For News and Coffee’s Pablo Pardo, People Are at the Center of His Work
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, hospitality consultant Pablo Pardo combines his creative eye with years of manning restaurants to help launch some of Barcelona's most frequented spots.
For someone who has helped open so many restaurants across Barcelona, Pablo Pardo doesn’t spend too much time in them. Instead, he prefers to go on walks. “When I walk, I get to know the city," he says during our call over Zoom. “I see what people consume and what they like. This is a good way for me to get ideas."
For Pablo, whose business card reads “hospitality consultant,” ideas are part and parcel to his work. Anyone who’s spent time with him knows that he’s an ideas machine, someone who can throw out a genius concept as if it had been obvious. It’s no wonder that restaurateurs all over the city - from the likes of Rooftop Smokehouse to Portugal-born Boa Bao - have sought his help to turn their visions into reality. This is a guy who, backed up by years of restaurant management expertise (and observant strolls), can capture what makes people tick and turn them into tangible, enjoyable experiences.
After years of working behind-the-scenes through his hospitality consulting group, Mise en Place, Pablo finally took the spotlight earlier this year with News and Coffee, a breakthrough concept that takes a spin on the traditional newsstand with its independent magazines and popularly-priced specialty coffee. He shares his journey below.
You were born and raised in Argentina. What did you enjoy doing, and how does that connect to what you do today?
I’ve always had some kind of contact with people. After high school, I started to sell stuff on the street. I really learned how to sell, and I even built my own team. After a year, I ended up saving enough money to come to Spain. I came here with my two best friends, who are luckily still here.
How were your beginnings in Spain?
It was really difficult to find a job because I had moved during the crisis. I was “illegal” for three ½ years! The only job I could get was in hospitality. I didn’t know anything about it, but I had the will to learn, to do something different, and to meet people. At the time, my English was terrible, but I was lucky that I had some experience after being in the Argentinian Air Force for three years. That definitely helped me land a job. About six months in, I got my first job at a super posh restaurant near H’ospitalet. What happened was, I approached a restaurant owner and said, “I don’t want a salary, I just want to learn. Just teach me, give me food, and if in one month you don’t see that I’m necessary, you can let go. But I want to show you that I want to be here and learn.” The owner said nobody had ever approached him that way before.
After working there, I spent six months working as an assistant for a millionaire in a private yacht in Italy, Greece, and Malta. Then I came back to Barcelona and started working in a hotel for three years. That helped me learn all the procedures to run a five-star hotel or business. Eventually, the owners of Terraza Martinez got to know me and said, “I need a guy like you!” because at the time, I used to have long hair. Obviously, because I was working at a five-star hotel, I had to tie my hair and cover any tattoos because it wasn’t the norm. But the guys at Martinez said, “come and be yourself.” And that just flipped a switch. I could just be myself; I didn’t have to hide, and that changed something.
Martinez was lots of hard work. It was nine months of a full restaurant/director position with 45 employees under me. I learned so much there.
“Sometimes your concept can be really good for you — but we make the mistake of thinking that what we like will be liked by others. You need to find a balance.”
After your stint at Martinez, you started your work as a “hospitality consultant”. What does the job of a hospitality consultant entail?
I specialize in opening places. I’m in charge of looking for staff, helping with the concept, developing ideas, and looking for locations, for around six to nine months until the place starts running. I found this new model for hospitality while at Martinez. I met a lot of people and knew a lot were moving to the city to open their own restaurant, so I saw the opportunity to start this line of work. Nobody does what I do here. Eventually, I formed my service consulting company, Mise en Place. There, customers can take whatever they need. Some people only need me for finding a place, some for developing the concept, looking for the equipment and staff… It’s a tailor-made service.
You’ve been able to join quite a number of teams. Does it ever feel like you’re taking a risk before joining certain ones? Do you always ensure that the concepts you do are something you align with?
The good part about my job is that I can choose which concepts to join. Luckily, now, I have the freedom to say yes or no. I do sometimes say no if it’s not my kind of thing. I have to feel it; I need to trust in the project. The “human” feeling or quality is important because what happens is, once I leave, all the work I’ve done there kind of just disappears.
PABLO WITH THE ROOFTOP SMOKEHOUSE TEAM
What are some elements of a good restaurant?
Of course, the concept and place are important, but I think every place is made by people. The key in any project or product is trusting the team. If you have a place where the food is no good, but the staff are nice or kind, you can say: well, the place is cool, the food isn’t, but the waiters make me feel special.
In my past projects, I used to bring my own team, but now I learned to be more side-by-side with the staff of each new project and trust them. Everyone has something unique to give. Give them the ability to grow.
Talking about concepts - what’s your creative process like when developing a concept for a project?
