how long have you been in the restaurant business?
did you work for another chef prior to starting your own venture?

This year it will be 20 years that I work in a kitchen!
In my previous life I worked in theater production and later in music. Almost by accident I ended up cooking. I didn’t even know how to fry an egg at that time, and I learned with my mother, she taught me to use the best tool for cooking, which is intuition.
Since my previous profession had ceased to make sense, I to second my intuition so I constantly asked myself this and questioned all my actions. That reflection set a very solid base in my business philosophy.
I have never worked with other cooks, nor in a professional kitchen. I am absolutely self-taught and I have invented my own way of being in this profession.

how do you like to work on your own?

On the one hand, being an independent entrepreneur gives one the freedom to do things the way one wants and think, setting the rules of the game and the route to be taken. But for this you have to assume all the responsibility that this entails. Sometimes this becomes a very heavy weight to carry. Especially when your activity depends on the work of a team and that team depends on you.

how did you see the business change over the last 5 years and in the last year?

We enjoyed a substantiol growth, almost all of us had opened new concepts and had created very heavy business structures and investments. Then, last year events have represented an unprecedented menace for our sector that is continuing; we are all vunerable and may not survive.

how much does your business depend on tourism?

I live and work on an island with an economy that depends almost 100% on tourism; our activity is not spared from this. In the summer, 80% of our clients would typically be foreigners.
The pandemic has reversed these figures, we have recovered the connection with the local Spanish public; not being able to travel, they also have become more connected with the local offering.

do changes in the chefs world need to reflect changes in the patrons world?

In recent years we have experiencing the splendor of chefs, we were the new rock stars.
Cooks were given a voice but, in many occasions, it was about artificial fireworks, we stayed on the surface and did not take advantage of a historical opportunity that we had to be able to generate positive changes in our environment, to transform and improve the relationship with food that our society had.
To modify negative practices in agribusiness …
Of course,  some cooks are very committed cooks and have generated revolutions in their community, but I think we should have been more ambitious. Now it is difficult to predict how we will be and how we can act as the current objective is simply to survive.

what kind of customers come to your restaurant and has their attitude towards food changed over the years? what do think customers want today? how do you see the younger generations and what are their aspirations?

We are fortunate to have wonderful clients, sensitive people who seek truth and honesty.
This pandemic has greatly changed patrons’ attitude. They are especially sensitive, they value everything much more than before, they feel grateful.
This has motivated me in a very forceful in pondering over the true meaning of our activity, which is to RESTORE the body and soul of people. I have realized how important our activity is at least in Mediterranean countries, where there is a strong culture of bars & restaurants and that, I dare say, are the heart of the cities.

you were offering ‘experiences’ before the word became ‘trendy’, how are you updating them now?

For us it has always been very important to offer more than just a meal.
Welcoming people into a small mountain village in the interior of the island, into a small house with an unalterated structure, the care of all the details – each object, each ingredient, our clothes, our wines, everything.- all is very personal. Behind everything there is a person, there is a soul and a story.
These cumulative actions and attentions are important in allowing us to convey a message: who we are, where we come from and where we are going. It help us to maintain our identity, despite the strong erosion suffered as consequence of tourism and globalization. It provides security.

how were you able to ‘shelter’ your suppliers ecosystems during the pandemic?

In a year without tourism, we have stocked wine.
Wineries have a lot of unsold wine and we have created a brand of Mallorca local and natural wines varieties. Given the impossibility open the restaurant for a long time, we set up a store, which we are currently launching online that offers Mallorcan crafts and wine. It is being very successful so far.

what is your view on the future of the food business? what needs to change and what is concretely changing?

This pandemic is generating a very positive change in consumers, they are awakening and understanding the importance of the primary sector. The transformation capacity that one eating decisions have.
In the island we have become aware of the narrow mindedness and the fragility that this implies.

In few months the producers – who were once invisible – have been empowered and have gained notoriety. I hope this collaboration and exchange will continue once the pandemic is over.
If so, we will be able to provide continuity to a sustainable artisanal agricultural model that had difficulties to to survive and was practically dying due to pressure from industrial food conglomerates.