Enjoy: Catalan cuisine with order, method, and adventure

“At the entrance, you can already see that this restaurant wasn't built to be a three-star one,” says Disfrutar's chef Oriol Castro with his usual honesty, and Eduard Xatruch adds: “We had not a penny nor an investment fund behind us, we had to trick the bank and the landlady,” he jokes, because among those listening to him is the owner of the premises, Sandra Mira, who explains to us that this place – before the restaurant opened in 2014 and changed the history of Catalan gastronomy forever – was a warehouse for La Casa de las Mantas. “Do you know how much space was needed to store duvets, blankets, pillows...?” She quickly saw that the chefs were honest people eager to work, so she rented them the space. Perhaps she believed more in Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas, and Eduard Xatruch than they did themselves, because in the original design, the bar at the entrance was for serving tapas. And in the basement below, they wanted to put a large room “to host big groups and communions,” says Xatruch. They ran out of money, and they never built that room. Fortunately. Because when they had to expand the cellar and build the kitchen to develop the creative part, they needed that space. “The customers wrapped us up,” they say. They explain that the first part is inspired by Miró's mosaic; when you cross the kitchen, into the earthenware ovens, and once in the large white room, in Cadaqués, where they opened their first restaurant together: Compartir.

I am at Disfrutar because the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition has organized a visit so we can get to know its inner workings. “We must boast that we have the best cuisine in the world,” says the president of the Academy, Joan Font Torrent. Explanations about the work method, and the faces of those who make it possible, follow one another, showing us concept maps on polystyrene panels. Photographs, categorizations, calendars with tasks to do and deadlines. Here everyone does their part, but they work tirelessly. Creativity clearly involves more method, constancy, and interdisciplinarity than genius.

“When we opened, in 2014, we were doing modern cuisine, we didn't talk about creativity, which is a big word. They are often confused. New techniques arrived in 2016, like Chinese bread and multispherification”, says Xatruch, who admits that at first they created dishes that were not served until later, because the customer would not have understood them. “First you have to prove you can make an omelette. We wouldn't have lasted two days making a creative restaurant overnight. Many are born wanting to do a lot and after four years they are burned out”, affirms the chef from Vila-seca. “Here where we are, we put a door as a table and two trestles. And now we are still the same”, he states.

They perhaps yes, but the gaze of others and the stir that has been around them are not the same. “Everything we have achieved is the result of the work we have done. We have been a bit stubborn”, acknowledges Xatruch. The capacity for work is undoubted. “From day 1 the working method has been the same. Order and be methodical. Creativity must be worked on”, says Xatruch. But Castro goes further: “Disfrutar must improve. What we did yesterday is not worth it. We were the best restaurant because someone said so, but we have to improve every day”. Sisyphuses of creativity and excellence.

A very unconventional porró

There has been much talk about the nature of Disfrutar's cuisine. "Does Disfrutar serve Catalan cuisine? For me, yes," says Oriol Castro. And he gives examples. The menu begins with a porró. One that they created together with the best design schools in the country. It's not a conventional porró, of course. It has three liquids that end up converging in your mouth. When they combine, the classic Americano cocktail is created. When they present it to you, they also show you other porrons and give you a booklet explaining what this wonderful and local artifact is. I wonder if they explained what a porró was to the Puerto Rican Bad Bunny, who visited the restaurant recently. On the menu, they have their version of suquet, and calçotada. And they serve a dish on a hydraulic tile to explain the long tradition there has been in the city of Barcelona.

Disfrutar has 40 employees and serves 40 diners per service. It closes on weekends and all usual holidays, including August. They have a hyper-stable staff, like Vicente Lana, head of the dining room, who has been there since day one. And 40% of their diners are locals. They have already published three books, cataloging the 800 dishes they have created. And they will create more in a new space they use for research and work teams: an old handbag shop located a few steps from the restaurant. The neighbors didn't understand what these Disfrutar guys would be doing there. Well, working, with order, method, and adventure.