The busiest arteries of Benimaclet are drawn from east to west, They point to the sea although they sit proudly among an orchard much loved by the neighbors.. We are talking about the neighborhood with the densest and most active social fabric in Valencia, that is committed to the assembly organization, fiercely mobilizes against the Integrated Action Plan (PAI) that the Valencia City Council projects in the area and shouts slogans louder than anyone else on March 8. A few years ago we visited the Enric Navarro parallel street and now we do the same with Rafael Tramoyeres Street and its adjacent streets to discover a bookstore focused on critical thinking, a store that fights against the generation of waste on a daily basis and two classics of the neighborhood like the Terra and the Tulsa.
The distribution
— Rafael Tramoyeres, 8
Last year he opened the shutter The Delivery Girl in an old car workshop thanks to the micro-patronage campaign in which they met 32.000 euros to adapt the premises to the needs of a bookstore that, in addition to selling critically-reviewed books, organize talks, workshops, courses, book presentations and screenings. For example, conferences on political philosophy, Joan Fuster, the practice of journalism in Mexico or the women of Kurdistan, a course on the identity trap, a taller for a (re)think masculinity, the screening of a documentary on the migration situation on the Bosnian-Croatian border or the presentation of books on obstetric violence or the pantry kitchen. In the bookstore you will find narrative books in Catalan, or about sexual diversity, feminisms, ecology, Marxism, anarchism, anti-racism, global resistors or memory. It is to say, texts that give voice to the voiceless. Or slogans, printed on ethical shirts (made with sustainability criteria and respect for labor rights) with vindictive messages such as "Estima com vulgues" below the Geperudeta and the Moreneta kissing on the lips. In the children's section, princess trays. The Deliverer gives shelter, Besides, to other initiatives with which they work, like the platform For the Horta, the means of communication The Direct, la ONGD a world or the feminist cooperative Formigues liles. A project that moves in the collectivity and is organized horizontally to generate neighborhood and community.
UNDER FLOWERS
— Rafael Tramoyeres, 5
This neighborhood classic has been active for seventeen years, serving Italian food with an Argentine touch in a rustic and cozy place.. That's how it had to be, at the command of Under Flowers there is Gabriel, a Buenos Aires man of Italian descent who has spent almost half his life in Valencia and was amazed to tell us how, recently, one of the clients called him to show him the tattooed arm that proudly proclaimed his origins from lower Flores., the southern area of the conflictive Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Here the undisputed star is the wood-fired pizza prepared to order., like all starters, who drink from Italian and Argentine cuisines: carpaccio with arugula and parmesan, piadinas, baked provolone, Italian cheese boards and various empanadas (the typical Creole is essential), also cooked on firewood. And if you have room for dessert, here are two suggestions: tiramisu or Argentine pancake with dulce de leche.
TERRA NETA
— Rafael Tramoyeres, 10
Terra net is a store that is committed to environmental activism and a more social economy that minimizes the generation of waste. Because recycling is very good, but we should start by generating less waste by using products of non-animal origin, compostable and reusable that are manufactured locally respecting labor rights. Handmade if possible, and replacing plastic with other materials. In Terra Neta they offer alternatives for the home, they don't want to be an example of anything, but to encourage people to go on their way, without overwhelm, towards the progressive elimination of waste in their day-to-day life. Here the sandwiches are transported in a washable and reusable sandwich holder, the diapers are cloth, bioplastic toothbrushes, the toilet paper comes without wrapping and the soaps are handcrafted in Manises. And be careful, they warn, buying in bulk is great, but you also have to look, for example, the chemicals contained in the detergent. A part, they have feminine hygiene products like menstrual cups, and books, second-hand clothes for which you pay what you want (the money goes to an animal shelter) and a sewing machine that they leave at the disposal of the neighborhood. Terra Neta is also a cultural center where talks on eco-anxiety have been held, soap making workshops or an environmental book club. And if your dreadlocks need one support, this, it's your place too.
OLD NEIGHBORHOOD
— Rafael Tramoyeres, 5
Partner of Bajo Flores, old neighborhood It opened a year later as an Argentine steakhouse (the only one in Benimaclet) intended for an audience with greater purchasing power. Normal, Here, top-quality meat is served that comes from Argentina and is roasted with great skill on charcoal to pay tribute to the old traditional cuisine.. Steak reigns (entrecote), the one that for many, It is the best cut of the Argentine cow, which you can accompany with Creole empanadas and mid-high range Argentine wines. Padded chairs, elegant decoration, soundproofed premises... In Viejo Barrio they take care of the small details and it shows even in the olives, that come spiced by the gods from Malaga.
