a la plancha. /æ lə ˈplæntʃə; Spanish a la ˈplantʃa/ adjective. 1. (in Spanish cookery) grilled on a metal plate. In Spanish cooking, a la plancha, pronounced ah-la-plahn-chah, means grilled on a metal plate. Recipes that are a la plancha are traditionally cooked on a round, flat metal plate, originated in Spain, which is considered to be the first flattop grill.

Nestled in the heart of the Balinese landscape where the jungle meets the ocean, La Plancha opened its doors in 2010 and was the original (and the first) Chiringuito styled restaurant and bar in Seminyak. The brightly coloured, vintage inspired structure was designed to bring something different to Bali.

Having been raised on the beaches of Spain surrounded by Chiringuito’s, the concept of La Plancha arose from the desire to bring a part of (creator and founder of the LYD Bali Group), Gonzalo’s childhood and culture from Spain to Bali whilst maintaining and respecting the natural beauty of Bali.

A Chiringuito (also known by other nicknames in Spanish) is a small enterprise, usually a bar, selling mainly drinks and tapas, sometimes meals in a more or less provisional building, often on a beach.

“Gonzalo was surfing Seminyak with the kids at that point and he loved the landscape! He’d be surfing and our son Yvann would be riding horses on that stretch of the beach. We feel in love with that area and Gonzalo wanted to bring a touch of his Spanish beach upbringing and integrate it into the Balinese landscape and lifestyle. At this time, we didn’t have money at all! La Plancha was built with the most basic design in mind and on a budget. It was built from the ground up as a family. Gonzalo was building and the kids were painting and riding horses” – Sandra

The hand-painted up-cycled coloured wood of the building was a taste of the original Spanish Chiringuito.

La Plancha was the concept and creation of the food of Spain.

The brightly coloured beanbags combined with the traditional Balinese umbrellas saw the integration of the two cultures and La Plancha was born.

With a firm determination to bring something different to Bali nightlife, La Plancha beach parties moved away from the techno and house music scene that seemed to dominate the speakers of other beach bars and instead developed a concept and reputation for bringing the best of old school vintage music and themed parties. Before long, the old school music and combined Spanish and Balinese beach spirit that La Plancha was built around saw their parties became a destination event and within just one year of opening its doors,  La Plancha began to make its debut world-wide in various “Top Ten Beach Bars In The World” lists and launched the family hand-built “Chiringuito” into the stratosphere. It went viral.

“It was considered the coolest place in Bali. It was inclusive. Just beautiful happy people from all ages and walks of life were welcome at La Plancha. No- one was too old, too young, too rich or too poor to come join the La Plancha Beach Parties. From that point on, tourists from all over the world and in particular Australian’s were asking when was the next party because they wanted to plan their flights and holidays around each of the La Plancha parties.”

“All we really wanted was to bring the spirit and landscape of two places we loved so dearly, (Bali  & Spain) to life. We never wanted to create anything concrete. We create always within the pages of the landscape and the original Bali spirit. In everything we have done, we have strived towards ultimately respect to the Balinese and the Bali Island because this is the beauty of the place.”  – Gonzalo & Sandra

Within just one short year, the southern end of the Seminyak beach was littered with similar concepts and has continued to grow in to what we know it as today… a sea of brightly coloured bean bags and replica beach bar concepts.