Thanks to working with so many different people, I’ve opened my mind to thinking of new things that can be the next fashion. Instagram has been a really great portal to see new things. I get a lot of inspiration from there. But I’ve also learned that people like comfort. You know when you try something that reminds you of your childhood? I look for that. What I do at News and Coffee is the same. I try to bring to people that memory of when you would go to the kiosk as a child. At some point, everything is like a cycle. In the end, we just need to adapt what we used to make or do before into a new style.
@justmepablo: Last weekend I was rocking again with this guy @antonio.machete for @rooftopsmokehouse awesome like always ✌🏻🍽🍷🔪Do you think that’s what made News and Coffee such a hit?
The concept of a newspaper kiosk has always been “with” us. But this concept has also never been upgraded. It was always the same. To survive, people started to sell lots of things in their kiosk to see how they could make things better, but without any thought. People aren’t looking for candies or souvenirs, they’re looking for something different. What we do is bring the old idea of a newspaper kiosk to this new time — that’s it. Obviously, we’ve added coffee, but people actually come cause we’ve upgraded it by having a really beautiful magazine selection. I don’t think I made something radical, I just brought something familiar back and adjusted it to our time.
It’s also just a happy experience. For example, we did something different by adding music so that when people come, they feel happy! They sing, they dance, they get coffee, and grab a magazine. It makes me think, why can’t other shops be like this too? It’s something to think about.
“I've learned that people like comfort. You know when you try something that reminds you of your childhood? I look for that. What I do at News and Coffee is the same.”
Right. You know, News and Coffee is one of those concepts that’s always been there – but at the same time, almost invisible in a way.
When I opened News and Coffee, other people said “Ah! I thought of making this!” — but… you didn’t, no? I always try to look out for these “easy” things we see everyday. Sometimes you have something special right in front of you, but out of fear or laziness, you don’t do it. I’m a guy that, when I want something, I go for it. I don’t waste time; I’m more action-oriented. Sometimes you just need to be that way or else things don’t happen. The reason why News and Coffee wasn’t a concept before is because no one decided to act on it.
When exactly did you get the idea to put up the kiosk?
I go on a lot of walks. I can spend hours just walking on the street. Barcelona is amazing because you always see something new — I do, even after 18 years of living here. When I walk, I see what people consume, what makes them happy, and for me this is a good way to think of new ideas. News and Coffee was born this way. I was learning how to roast coffee at the time, and I went on a walk and saw that there was a news stand for sale. Boom. I had the idea. I thought, wow, I have to do something here.
I think the only way to get inspiration is when you move around. When you know the city. The way to make things nicer for people is to know them and what they want. Sometimes your concept can be really good for you — but we make the mistake of thinking that what we like will be liked by others. You need to find a balance. And the only way to find this is to know the people — and, again, back to that concept of comfort and memories. My father used to say, “let’s do something together.” And that something, for him, was to take us brothers walking around the city. So when I made News and Coffee, it took me back to when I would walk around Buenos Aires as a child. Somehow, I made a connection to my memories this way. And I do the same for my daughters; I make them walk around with me too.
“My challenge is to simply learn everything.”
The opening of the kiosk was kind of turbulent because of COVID. What was it like to operate through those challenges?
We decided to make this campaign called #ThereGoesPablo. Although we were allowed to be open the whole time, we decided to close the kiosk because it didn’t make sense to be open when there was no foot traffic. Instead, we decided to make the concept stronger. We chose to take the magazines and coffee and deliver it directly to people’s homes by bike. Then in April and May during fase uno (phase one of reopening the city), there were massive lines since all the coffee shops were still closed. We were the only ones with a flat white. It’s not so crazy now, but with a strong concept we have new customers that we’ve been able to keep.
Are there some things you wish you had known before opening News and Coffee?
Well, I wasn’t so into the world of magazines before, but I’m learning a lot now. But that’s something I noticed with every concept I do: my challenge is to simply learn everything. I learn a lot from the people I work with as well. For me, that’s really important. I can’t stop learning. When you stop learning, that’s when the project stops moving, in any direction. Learning is a way to develop more things!
GAUTIER, YAEL, AND PABLO
Where do you want to take it next?
We really feel we've put something into motion with News and Coffee; there's a story common to more places than our home in Barcelona. We've been really busy lately figuring out where it could take us, and how we could make it while preserving the magic... to be continued, soon, hopefully!
And I also want to keep making things. News and Coffee is not just a kiosk, it’s a concept, and within it, we can make new concepts, too. We want to develop a roasting place, for example, or turn it into a platform for newly-launched magazines. It can be a lot of things. But again, it’s all about the people behind it. I’m thankful for my team — David, Gautier, Yael, and others, like you, who make it different. With a great team, it becomes really interesting because it can keep expanding and growing beyond just a newsstand. ♦
To learn more about News and Coffee, you can follow their Instagram here. BIG, big thank you to Alex Froloff for the beautiful pictures!