CASA KAMARATA
— Rafael Tramoyeres, 6
New blood has arrived at the old En Babia that has the idea of revitalizing the culture in the area between its eyebrows.. Clement and Loic organize an open mic session on Thursdays in which they invite everyone to express themselves with music, poetry, comedy, interpretation or any other artistic aspect. On Saturdays it is easy to find Casa Kamarata balboa classes or an acoustic concert that you can enjoy with a craft beer or one of their innovative cocktails, like the Pink dream, made with rum and raspberry. Until now they have been open during the afternoon and evening hours. (until 00h.), But in April they plan to open the range to also serve coffee in the morning and offer a quiet place to work in front of the screen.. They recently arrived, August 2021, but they have already put culture in one more gear in Rafael Tramoyeres.
NO MEZES & TAPAS
— Rafael Tramoyeres, 11
Meze is a selection of appetizers or small dishes served before the main meal in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. And the base of this new restaurant in Benimaclet called Ninda whose menu offers well-known flavors that have spread and found a home in Europe, like chickpea hummus or kebab, and other less popular proposals that you will want to try. Talk later, For example, del Midye Stuffed turco, mussels stuffed with rice, pine nuts and spices; the syrian muhammara, a cream of roasted peppers, nuts and olives; that hand is tandoori lamb, the most popular food at ancient Anatolian weddings made of lamb cooked at low temperature, bulgur and yogurt sauce. Many of the dishes are suitable for vegans and vegetarians. A feast of Ottoman gastronomy!
THE JUKET
— San Petrillo Baro, 9
Another veteran of the neighborhood is The Gramola, a cozy place with ten years of history that, since three, serves Nikkei food combining Peruvian and Japanese traditions. On the menu there are delicacies such as vegetable tabouleh with a good dollop of tzatziki, a citrus tomato salad, mango, sweet potato and corn or the Peruvian Lima causa of potato and chicken with lime and pico de gallo. The other leg that supports La Gramola is the cocktails. They carefully prepare a Japanese version of the Mexican Margarita made with tequila, lima, chalk, dehydrated orange and chili powder or a Thai Rum with homemade lemon. Besides, Every Sunday there is an improvisation theater jam with Guerrilla Impro (reservad, that fills) y, once a month, Concursong, a quiz in which they will ask you about song titles, interpreters, album covers, versions and years of publication.
FUSIONART
— Juan Giner, 5
Fusionart is an independent and self-managed cultural association that operates from 2010 in what was a printing machine workshop that was abandoned for almost ten years and, Of course, he ended up being a fox. Until Emanuel and Ángel Ismael took the reins to fill the space with culture of all colors. Twelve workshop leaders are in charge of teaching the theater classes, hatha yoga, canto, painting and drawing, hot (Brazilian popular folk dance), argentine tango, twerk, aerobic dances (zumba mix, fitness and reggaeton), flamenco, guitar, tarantela (folk dance of southern Italy) y pilates. The first trial class costs five euros and they will deduct it from your fee if you sign up in the end.. On Thursdays they broadcast live a program called Panorama cultureta (104.9 FM) with live music, cultural agenda and interviews; and on Fridays and Saturdays you can find a concert by the Congolese Doudou Nganga, gypsy jazz or Irish folk, improvisational or textual theater, acoustic fusion flamenco, a flea market (at Christmas), or an event that merges the body paint with graffiti and live music (that's how it all started). The room has been damaged after the pandemic, but it continues with the support of the public and students, The idea is to make culture accessible and, they hope so, offer free events again (to the cap). Your motto: Culture for everyone!
VEGETATE
— Juan Giner, 18
Vegetas is a vegan food store that makes its own products in the backroom workshop. This cooperative produces meat substitutes, dairy and fish using plant-based products such as tofu (that they make themselves by hand), seitan and pea or soy protein—which they also sell in bulk—with which they manage to imitate a fish fillet, a hamburger, a sausage or a chorizo. Why imitate meat if it is precisely what you want to avoid? Because they like the texture and flavor, Hector explains to us, What they don't like is animal abuse and the ecological implications that the consumption of meat and fish has on the planet.. Besides, People accustomed to eating meat and fish who want to approach veganism find it easier to do so with products similar to those they have eaten all their lives.. They also sell cheeses that are made with fermented almonds or cashews., potato starch for pizza dough, or coconut oil ideal for baking. And vegan sauces, and products designed for sweets, like aquafaba (the liquid that results from cooking chickpeas) that you beat to get cream, and biscuits that you take to the court, orange and chocolate, or carrot and nuts. “What food has not yet been successfully imitated?”?”, We maliciously asked Hector. He thinks about it a little, because almost everything is invented, but he finds the answer: the fried egg!
