"If Sorrentino were Catalan, he would have made a film at Casa Leopoldo."

"Rosa is fantastic. Over the years, she became a friend and sat at the table with us," says Eduardo Mendoza, who admits that he had lost track of her since 2015, when the restaurateur transferred the business. When he learned they were organizing a tribute for her, he didn't hesitate for a second to accept the invitation. "I'm definitely coming," he said.

There were people who thought she was no longer alive, but that wasn't the case. Rosa Gil lives in a nursing home and suffers from some mobility issues. When the current owners of Casa Leopoldo located her, they didn't hesitate to organize a meal to return the charismatic restaurateur to what had been her home for so many years and the place where she was born. The restaurant is now managed by the Banco de Boquerones group, which made a large investment to polish the place and serve the same old dishes again. This marked the end of what had been a Chinese food establishment.

"Today my ego oozes out of my pores," says Rosa Gil, who claims that she has been back twice since the group led by Bruno Balbás opened. "Luckily, they've gotten him back." because the Chinese who had been there destroyed it", says Gil. Everyone visits her and kisses her. It's her day. "To work in the hospitality industry, you have to be generous by nature and you have to like people. And that's what Rosa Gil was like," chef Carme Ruscalleda declares with conviction.

"As someone who has dedicated myself to promoting the city, I know that emblematic places like this are needed. There are no Michelin stars here; there is quality and tradition. It's not just a tribute to Rosa, but also to her father and grandfather. This restaurant will only succeed if it maintains tradition. There's no need to invent anything here," says the company.

Of the intellectuals who frequented it, only Maruja Torres remains, who couldn't come because she lives in Madrid, and Eduardo Mendoza, who sits next to Gil while we eat all the restaurant's classics. I ask him about his memories, and the writer explains that "I came with Vázquez Montalbán, Marsé, Segarra, and so many people who are no longer with us." "At that time, there were four or five institutions where this happened. We came, we met, we chatted, we argued, we fought, we ate a lot, we drank even more, we smoked cigars. Imagine what that was like," he adds.

From Edith Piaf to Sisqueta

Personalities of all kinds have passed through. Gil recalls Édith Piaf, Charles Trenet, and Maurice Chevalier. Or Picasso, who explains that the Gaspart family brought him there. Also many bullfighters and bullfighting enthusiasts. It's no surprise, then, that Pedro Balañá also features at Gil's table. Meanwhile, a surf and turf dish appears, which Gil explains they started cooking after their parents' honeymoon. They went to Tossa de Mar, at the Hostal Tonet, on the recommendation of a customer. Sisqueta was the cook there. From her, they learned to make meatballs with cuttlefish and shrimp, and also chicken with lobster.

Gil remembers that it wasn't a cheap restaurant. Especially when they started preparing the hard-earned dinners. It would have been nice to see through a hole what the Casa Leopoldo dining room was like back then. Carles Vilarrubí, president of the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition, explains that being here today is "a nostalgic experience." He acknowledges that "cities can evolve and change, but they should never lose the flavor seen in films like... The Great Beauty or Parthenope". "If Sorrentino were Catalan, he would have made a film here," says Vilarrubí.

The mayor of Barcelona, ​​​​Jaume Collboni, also attended the tribute, and it's clear that this isn't his first time visiting the place. "We're looking for ideas on how to preserve neighborhood establishments. What can we do from the City Council to promote them?" he says. That's why he tells me that a few days ago he took Ferran Adrià to the 5 Hermanos restaurant in Nou Barris. I ask him if he's a regular at Casa Leopoldo. He came on May 1st when the UGT was making a butifarrada (a sausage). A headquarters turns right in front. Sánchez. "He came to Barcelona and wanted a quiet place to eat. And we were at Vázquez Montalbán's table. We didn't go to any private room. We must support as much as possible whoever has resurrected Casa Leopoldo," says the mayor. When I ask him what his favorite dish is, he exclaims: "the ox tail, what a question!