The Cooperative of Porrera: a state structure in Priorat

PorreraSometimes they ask me if I've been to that restaurant or another one and I don't remember. Afterwards, I look at it carefully and often the answer is yes. There are many places that are bland. Correct, but that leave no mark. This is not the case with today's restaurant, the Cooperativa de Porrera. Anyone who has been there recognizes it in a second. You think of the blue of the walls, the flowery tablecloths, the wine bottles on the table, and Mia coming out with her headband to take notes or serving a steaming dish. It is a genuine restaurant, with essence and personality.

The first time I ended up there was thanks to the wine people. Needless to say, we are in Priorat, and this restaurant has many fans in the wineries, who send them many visitors when they ask where to go for lunch. There are times of the year when it is easy to find a table there, like now, but there are others when getting one is as demanding as in the most popular restaurant in a big city. Especially from May to June. And when the harvest begins. Having a table there is a reward for foresight. It's not that the restaurant is small, but rather that Mia does all the roles of the goose. And even more so now that Litus Raga, the charismatic head of the room, has retired. They couldn't imagine the wave of love they have received, from so many people who wanted to say goodbye. You reap what you sow.

Adventure and village life

Mia Vall is from Porrera. She left because she didn't see a future there. She studied tourism in Barcelona, worked as an au-pair in London, France, the United States. Her first foray into a restaurant was with friends, who in the summer had a lot of free time in Porrera and decided to open a beach bar from Sant Joan to Diada. With the flood that hit the town in 1993, they lost everything, and they rebuilt it. The project lasted a few years. Meanwhile, Mia passed a competitive exam, she is a civil servant. She has a position as an administrative assistant in the cultural center of Pompeu Fabra University. She hasn't been back since. Instead, with some partners, she opened a restaurant in Barcelona, Plats, which was located on Carretes street, in the Raval, and she spent periods in India. Until she and Litus Raga decided to return to Priorat and open a restaurant where the cooperative's grocery store in Porrera had been. When you enter the restaurant, you will see a cellar on your right. Bread was sold there. They kept the name and created one of those actors so important in the life of towns. These are indeed state structures. Like the Cal Grau grocery store, run by Carme Vall, Mia's sister. It's also worth a visit. Or the L'Esclopet bakery, which Borja Franco opened just over a year ago. Towns are alive and there are opportunities, too.

Among the star dishes that Mia prepares, we find capipota, tomato curry with lamb from Porrera, and also her extraordinary escabeches. Sardines, quail, or partridge. I tasted the partridge one and still savor it mentally. Mia explains to me that some foreigners asked her for two baskets so as not to leave anything on the plate. In fact, there are many visitors from abroad at this restaurant. On the day we are talking, Lithuanians and Americans have been there. People who know about wine and food. They want to taste Catalan cuisine and in Mia's kitchen, they find paradise. "They photograph everything," she says. In summer, she doesn't have leek flan, another iconic dish, which people never tire of ordering. On the menu, quite extensive, almost everything is zero kilometer.

There are many regular customers at the restaurant. They come for lunch any day from Tuesday to Sunday, which is when they open. Many of them come from outside, but it's as if they were part of the family. Mia is warmth. She welcomes the children with coloring pages and all of us with fresh flowers to decorate the tables. Needless to say, the Cooperative has an extraordinary wine cellar. And prices that are impossible to beat. Of course, she has incredible cellars right next door. They have also made an effort to offer wines by the glass.

Mia is also energy, which transforms into bubbles, rising rapidly in the glass. Let me explain. Under the biodynamic agriculture project Horta Colomer, by Isa Torres and Albert Costa – director and winemaker of Vall Llach respectively – they have released a bottle of ancestral wine called Mia, in homage to Mia Vall. "The women who have cared for the vineyards are important – says Isa Torres, referring to other tribute wines they have released – but also those who make us drink and enjoy wine." With the joy and love with which Mia does it, let's toast to her with a glass of Mia.