry-out and curbside model to try and ride out the shutdown.
Two months later, some are doing well and others continue to struggle. Very few new restaurants have dared to open in the midst of a mass shutdown, but Maria Clementson, who goes by the nickname “Alba,” took a daring leap of faith to open her new Spanish concept, Barcelona Bistro Bar.
The truth is, she’d been working toward opening almost since she arrived in Louisville from Barcelona two years ago – she previously was a voice actress who did voice-over work for actresses such as Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Julianne More and Lisa Kudrow – with a planned grand opening in April. Naturally, those plans went awry thanks to the effects of COVID-19 and a tanking economy. But in early May, she decided to open up shop as a carry-out concept with a limited menu – with no existing customer base and a limited menu.
“When you have been working hard on a project for so long and in so many areas and ways,” Clementson tells Hello Louisville, “you feel the need to open because you need to see your ‘baby born’ after all this gestation. Basically, we trusted in the project and thought that with the proper health measures, we could open carry out. So here we are and we are very happy with the outcome.”
Pastel de Pescado y Gambas is just one of the Spanish dishes Maria “Alba” Clementson has brought to Louisville with her new restaurant Barcelona Bistro Bar.
The fare offered at Barcelona Bar Bistro is traditional Spanish with a few twists and turns to appeal to a Kentucky audience. From a Spanish omelet to lomo encebollado, or country-style boneless ribs in onion gravy, there’s something for just about any palate.
“I was trying to figure out what Americans would like to eat from the huge diversity of Spanish food, observing what tastes they may find weird or lovely,” Clementson says. “Also, I was trying to understand what of my ingredients would be easy to find and adapt my recipes to them keeping the closest taste” to authentic Spanish versions.
Once she narrowed down her dishes, she set out to find the perfect spot, finally landing in a “cottage” in Jeffersontown, located at 10415 Taylorsville Road.
Naturally, part of the opening process was to add safety measure due to coronavirus. Clementson and her staff are prepping and cooking with masks to prevent air contact with the food and washing hands frequently at 100 degrees for at least 20 seconds. Customers can come into the restaurant for carryout if wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, per government’s directives.
Opening a restaurant in normal times is a challenge, but opening in the midst of a deadly pandemic that has left millions jobless and set the economy back to its lowest point in decades makes it seem like an impossible mission. But Clementson is looking at the positives while looking forward to fully opening, with an expanded menu.
Maria “Alba” Clementson was a voice actress in her hometown of Barcelona, Spain.
“For me, the mandatory soft opening due to the circumstances has a positive side,” she says. “It meant that it gave me time to adjust and adapt my menu and take care of details that probably in a normal situation would have been more difficult because of the high demand, time and stress. We are having fantastic feedback from my clients, and I am making the most of this quiet moment for taking care of other cosmetic details in the restaurant.”
Additionally, for her, life and good food simply go hand in hand. She relates that growing up in Barcelona, she learned the culinary arts even as she was learning to speak. Life meant hours every day in markets, procuring fresh ingredients, and then in the kitchen to prepare delicious family meals.
In Spain, cooking comes with a sense of pride, one she plans to bring to Barcelona Bistro Bar.
“As adults, it is common to get together to cook and even compete to see who cooks the best dish, always accompanied by a good Spanish wine,” Clementson says. “Therefore I thought it would be a good idea to approach bringing Spain to Louisville and enjoy together in this wonderful city one of the great pleasures of life: eating.”
Look for other dishes at Barcelona such as Ensaladilla BBB (a Catalan-style Russian salad); Albondigas en Salsa de Almendra (meatballs in almond sauce); Pastel de Pescado y Gambas (fish and shrimp cake), and Lasaña Boloñesa (traditional lasagna Bolognese). For a little Kentucky flare, check out the Babà al Bourbon, a sponge cake drenched in bourbon syrup.
