Alkimista: the cuisine of a chef who travels to the center of Reus and seeks happiness

I'm told I'm to meet Pola Hemaia, the young chef who's owned L'Alkimista, a restaurant in Reus, for the past six years. So I head to Reus on a wonderful day, even the train that takes me there arrives on time. Pola greets me before service and enthusiastically introduces me to the entire team as they arrive at the restaurant. He came to Catalonia when he was 13. He was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1993. His family traveled a lot because of his parents' textile factory. It wasn't until he landed in Cervera that he put down roots. He liked science and philosophy. In the end, he decided to study psychology. Rovira i Virgili University took him to the Camp de Tarragona region, where he's stayed ever since. He sent out resumes everywhere to pay for his studies. And it was at the Hotel Mònica in Cambrils where he found a job. At that time, chef David Giner took a young man who didn't even know how to fry an egg and instilled in him a passion for the profession. He worked full days while also studying for his degree. When he finally graduated six years later, cooking won out. And he opened El Alkimista, where we are today.

It's a restaurant with "traveled cuisine," he says. He's traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia, working there to pay for his stay. We see a lot of that in his cooking. Trips he's taken with his team, like one to the Basque Country, are also reflected in his dishes. He draws inspiration from everything, and it comes together in the dishes. He likes fresh, seasonal produce, which they display in a box at each table before service begins. He offers two tasting menus: the Omega (€89) and the Phi (which has two fewer savory dishes, €73). During the week, they also offer a market menu (€48). This menu always includes a rice dish. And finally, the à la carte menu. Here's the rice. laksa with lobster and scallops. Delicious.

His colleagues are very involved in creating the dishes. "The team is the most important part of the project. This work is hard enough without surviving on egos alone," he tells me. We see it in the "cordero pibilo," a plantain with lamb and pico de gallo, a nod to the Mexican and Venezuelan roots of some of them. Or a very surprising dessert called Who said you couldn't put bacon in a dessert? This dish, which combines cotton candy and bacon, is a creation of head chef Ainhoa ​​Zambudio, and she herself explains it to the diners. They want to have fun with food, and it shows. It's a less sophisticated setting than other restaurants, but one of absolute authenticity.

Challenges and intensity

Pola Hemaia is preparing for a competition. She's a finalist in the Spanish Chef of the Year competition. The final will be held in Barcelona, ​​during the Alimentaria food fair, on March 26th, with a jury headed by Oriol Castro, chef of Disfrutar. He was also a judge for Chef Balfegó, and there's a dish on the menu that evokes that experience, combining tuna loin, egg yolk, and a mozzarella globe infused with rosemary smoke. Many elements and textures come together beautifully. When I ask her about competitions, she says she "enters everything." "I'm always looking for an extra boost of intensity to keep me from burning out. The only way to move forward is to create some instability," she says, although she acknowledges that she owes much of her success to luck. "I think luck has been the key factor. The meritocracy they've always sold us is a cool thing to get ahead, but it doesn't really work. Obviously, if you don't do anything, you won't achieve anything. If the competition goes well, great, and if not, I don't get upset. I really enjoy this job," he explains.

That they enjoy it is obvious. A couple of years ago, they renovated the dining room. Initially, they had spent all their money on the kitchen; it was only later that they were able to bring the entire restaurant up to the standard of the cuisine they serve. A restaurant very grateful to the restaurant industry because it's open on Mondays, the day off for most people who work in the sector.

Pola Hemaia is a gentle and seemingly calm chef. When asked how his psychology degree has helped him cope with life in the kitchen, he replies: "It's a degree that opens many doors. It has led me to understand myself much better. And to analyze my desires, to know what I want and what I don't want. And to try to be happier, which should always be our goal."