Two brothers save a Badalona restaurant that is part of their family memory

There are restaurants that are part of a family's sentimental memory. Ca l'Arqué is one of those places for brothers David and Toni Llobet. As children, they went there every Sunday with their parents, and over the years they kept up the habit of returning, now with their own children. What they never would have imagined is that that restaurant, which had been the setting for so many family lunches, would one day end up in their hands.

Neither of them comes from the world of gastronomy. David owns a cleaning company and Toni is a lawyer. But life, sometimes, has very curious ways of changing your plans. One of Toni's clients was precisely the Arqué family, owners of the restaurant. One day they explained to him that they wanted to retire, that they planned to close the business and that there was no one interested in taking over. Then the Llobet brothers took a step they probably had never considered: to keep that restaurant which, in a way, had always been their home. "We are not keeping the restaurant to earn money. The reason is more romantic than rational; it is a sentimental issue," admits Toni. For the two brothers, Ca l'Arqué is much more than a business: it is one of those lifelong establishments that are part of the identity of Badalona and that cannot be allowed to be lost. "If it continues to function, it is thanks to the people of Badalona. Most of the people who come are from here," he explains.

The desire to preserve tradition also translates to the stove. The cuisine at Ca l'Arqué is based on produce and traditional Catalan recipes. We start by sharing some of the house dishes: snails in the tin, fried crystal shrimp, and octopus in the Badalona style, a recipe linked to the seafaring tradition of the Badalona coast. "It is one of our star dishes and one that best defines our personality," explains Toni. "We prepare it differently than they do in Galicia: first we cut the octopus, then we boil it, and we use that same water to cook the potatoes."

The main courses maintain the commitment to a recognizable cuisine without artifice: pork cheek, breaded goat chops, and grilled lamb. To finish, Llavaneres cake and Catalan cream, two desserts that reclaim, once again, the tradition.

The former owners, the Arqué family, have retired young and occasionally still come by for lunch. Now they can enjoy the restaurant from the other side of the table, with the peace of mind knowing that it remains in good hands. The Llobets, for their part, have no intention of changing its essence or putting their surname on it. They don't need to. They have understood that the value of Ca l'Arqué is precisely everything that it already was.

And if there is anyone who also feels at home in this restaurant, it is the players of Joventut de Badalona. It is not strange to find a member of the squad there celebrating a victory or sharing a table. In fact, last year, the whole team celebrated their Christmas lunch there. Perhaps this is the best way to explain what Ca l'Arqué represents: a restaurant that has seen generations of Badalona residents grow up, that continues to be a meeting point, and that, despite having changed hands, has not lost what makes it special. Because there are places that do not need to change to continue being part of people's lives. They only need someone who wants to keep them alive.