The best-kept secret of Calella de Palafrugell: a restaurant with more history than many museums

There are families who pass through history, and there are others who cook it slowly. The Nicolazzi lineage clearly belongs to the second category: since the mid-19th century, their legacy has not only filled hotel rooms, but also tables and memories in Empordà. It all begins in 1853, when Pietro Nicolazzi opens the Hotel Peninsular, the oldest in the province of Girona. It was not just accommodation: it was a declaration of intent. Years later, in 1930, his son Pier goes a step further and inaugurates the Savoy Restaurant, which soon becomes a meeting point for the local bourgeoisie of the time. The third generation does not lag behind. In 1960, Assumpció Nicolazzi brings the Hotel Alga to life in Calella de Palafrugell, and fifteen years later adds a restaurant that will end up having its own personality: El Càntir. Because, if one thing this family demonstrates, it is that when they open a door, they often also put a kitchen behind it.

“This family has been key to placing Girona gastronomically on the world map”, assures Pere Malagelada, who for eleven years has led both the kitchen and the dining room of El Càntir. “I have been the face of the restaurant for a long time, I manage everything and I love my job”, he adds, with a smile that stretches along the entire coastal path. The restaurant hides, or rather lets itself be discovered, in the lower part of the Hotel Alga, right next to the pool and surrounded by a garden. A space where time seems to slow down. “The views are unbeatable, they convey an incredible sense of peace”, comments Malagelada. And he is not exaggerating: here, even the clinking of cutlery seems well-mannered.

With this combination of history and calm, we prepare to open the menu at El Càntir. It is not a trivial decision, choosing what to eat is never, and less so in a place with so much tradition behind it, but we finally opt for the Mariner menu. “Good choice, that way you can taste different dishes”, Pere tells us. And, for a moment, we have the comforting feeling of having made the right choice even before we begin.Pottery collector

of white chocolate with mango and cocoa sorbet, and a salad of seasonal fruit with mint and tangerine sorbet.white chocolate ganache with mango and cocoa sorbet, and a salad of seasonal fruit with mint and tangerine sorbet.The last sip of Calònia n.7, the white wine from DO Empordà that has accompanied us throughout the meal, we save for the garden. With the coffees and the petits fours, we let the after-dinner conversation linger between glances that oscillate between the horizon and the pool, without quite deciding where they call to us more. We don't jump in, but the temptation is there. Pere continues in the dining room, attentive to the last clients: families, couples, and, above all, many foreigners. Probably, many of them are unaware of the history hidden behind this space, or who Assumpció Nicolazzi was, the third generation of a family that has understood gastronomy as a form of legacy. A collector of jugs, hence the name and soul of the restaurant, and also one of the promoters of Temps de Flors in Girona, her mark goes far beyond the hotel walls. And perhaps that is what truly defines El Càntir: it is not just a place where you eat well, which it is. It is a space where history is not told, it is breathed.