Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/235863
PHOTO: COLMADO QUILEZ store snapshot Barcelona's Colmado Quilez This 75-year-old Spanish specialty food destination offers an Old World experience with an array of new finds. BY DEBORAH MOSS I n a town known for its new-age cuisine made famous by chefs like Ferran Adrià, one of Barcelona's top specialty food stores, Colmado Quilez, is still operating in a decidedly Old World way. In business for 75 years, the larger of its two shops is located on a busy street corner on the posh Rambla de Catalunya in the Eixample neighborhood; the second, in Sant Cugat del Vallès, a northern municipality of Barcelona. A brief history… Established in 1908 as a candy store, the business was transformed into a colmado, or a general grocery store, in 1915. When it was purchased by the Quilez family in 1938, the store became Colmado Quilez. In 1974, the Lafuente family, known for its wineries and specialty food stores, took over the business and managed not only to maintain its identity as a traditional grocery but also to steer it in a new direction: selling top-quality gourmet products, including cheeses, sweets, cured Ibérico hams and sausages, premium preserved goods and wines. With floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with gourmet goods, including the family's own product line, Europe's largest selection of whiskeys (more than 1,000 varieties) and a mouthwatering collection of hanging Spanish jamons, it remains one of Spain's most distinguished specialty food stores. 128 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com