From carved meat to Thai bacon: contrasts with their own distinctive style

Rosa and Jordi understand each other with a single glance. While he manages the dining room, she runs the kitchen. But despite occupying different spaces, they never lose sight of each other. They are a perfectly oiled machine, a tandem that makes their restaurant, Binomio de Sant Just, run like clockwork.

They've been a couple for 25 years, but have only been working side-by-side for a year and a half. "We wanted to stop working for others and start working for ourselves. We've been in the hospitality industry for 20 years, and now was the time," explains Jordi. They decided to take over a space below their apartment to begin pursuing their lifelong dream. They acknowledge that Sant Just isn't an easy market, but they've made a name for themselves through word of mouth. "If you do things right, people talk. Here, for now, we have a very good reputation and we're always full," he points out.

The secret to their success, they say, is the food. "We've brought a breath of fresh air to the town," says Rosa, adding: "We have two lines. The daily menu, where we do more fun things, play with ideas, and take more risks. And the à la carte menu, where we offer more elaborate, more sophisticated, and also more expensive dishes, because that's what the area demands."

We were seduced by the midday menu and the blend of contrasts that defines their cuisine. First, we tried the noodles with hazelnut, roasted garlic, and lemon; the cream of celery and radish soup with cabbage and croutons; and a spread with black pudding and toast that rivaled anything from the Cerdanya region. Everything was delicious. Before tackling the main courses, let's recall a phrase from Rosa: "We like to pay small tributes to Asian cuisine, especially Korean." We immediately saw this with the Thai bacon with sesame, spring onion, and white rice; the roast chicken with pickled lemon, olives, and couscous; and the stewed chickpeas with spinach, tomato, garlic, and hard-boiled egg. Further proof that tradition and playfulness can coexist on the same plate. The desserts, all made by Rosa, brought the meal to a perfect close: cheesecake and apple crumbleSweetness and balance to put the gastronomic finishing touch.

Perhaps a trinomial

The place is small, but the space is very well utilized and complemented by a spacious and comfortable terrace. "It's a hit in the summer; in the winter, especially in the evenings, it's a bit harder to fill," they tell us. They knew the name from the very beginning. "Binomi, because it's a matter of two, two people rowing together. Although the name upset someone," they explain, laughing. Sira, their eleven-year-old daughter, argued for months that the restaurant should be called Trinomi. And, deep down, perhaps she wasn't entirely wrong.

Because Binomi is much more than a gastronomic project: it's the sum of a couple who decided to pursue a shared dream, a family growing up around a kitchen and a dining room, and a way of understanding work done with love. It's the courageous decision to leave comfort behind to invest in their own project. It's the risk, the passion, and that look that needs no words to be understood. Rosa, Jordi, and Sira form a team that is carving out a niche for itself in Sant Just through perseverance, enthusiasm, and dishes that speak for themselves. If they keep going as they have been, this duo, or trio, has a bright future ahead of them.