Cristina Feliu: "Àlex's dream is to also open a Catalan restaurant, serving slow-cooked stews, where he can cook tripe with chorizo."

EnglishThe English Alliance is one of the great food houses in the country. Its history has had three partsThe first, brilliant chapter, belonged to chef Lluís Feliu, who—along with his brother Josep managing the dining room—transformed their grandparents' bar into a restaurant that earned a Michelin star in 2008. On Christmas Eve 2013, Lluís passed away, leaving a huge void. A good person, a good chef, who had worked wonders from the small town in the Selva region, was gone. Six months later, on June 17, 2014, his two daughters, Cristina and Marina, reopened the modernist double doors of L'Aliança. They wanted to continue the path of their father and uncle, who had also joined them in the first few months. And this is where the second chapter of L'Aliança began, with popular dishes that brought the restaurant back to life. Currently, the third chapter of its story is led by chef Àlex Carrera and head of service Cristina Feliu, who together achieved the Michelin star in 2019 when Álex had only been part of it for a few months

They've just completed major renovations in the restaurant's kitchen, which they've expanded. On the first floor, they've also renovated the restaurant's wine cellar, featuring wines from all eras, both the father's and the daughter's. We interviewed Cristina Feliu on a Friday afternoon after the lunch service.

I enjoyed the wine pairings, all Catalan, and the cheese trolley, also featuring Catalan cheeses.

— Our philosophy is to highlight the region, to invest in it. We also use Girona apples in one of our dessert dishes. The main component of the entire menu is local sourcing, where we find high-quality products.

I especially want to highlight the wine pairings. The wines I drank were very well chosen.

— We believe the standard is very high, which is why we include them in the pairings for both menus. However, there's always someone who asks for champagne, or when someone wants to spend more than one hundred euros on a bottle of wine, they struggle to choose a Catalan one. There are also those who ask us why we don't have French or German wines. And we tell them that we have three hundred and fifty wines, and that we're in Catalonia. If we went to an Italian restaurant, we wouldn't think of ordering wines from any country other than Italy. In fact, we think there's been a lot of talk about proximity, but then, on wine lists, in wineries, everything is wines made in other regions. Sustainability isn't just about having a vegetable garden. Even the Michelin Guide's green stars were removed because of inconsistencies.

In her new kitchen, I've noticed she's put recycling points next to the stove.

— Did you know that the contractor we asked to install it told us it was the first time he'd been asked to do so? The three trash outlets are for plastic, organic waste, and paper.

I'm asking you about the tasting menus and the dishes on the à la carte menu.

— The dishes Àlex cooks are what he would like to eat. Àlex never met my father, because he arrived in 2019, and nine months later, we received the Michelin star. When he arrived, we had already been cooking traditional dishes for years. The curious thing was that we received the star in November 2019, and then, in March 2020, we were forced to close due to the pandemic. Everyone told us that the first year after receiving the Michelin star we would work incredibly hard, and that the impact would be huge, but we didn't really know what that was like, because we were only closed for nine months due to COVID. It didn't make sense for us to stay open if people from outside the region couldn't come.

I focus on the dishes. They're very visual. The oyster from the Ebro Delta, presented in the shape of a leaf, tasted bad when I tried to break it apart with a spoon.

— Yes, we always focus on flavor, we want it to stand out. If it also looks good, we like it too, but the primary goal is that every bite has flavor.

The vermouth. The dishes they serve to start the menu with a vermouth are very appealing.

— It's a tribute to our grandparents, to the past we come from, to Dad. La Alianza started as a bar, and we want people to understand our history, to get to know us through everything we've been. We know vermouth is trendy now, but people were drinking it here thirty years ago.

I've missed the fried calamari.

— You know, a lot of people say that? Alex will do it, but he wants to think about it for now. He'll end up putting them in.

Both the short and long menus feature Figueres onions. Such a local ingredient, yet cooked with so much flavor.

— It's a dish we love because the Figueres onion is a humble ingredient, yet its flavor makes it a true luxury. Luxury shouldn't be caviar or foie gras; it can be the onion. It's a dish that usually surprises people, who tell us they're amazed at how good it is. This is precisely our philosophy.

How to cook the onion?

— Alex peels it first and cooks it at a low temperature. Then he fries it and finishes it in the oven. We serve it with a soup, which we make with charred onions. And when I say charred, I mean charred. Alex gets angry if the onions aren't black. We have a pan specifically for charring onions. So, it's a dish of onions with onions, and a little onion bonbon on the side. This dish has been on the menu the longest, since 2019. We've always kept it.

Cristina, your dream was to reopen La Alianza, and you achieved it.

— My dream was to work with him, to do it comfortably and enjoyably. And now I'd add that I'd like the pace to be consistent. We're open from Friday to Tuesday, and we have very irregular business. We know that in the hospitality industry, in general, everyone tells us they're working with irregular business: some days full, others empty, and that's very tough.

Why do you think this is happening? The chefs tell me it's happened this year.

— There are many reasons. Drinking restrictions might be one. To come to Inglés, you have to come by car. We don't have any hotels nearby. Perhaps it's also because people are eating less. We're not in a very touristy area. Did you know that French chefs also tell us that their restaurants aren't full either?

Finally, what is Àlex's professional dream?

He also wants to open a Catalan restaurant, serving slow-cooked stews, where he can cook tripe with chorizo.like the recipe she cooked for the readers of'NOW We eat during the pandemic] and many others.