Cal Xim: the grill that brings basketball players and winemakers to Sant Pau d'Ordal

I discovered through social media that many people linked to the world of wine were visiting the Cal Xim restaurant in Sant Pau d'Ordal (Alt Penedès). Many of them are people I know and I know they have a fine nose, so there were not enough people heading to Sant Pau de Ordal. And luckily I followed my instinct. Cal Xim is an institution that has been grilling lamb chops for 51 years (this January). Everyone has been there, you just have to look at the walls of the restaurant.

The soul of the place is Santi Amigó Castellví. He is 62 years old and has been there since they opened. But it was especially when he returned from the military that he got his head down. He is one of those people who knows all the clientele, he moves around the room of his house with the grace of a Bolshoi dancer and you can tell that he really likes talking to people and telling anecdotes. Thanks to the restaurant, he has made friends with people from the world of sport, such as Conchita Martínez, Xavi Pascual and Andrés Jiménez. Entire basketball teams have passed through the restaurant's private room – located on the ground floor and which also serves as a wine cellar – and Santi has ended up closing Luz de Gas with many of them many times.

Many renowned sommeliers and restaurateurs have also passed through. It is one of the restaurants that many wineries choose when they have visitors from all over the world. For Santi it is a "proud thing that people who earn their living with their nose and mouth are loyal customers." And he reinforces this with his characteristic grace by saying: "At least the oil must be good!" Santi's art in the dining room is accompanied by the expertise and craft of his brother Fidel at the grill. He has spectacular skill, and is by far the most portrayed of Cal Xim. He moves artichokes, meat, fish, and everything is just right.

There are several dishes that are the pride of the house. Obviously the meat, such as bacon, suckling pigs, sausage, rabbit or lamb. But also broad beans and peas when it is in season or the chup-chup dishes, such as roast duck with prunes and pine nuts; veal with juice and mushrooms or during the Christmas season the Penedès rooster with vines and chestnuts. Santi will also insist that you try the Cerdanya trinchado. Listen to him. And if you go in April, the courgette flowers with brandade, chanfaina and squid ink.

Neither Japanese species nor plants from the Caribbean

The restaurant started out as a bar. An uncle owned a bar in Barcelona and convinced Fidel and Santi's parents, Josep Amigó and Maria Castellví, to open one, since Sant Pau d'Ordal has always been a very active town where people from all over the region go and their house is in the middle of the town. It all started in 1974 and people went there to have breakfast and play cards. When someone wanted lamb, they went to the butcher's to buy it. It was when they took their children on that things became more sophisticated. And those who helped them were the people who have worked there.

In the kitchen, there is Fidel's wife, Tona Travé, who learned a lot from a chef who spent a good time in the restaurant and who had worked with Santi Santamaria, Ariadna Julian. And as a sommelier, Santi soaked up all the knowledge he could from Jordi Peronella, who was Pitu Roca's right-hand man and is currently head of purchasing for chef José Andrés. In fact, the wine list at Cal Xim is a little treasure. A wooden box, a design that Blai Carda, from Óbal Estudi, made expressly for them.

Alcohol tests and stricter legislation have meant that Cal Xim has focused on food. They open for lunch every day except Tuesday. As for dinner, they only serve on Fridays and, when the weather is good, they add Saturdays.

Cal Xim makes a cuisine that is recognisable and that everyone likes. "We don't use Japanese spices, or Caribbean plants, or emulsions," says Santi. And he ends with an observation: "Look at the photos of the chefs. They come out with their heads down, tongs in their hands and placing a flower. Here we don't have tongs or put flowers on anything." He recognises that everything is changing and that he is bringing back the chup-chup cuisine. But they don't depend on trends. "I have hundreds of clients who have been selling for 25 years," he says. He explains that there are families that he has already served for four generations. And surely a fifth will come, because he has no intention of retiring. "I'm doing great, I'm having a blast," she says. And isn't that what it's all about, after all?