Mohamed Quach: "They have painted the name of Vox on my restaurant's signs twice, and with respect and coexistence I change and clean them"

TarragonaThe chef Moha Quach, from the restaurant El Terrat in Tarragona and Revelation Award of the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition, has cleaned for the second time graffiti that has been received on one of the signs of his restaurant. A year ago, on the sign indicating that the restaurant is affiliated with the Slow Food movement, the word Vox was painted, which has been difficult to remove; the second time, a week ago, on the sign indicating that it has a Repsol Sun. "Repsol has just sent me a new sign to remove the previous one, on which the word Vox appeared again," explains Quach.

The chef indicates that the graffiti does not affect him, that he is mentally prepared because he continues to work every day to do everything well. But he adds: "I don't understand the intention behind it, I don't understand the intolerance; I grew up in Tarragona, everything I have learned is thanks to Catalonia." Quach offers two tasting menus based on the tradition of Roman cuisine, that of the Rif – the homeland of his parents – and traditional Catalan cuisine. "The people who graffiti my signs, and who also make videos for shops in Tarragona where businesses they don't like have opened, want to impose their ideology; they are very radical people, and these are values that surprise me, because I have been educated both at home and at school in respect," says the chef.

Growing intolerance

All of this is an expression of intolerance by cultures like yours, from the Rif, which notices that it is growing. “I have two sisters, one wears a veil and the other doesn't, and my own mother also wears a veil; I wouldn't like any of the three to be told anything on the street because we are from the Rif,” she explains. “Attacking immigrants, discriminating against them, goes against our values, we talk to everyone, we greet them, we are neighbors in Tarragona, we have studied there, worked there and we strive to do everything better every day”.

The chef has modified the two tasting menus at El Terrat restaurant, with summer dishes based on the three culinary traditions. “We have thyme soup; crispy fuet, with fuet tartare and Iberian jowl; also a version of bread with tomato grilled and a bean salad,” he explains. Furthermore, Moha Quach continues to look for an establishment in Tarragona to fulfill one of his dreams, which is to cook traditional Catalan food, because “in Tarragona, establishments have closed, there is a lack of cuisine based on sofritos and picadas,” he states. The difficulty of finding a location is what has delayed him on the project. “I am looking for a space that has at least minimal installations, because starting everything from scratch is costly due to the investment and the license for everything.”

Since September 2025, the chef has collaborated on the program Tot es mou, by journalist Helena Garcia Melero, and will continue to do so from September.