A Catalan who makes Mexican cuisine so well done that it has brought tears to people's eyes

BarcelonaGive me three minutes of your time. That's what I need to tell you about this good restaurant. Because in the end, the only division we believe in is between places where you eat well and you would return, and establishments where we have already been seen enough. Now that large groups instead of restaurants create "concepts", spaces where everything fits, even too much, and where the story weighs more than authenticity, it is a relief to have discovered the Jiribilla, a restaurant that is a mirror of the life journey of its chef, Gerard Bellver.

At Jiribilla you can eat Mexican food cooked by a Catalan, without being pretentious, with a lot of technique behind it. The creator is a boy from Barcelona who has spent more time there than here. And he came back with a mixed gastronomic backpack (and with ingredients that he doesn't even know how he got through security and that we can now enjoy in his restaurant). Jiribilla is a pleasant and spacious restaurant on Comte Borrell street in Barcelona, ​​​​near the Sant Antoni market.

This is not a cheap food place to stuff yourself with fluorescent cheddar, but rather a restaurant with well-made cuisine, where there are dishes from the Mexican tradition that are not found in many places in Barcelona. Like the crab taco, which is the Delta blue crab that you can eat whole because it is soft. Or, the ejotas greens with egg (tender beans sautéed with egg yolk), tongue with mass, or the dish that they always order, even in summer: sea lentils stewed with shrimp and prawn broth. Perfect for dipping bread!

Gerard left Barcelona at the age of 12 because his family moved to Mexico and has lived there for 28 years. And now in Barcelona, ​​he has made a Mexican client cry because a recipe he had prepared reminded her of her grandmother's. Bellver was interested in cooking from a young age. His mother was very clever, and made fricandó even though they lived in Mexico City. There he worked with Basque chefs, with whom they opened restaurants, such as Biko, which lasted ten years and was the first Mexican restaurant to appear on the 50 Best list. In addition, thanks to Juan Mari Arzak, with whom he did an internship, the doors of El Bulli were opened to him, where he stayed for seven months.

Serving Gabriel García Márquez

But before that, he had a period that was a source of anecdotes as a cook at the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Mexico. He was there for three years. He cooked for Zapatero – who was the president at the time – the kings when they had just married, Sabina, Serrat, El Cigala or Miguel Bosé. But the one he remembers most was Gabriel García Márquez. Basically because the Colombian writer, who lived in Mexico, never missed a single bustle. For him, a great whisky fan, Bellver would always have a bottle of the Scottish brand Glenmorangie.

But let's go back to Barcelona and Jiribilla. When Bellver opened the restaurant a little over a year ago, he was warned: "Don't say it's Mexican because they'll pigeonhole you as cheap." He maintains that Mexican cuisine is very rich, and that it's a shame that it's so stigmatized. "I will never put guacamole or tortilla chips on the menu." He claims to make market cuisine, a cuisine that Mexicans recognize and repeat.

Apart from a very succulent menu, the restaurant also has a good selection of cocktails. As for the dining room, it is worth noting that the kitchen is in the middle and you can watch them work. Even if you are very interested, there are some stools that look directly into the kitchen. The staff is attentive, it is the size of a restaurant, so they are professional but not excessively formal. Excessively long explanations are not necessary. It is a place to eat well and have a good time. In the end, the restaurant is called Jiribilla, which can refer to a tingling in the stomach, the gift that restless children have, or to the ball that takes effect and does not go where we thought it would go. Like this restaurant, which if we are willing to go and let ourselves be surprised, we will find that it deserves a category of its own.