CUSTOM MADE
— Juan Giner, 13
La commanda is a bulk food store full of glass jars and bags that smells like the delicious mixture inside.: spices, legumes, seeds, test, flours, cereals, pastas, dried mushrooms, started, dried fruits, chocolate, soaps or shampoos. By principle, We try to ensure that the products are ecological and local., but it is not always possible. Walnuts for example, They are national, but with red rice of Asian origin it is impossible to strictly carry the local emblem. La Comanda also sells household cleaning products such as biodegradable dishwasher, for body hygiene such as deodorants in cardboard packaging and cosmetics.
TERRA
— San Petrillo Baro, 9
The Earth is the reference that most and best condenses Benimaclet's vindictive spirit. L’any 2000 planted a stake in this space with the firm intention of becoming a community meeting place for entities, associations and neighbors of the neighborhood. A refuge from struggles! The final objective is to generate dynamics that lead to social transformation, which he started doing very young, for example, promoting the Salvem L’Horta de Benimaclet platform that fought against the bite that the Ronda Nord hit the Benimaclet vegetable garden. It was born as a cooperative project with two sides, the social center and a bar organized as an assembly cooperative of which all the workers are members. Faithful to his philosophy as a social and political project, Earth has a charter that respects food sovereignty, cooked with organic products, of proximity and market that defend the Valencian culinary tradition, but they also leave room for innovation and other international foods that reflect the multicultural city that Valencia has become. Tapes, sandwiches and daily menus at popular prices that escape elitism under the idea that good cuisine is available to the whole world. The essential cultural milestones that they organize are the calçotada Ovidi Montllor and the alternative and popular fallas that have bet to recover the critical and combative tradition that once surrounded our party. They are also behind Ecomaclet, the market that every month fills Plaça de Benimaclet with organic agriculture for direct sale. The streets are ours and we have to appropriate them whenever we go up. The pandemic has inevitably slowed down cultural activity under the roof, but the Earth has been a nest of projections, tie, acoustic concerts, theatrical vermouths, discos and conversation groups in Valencian, and managed to crowd the Sporting de Benimaclet football field with 8.000 i 11.000 souls to celebrate their decades with the invaluable collaboration of top-level Valencian groups such as Obrint pas and La Gossa Sorda. Long live this icon of the protest movement in the neighborhood and in the city.
TULSA
— Juan Giner, 11
After Terra we go with another of the street classics, and Benimaclet in general. In March of 1999, Raúl and Jose took control of this cozy town house with its fireplace and corral (now inner courtyard) where his landlady was born. A few thousand kilometers from there, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the plot of the film develops The law of the street by Francis Ford Coppola, and in honor of her this bar was named where people come to drink beer., Reus vermouth, cassalla or herbero from the Sierra de Mariola. Before the pandemic, hamburger and vegetarian Mexican food tastings were held, but they passed away, Now they are back with the Tuesday Trivia, and the monthly exhibitions continue, the Crime Buddies Club live podcast show and Saturday concerts. Musicians of the stature of Lorena Álvarez have performed on the small corner stage of Tulsa, Alberto Montero, Doctor Divago, Julio Bustamante, Victor Ortiz (The Hurricanes), Víctor Coyote and The Mockers themselves, just singer and guitar camouflaged under another name that made them go unnoticed. What makes Tulsa special is that relaxed and informal atmosphere that is created when there is zero pretensions, I just want to have a good time listening to good music from the sixties that sounds like soul, rhythm and blues, psychedelia, garage and all the music that comes from them.
THE CARABASSER
— San Petrillo Baro, 35
A very northern tradition is hidden in a very Valencian name. At El Carabasser, pinchos reign supreme and the house's star product usually appears there., the one who gives it the name, the pumpkin. In this small corner of Benimaclet that benefits from the terrace you can order a fondue in which melted cheese sails inside a roasted pumpkin, vegan millet and pumpkin croquettes or millefeuille of the same, pumpkin. Leaving aside the pumpkin, They have a duck dumpling that is fixed on the counter, ajoarriero or curry rice samosas. Sixteen skewers made with care and dedication, many of them suitable for vegans. During confinement they had to reinvent themselves and incorporate takeaway dishes that, in the end, they have remained as another option: roasted chicken, vegan lasagna or pumpkin stuffed with tricolor quinoa, tempeh and artichokes, For example. And for dessert? The lemon trencadís made with lemon cream and dulce de leche, or the pistachio sin that we have been told very well about. Good skewers at an affordable price.
