Mas Umbert: a piece of our history, some beans to make a monument to them

San Felix del RincónIf I wanted to show Catalan cuisine to someone who wasn't from here, I'd be hard pressed to find a more suitable place than Mas Umbert, a restaurant tucked away in the heart of Vallès, just below the Sant Llorenç del Munt mountain range. The farmhouse, located in Sant Feliu del Racó, is a beautiful building, with two charming dining rooms and a kitchen that sits between them and separates them. If I had to choose adjectives to define this restaurant, I'd say it's family-run, traditional, and heritage-oriented.

Family-run for two reasons. One of them is the clientele, who are so loyal that they feel at home there. Consider that there are people who eat there every day, and people who have been eating there every Saturday for 40 years. The fact that Mas Umbert used to be a tavern makes it even more relatable, because there are people who had spent the summer there. But the reason why the word familiar The most suitable one is the Calsina-Guitart family. Lluís Calsina Ubach was born in the farmhouse. You'll see him working there. What's more, his mother served breakfast, went upstairs to give birth, and then went downstairs to open a bottle of champagne for the guests. Lluís's life partner is Llum Guitart Font, better known as Nini. They are the parents of a daughter and a son. Their son, Aleix, is the fourth generation to work at the farmhouse. And you'll see him tending the embers. With him, we have a secure future and the embers, so when you walk through the kitchen you can feel the embers, but there's also the warmth of feeling welcomed in their home.

The farmhouse belonged to the Umbert family. They built two, one for each child. There are engraved stones that date the construction to 1625, but it's difficult to obtain documentation because the Civil War burned far more than the hopes of a generation. It was the great-grandmother, Aleix tells me, who bought the farmhouse between 1938 and 1939, but since the war was in full swing, she couldn't register it until 1940. Her husband was in prison. The reason? She regularly had breakfast with Lluís Companys at the Mas Olivet farmhouse. Someone informed the authorities, but the great-grandmother, with her husband in prison, managed to raise the money to buy it and build it into an inn. The name stuck.

It was an inn until Lluís Calsina was 8 years old. This was the biggest change; for the rest, everything has remained the same. "We've made very few changes," Aleix explains. And he tells me one, amused. The beef cheek stew wasn't going down well. Apparently, people couldn't seem to get enough of it. Until one day they started calling it beef stew. From then on, it's taken off.

They make some of the best beans with bacon in Catalonia. I can say this with complete conviction. "It's the caviar of Vallès. They're made with a lot of dedication and many hours," says Aleix. He also tells me about the cannelloni, which is a copy of his grandmother's recipe, with a completely different béchamel. The broad beans, the peas, the macaroni. The grilled lamb. Or the steak steak, which is served perfectly cooked, or if not, they advise against it: it's for carnivores. One of the proofs of this restaurant's greatness is the salad. How difficult is it to find a good salad? Well, theirs is. The ingredients come from the gardens across the street, which belong to the family. Good lettuce, good escarole, good tomato, good pepper... And everything well dressed. A good salad is probably one of the hardest dishes to find in a restaurant in our home, and this one is a small miracle.

Now comes the season for the escudilla (a dish) and carne de olla (a pot of meat). One more reason to return. They have the menu published online, subject to seasonality, of course. But it's better and more sensible to put yourself in Nini's hands. She'll guide you. Especially if you're a group, since they can make trays of everything so you can try everything. "No one leaves here hungry," says Aleix. And for dessert, you can have the typical Castellar del Vallès ice cream. minguito, also known as villarín: coffee, strawberry, and cream ice cream covered in chocolate.

They serve meals from Monday to Saturday. And if you're a group, you can arrange to be open for dinner on a Friday. When that happens, they also accept reservations from other people. If it's a celebration, they'll arrange the birthday cake themselves, using the Muntada bakery in Castellar. And if you're craving fish, just ask when you make your reservation; Lluís will have it fresh that day. They adapt to their clientele as much as possible, but keep in mind that if you want to eat late, you also have to say so; the grill takes time and must be kept alive if we don't want to wait. Craftsmanship has its conditions, and we gladly accept them.

Aleix saw that there was a time when he had to get involved if they wanted to maintain the business, "our identity," he says. He rolled up his sleeves and has seen that a young audience, like himself, is increasingly interested in traditional cuisine. In everyone's heritage. He's noticed it on social media, and also in the new, young customers appearing, not because they come with their parents, but because they come with their friends. Without wanting to be overly optimistic, and despite the decline of Catalan cuisine, green shoots are starting to appear. Green shoots like the humble yet stratospheric salad at Mas Umbert.