The secret of the artichokes they don't want to reveal: this is the family restaurant that has been a success in Centelles since 1977

Xavier is proud of his past, his present, and also the future he is building. Of the past, because he fondly remembers his early days working at the family restaurant. He still cherishes small details from that time, like the stool behind the bar. "It was gray, and I served my first coffees to customers on it when I was just eight years old." He is the second generation of Cal Moreu, in Centelles, a restaurant that his grandparents and parents opened in 1977. "It's a farmhouse dating back to 1700 that my great-grandparents bought to turn into a home and farmhouse," Xavier explains. The origin of the restaurant's name is also curious. "Before, in old Catalan, oxen were called Moreos"And there used to be a lot of them here. We said it so often, the name just stuck," he says, laughing. Today, Can Moreu is thriving: the restaurant is packed every day thanks to the excellence of its cuisine. "100% Catalan. We make stews, escalivadas, calçots... everything Catalan."

We can vouch for it just by looking at the menu, and since we're more onion lovers than the drummer boy of El Bruc, we opted for local dishes: the mushroom cannelloni with béchamel sauce and mushrooms was extraordinary; the galets soup with meatballs was sublime; and the grilled artichokes were a game-changer for us. "They have a secret we'll never reveal. My mother made them this way, and it will always remain between us," Xavier says mysteriously. Montse, his wife, watches us from the next table, half-hidden. However, she did confess how they make them a little while ago. "If we tell," Xavier insists, "you'll make them at home and won't come." Don't worry: we'll keep the secret and return to Cal Moreu soon.

For our second course, we opted for the grilled entrecote, the beef with mushrooms, and the oven-baked pork chops with barbecue sauce. The desserts were also homemade and truly Catalan: honey and ricotta, ricotta flan, and cheesecake—the perfect way to end a meal.

A secure future

The future, in fact, seems assured at Cal Moreu. "My nine-year-old daughter already wears a Mickey Mouse apron and she's showing real promise!" he says, pleased. "I'd be thrilled if she continued the family tradition." And as Xavier tells this, it's easy to imagine the scene: perhaps in a few years, behind the same bar, there will be another stool. Perhaps it won't be gray, or perhaps it will. And perhaps, on that stool, a little girl will be serving her first coffees while curiously observing the bustling restaurant.

Because at Can Moreu, they don't just cook Catalan dishes. They also simmer, over a low flame, the unspoken secrets and the families who continue to gather around a table in this 1700s farmhouse, which continues to do what it has done best for generations: turning time into history and meals into memories.