The Bp Lab club is the harbour of flavours

With visionary cocktails and migrant flavours, the BP Lab is the experimental heart of good living in Bari.

There is a secret geography running through Bari, an invisible artery connecting the suburbs to the new centres of urban creativity. This is how Bar Project was born, among the revitalised warehouses of the Iapigia district, with the subterranean but precise idea that good drinking and eating could also be cultural practices, as well as everyday pleasures. It was here that Claudio Lepore, entrepreneur and trainer, sowed his vision more than fifteen years ago: to create an ecosystem of taste that combined training, craftsmanship, hospitality and culture.

Today that seed has become a solid, pulsating reality, which has found its landing place in the side of Madonnella that breathes directly on the Pane e Pomodoro beach. It is called BP Lab, and it is the synthesis of a path made up of research, contamination and people. The lab is the creative arm of Bar Project, where every week, from Thursday to Sunday, cocktails, international flavours, live music and visual installations mix. A contemporary agora, where taste meets art and conviviality becomes experience.

The Ethnic Lab project for an ethnic cuisine in Bari

At BP Lab, the kitchen is entrusted to Ana Estrela, cook and president of the Origens association. Her Ethnic Cook project has found a permanent home here: a space of cultural contamination, where cooking becomes language, a welcoming gesture, song and meditation. His is a cuisine that has lived many lives, that is not afraid of differences and indeed celebrates them in every dish.

Ethnic Lab’s tasting menu offers a journey through distant gastronomic traditions, stitched together by Ana’s expert hand. It starts with the Samosa, a triangle of phyllo dough filled with vegetables, crispy and spicy, and then meets the Hummus, a velvety chickpea and tahini soup, which speaks with an Arabic voice and Mediterranean accents.

We cross over to Asia with Gaeng Gai Kati, chicken with coconut milk and curry served with basmati rice, a dish that warms like a hug. From Libya comes the Tajun Jubhen, a baked preparation of cheese and vegetables, where one recognises the comfort food of hot climates.

Then we fly to Brazil with Coxinha, a chicken-filled choux pastry patty, shaped like a small leg, and close with Alloco, an Ivorian snack of fried ripe plantain, sweet and salty at the same time, perfect to accompany a sip and a chat.

Much more than a mixology bar in Bari

The drinks menu is born from a desire to transcend traditional boundaries, spanning the sparkling, wine and beer worlds, with a deep focus on the quality of ingredients. Spirits meet fermented, superfood and nutraceutical components. It is not just about alcohol: it is a sensory experience that can also be good for you. Low-alcohol, no-alcohol cocktails are designed to dialogue with food, becoming an integral part of an ongoing experimentation.

Among the most evocative proposals, Chega de Saudade, inspired by what is considered the first bossa nova song, smells of Brazilian nostalgia and is paired with the spicy, warm flavours of South America. Thai Sour delivers fresh, pungent notes with a Thai twist that balances acidity and sweetness. Aztec Soup is a tribute to Mexico, with a rich, enveloping blend. Finally, Prime Vera, a cocktail celebrating the arrival of spring, brings a green explosion to the glass with its delicate balance of herbaceous and fruity.

Training as cultural practice

But Bar Project is not only conscious consumption: it is above all training. With over fifteen years of activity, the school has trained hundreds of professionals in the kitchen, bar, lounge and hospitality sectors, creating a new generation of operators in the horeca world, more attentive, more prepared, more aware.

Workshops, master classes, cocktail experiences, laboratories: knowledge is transmitted as experience, even to tourists who want to discover the flavours of the Mediterranean with those who know them well. The courses are tailor-made, guided by professionals who speak the languages of the world and passionately teach the techniques of good making.

In a fast-paced world, Bar Project resists. It does so by cooking, teaching, mixing, listening. And every day it creates a space where good things are made, learned, enjoyed. Slowly, together