Els 4 Gats: "We have returned to the essence of Catalan cuisine and we will not move from here"

BarcelonaIt was during the pandemic that the Ferré family realized things had to change. “Sometimes without realizing it, inertia takes you to a place you don't want to be. When we stopped, we had time to think and that's when we realized we had lost the essence that my father had set,” explains Sílvia Ferré. She is the owner of the iconic Gothic restaurant Els 4 Gats together with her three brothers Lluís, Ivan, and Òscar. Four siblings to tame Els 4 Gats.

“Okay, we are in a tourist spot. And our history is an attraction. But without realizing it, we were adapting to them.” And she gives examples of the “little things” they had been doing. Removing the contrasts of sweet and savory, which many foreigners don't like, or eliminating dishes they didn't order, like rabbit, pig's trotters, or tripe. But all that has now changed. “We have returned to the essence of traditional Catalan cuisine and we are not moving from here. Pig's trotters are back, now we make broths...”. And little by little, the local public has also responded thanks to word of mouth. Sílvia Ferré is particularly excited to have recovered the audience that goes to the Palau de la Música, who used to book after the show. "There are days when you look at the room and it's a beautiful sight".

Ferré clarifies that it's not that “no one associated Els 4 Gats with sushi". "But we had strayed a bit and the local public, when there is a lot of tourism, withdraws. It's automatic, we retreat,” she says. Besides changing the menu, they stopped making other concessions. “Everyone is welcome, but we don't adapt. The hours are what they are. You don't come to eat at 11.” The establishment has the first two rooms, which they call the tavern, which functions as an informal bar, with simple dishes, which is very full between meals. In the inner room, it functions as a restaurant.

They looked for workers who would fit into what was to be the new era. “We changed the staff. Important figures in the structure are all from here.” The director is Eugeni Escola Serrano and the head chef is Vicenç González. Both do a clean and efficient job. They have also made an effort to explain to the dining room staff that Catalan is key. “We try to get all the staff to understand Catalan. There are some basics, a few words. People appreciate the effort. Service is very important.” And they passed on to them the knowledge of the cuisine they serve. “The waiters must be able to explain what it is,” he states.

Sílvia Ferré admits that criticism would hurt them. “It hurts you when you treat a restaurant with care and they tell you in a derogatory way that it is “for tourists”. People who sometimes haven't even set foot in the place. But the prejudice is already installed.” The family is satisfied with having made this change and believes that the culinary bar has been raised. “The cuisine is what makes many people say ‘I didn't expect that’. It makes us happy to see how they tell us they liked it and that they will return.” While Sílvia Ferré explains all this, we are in the imposing dining room of the restaurant, with a piano on one side, which they play every night, and a large flower arrangement. We share an esqueixa, a monkfish tail with potatoes that are heavenly, a veal cheek, and a millefeuille of cream and chocolate. She shows me the table where Scarlett Johansson sat in Woody Allen's film Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). “People used to ask for Scarlett's table. Bardem's, however, no one has ever asked for.

The father's legacy

The history of Els 4 Gats begins on June 12, 1897. Pere Romeu, Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas and Miquel Utrillo inaugurate the restaurant, emulating Paris's Le Chat Noir. They are predicted a not very promising future, hence the name: "You'll be four cats." Located in a building by Puig i Cadafalch, Casa Martí, and with a young Picasso poking his head in, the restaurant takes flight. While it's true that it only lasted a few years and was then destined for other uses, such as being the headquarters of the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc or directly a warehouse, until 1978 when it reopened.

Despite this lapse of time, the restaurant is part of the four historic ones in Barcelona along with Can Culleretes, Los Caracoles and 7 Portes. Josep Maria Ferrer, the father of the current owners, acquired it with partners in 1984 and then kept it alone in 1988. It was a place the city had forgotten, "very run down," says Sílvia Ferré. Until an event appeared that would change everything: the Olympic Games. Ferran Ferrer Viana was in charge of the campaign Barcelona, get pretty and brought all the mayors who had hosted the Olympic Games to eat at Els 4 Gats. They closed the restaurant for them. "And that was the boom. In terms of publicity and journalists from all over the world who came," explains Ferré, who declares herself "in love with Ciutat Vella," although she is worried about where things are going. "Sometimes I go for a walk and it makes me very sad because it has lost its lifelong businesses. Everything is the same, nails and carcasses. It's dirty and dangerous. On weekends, many locals come, but they come for lunch. In the evening, they find it harder." It's not just in catering that concessions have been made to the point of losing the essence. The Ferrés have taken action.