Barese is a word you might overlook while ordering bread. It points to Bari, the port city in southern Italy whose focaccia has its own traditions. Genovese, attached to a Pinsa elsewhere on Pala Bakery’s menu, points hundreds of miles north toward the basil and pesto of Genoa.
Pala is a Roman-inspired panificio in West Buckhead, Atlanta, but the names in its food selection reach across Italy. Florence appears in a salami panini, Calabria in a chile-topped Pinsa, and Naples in the pastry counter. The places are not a decorative theme: each has a recognizable culinary connection to a food the bakery actually lists.
Bari Gives Focaccia a Southern Italian Accent
Bari sits on the Adriatic coast of Puglia, a region with an especially rich bread tradition. Focaccia barese is one of the city’s characteristic everyday foods. In a familiar regional preparation, tomatoes and olives sit on a round bread whose dough may include semolina and boiled potatoes.
