Martín Comamala: "I came from Patagonia to Barcelona to work at El Bulli, I had 900 euros saved, and I spent nine on a beer and a tapa."

BarcelonaChef Martín Comamala (Córdoba, Argentina, 1984) won the award for best chef given by the Gastronomic Forum Barcelona in 2023He says the award filled the restaurant's seats—its only eight seats. The restaurant is located in Puigcerdà, is open from Thursday to Sunday, and has only Martín as chef and waiter, who can serve three tasting menus. The menus cost 88, 115, and 150 euros.

I interviewed him on a Monday in the Meloso restaurant by chef Miquel Pardowhere he's preparing a four-hands menu with his friend. He says they've known each other for a while and understand each other well. The four-hands menu they're preparing will be a good combination of their respective dishes, and, of course, it will end with a rice dish prepared by Miquel, the chef from Melós.

Let's start with the name. Why 539, Strong PlatsWith a comma in the middle of the number and the name on the back.

— Because 539 is an important number to me. It was the number of the house where my grandmother lived in Córdoba, Argentina. That's where I started cooking. Her house was very special because the table was always set with the family; she made the pasta.

Your grandmother was Italian.

— Yes, and I have dual nationality: Italian and Argentinian. My father, and both my grandfathers, were Catalan, from Castellfollit de la Roca, which is why my surname is Comamala. I could adopt Argentinian nationality through my father's ancestry, but then I would have to renounce either my Italian or Argentinian nationality. Since I also cannot adopt Catalan nationality, I retain both of them.

An Italian grandmother and a Catalan grandfather who met in Argentina?

— Yes, they were looking for a new life. The curious thing is that the Catalan grandfather left Genoa for Argentina, because back then that was the route, from the port of Genoa to the port of Buenos Aires. It was a very long journey, especially considering the time they made it, in 1900. It must have taken them a month to arrive.

Now I just need to know the second part of the restaurant's name. Why Plats Forts?

— Because I wanted the name to evoke a tavern, a place where the food is excellent, made with quality ingredients, and where the service is very friendly. I wanted a name that felt rustic, so I rejected calling it a gastrobar or restaurant, terms I don't like.

And why in Cerdanya, in Puigcerdà?

— I traveled everywhere. I was in Seville, León, Zamora, Asturias, Lanzarote, London, Switzerland, North Korea, Baqueira-Beret, the Costa Brava, and Puigcerdà. Of all the places, I liked Puigcerdà the most because it's similar to my hometown, Córdoba, in Argentina, because it has everything: mountains, greenery. And it also has tourism year-round, and it's mostly local tourism. Throughout the year, the Cerdanya region has Catalan tourists. 98% of my clients are Catalan. I think foreigners go to Andorra or Baqueira-Beret.

When you received the award in 2023, you told me you had eight chairs, and then twelve.

— Now I'm back to having eight seats, and my goal is to eventually serve six people. People think growth means expanding, but for me, it's the complete opposite. If you want to grow a business, and you want to create a good restaurant, you shouldn't increase capacity, you shouldn't expand. I maintain that you should do the opposite: shrink, because that way you can do it better.

So you'll be raising the price of the menu?

— Yes, of course. The menu has increased because the quality, technique, and ingredients are more expensive. Well, I can't change the ingredients, because I've always chosen the best, but I can change everything else. I can do this because I have a network of clients who know me and know that their money won't be wasted. I should also mention that the ingredients I buy are expensive, and my menu is based on them.

Where do you buy the shrimp?

— In the Blanes fishermen's guildhall. I want to showcase the work they do, even though my restaurant is small. That's why I change the dishes every week, because I create them based on the products I buy at the port of Blanes. When I started, I wanted to open a bar, but in the end, because of the type of clientele and the passion I put into it, I ended up offering a tasting menu. When I started in Puigcerdà in 2016, there was no one else in Catalonia with a restaurant like mine with just one person working, except for Bisavis in Barcelona. The other example I found was in the Netherlands, but it had tables and self-service wine. I told myself, "I won't have self-service wine, because then I'll go under." One night I saw a movie on Netflix with a chef working alone at a low bar. And that's when I made up my mind completely.

Since you arrived in Puigcerdà and opened the restaurant, what are the dishes that you see are very popular?

— Prawns, without a doubt. Blanes prawns, which I know how to buy, are very good.

Prawns in Cerdanya.

— I know people are surprised. It takes me two hours to get to Blanes, and two hours back, of course. Since it's closed season now, it only takes me ten minutes to buy them at the fish market. I go every week, and I never miss it. At the restaurant, I blanch the prawns for two minutes in seawater, and then I put them on the plate. I can assure you that the secret to having good prawns in a restaurant is knowing who catches them. I also have peas, which I've noticed over all these years are very popular.

With eight chairs, and in the future, with six, can you say you're doing great?

— Now it's working. For the last year and a half, yes, but at first, seven years ago, it was very difficult for me because the concept wasn't understood. Also, people didn't know me.

Puigcerdá is a difficult city because there are many restaurants.

— Yes, but there's none like mine. All the ones that do the same thing: rice dishes, pizzas, carved meats, hamburgers, ribeye steaksI'm the only one who does a set menu.

The dish you've been making for years is flan.

— Now I make it with black pepper. Depending on the season, I use different eggs: chicken, guinea fowl, pheasant, duck, goose, but now, in winter, there aren't as many eggs because the hens aren't laying them. So I change the recipe. The black pepper flan came about by chance, from a test I wanted to do one day, and it turns out it's delicious. Did you know that some people only come to my restaurant to try that flan? Now in winter I also cook chard and a consommé, which are very popular.

Do you miss your hometown, Cordoba?

— No. I left when I was 20, and I traveled all over South America on foot. Walking, and cooking. I spent five and a half years going around to all the countries. That's how I started in the business, first washing dishes. In fact, washing dishes is how I fell in love with the work. I loved being in a restaurant. Then I moved to the kitchen, and I knew for sure that this was what I wanted to dedicate myself to.

Because?

— Because I liked to control the timing, the cooking of the ingredients, and I had a great eye for detail. So, when I had some savings, I considered traveling to Catalonia, because I was following the news about chef Ferran Adrià's restaurant in Cala Montjoi, in Roses. I arrived in Barcelona from Patagonia to work at El Bulli, and I had 900 euros saved. In Barcelona, ​​I had a beer and a tapa, which cost me nine euros. So expensive! I thought I couldn't stay and live there, so I went to Lanzarote, where everything costs half as much. And look how fate works, there in Lanzarote, I met someone who had worked at El Bulli, and they recommended me for a job. It was a coincidence. The thing is, I started working at El Bulli as if... stagiaire the last year it was open. And that's how I met the chefs at Disfrutar, Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, with whom I maintain a very good relationship.

Are you working on other projects?

— I like to travel a lot, yes. That four-hands meal I do with chef Miquel Pardo from Cruix, I hope I can do it again sometime. I'll also do another one in Olot. I like to cook in friends' restaurants. Since my restaurant is open from Thursday to Sunday, I can do it on the other days.