Núria Gironés: "The day I work the least hours is fifteen, I am one of those who are always in their business"

BarcelonaI interviewed Núria Gironés at her restaurant, Ca l'Isidre (c/ Flores in Barcelona), one morning when she has a reserved room for ten people at noon. It is a group that will make a special truffle menu, which is now in season. Gironés is a cook, pastry chef, sommelier and a born worker, who dedicates all her days to the historic family restaurant in the Raval district of Barcelona. Since she inherited it, when her parents retired, everything has happened, including the pandemic. Her great craft, with all the keys she knows how to play, and played so well, has made Ca l'Isidre one of the great food houses in Barcelona.

How is Ca Isidre going, Núria?

— It's going well, but I have to fight hard. Our restaurant, which is of very high quality in terms of product and service, is not the type of restaurant that is most common in Barcelona. Those that are there are very low-priced restaurants, which are another style, or those with high prices, with Michelin stars. In other words, those that are most common are those where eating costs thirty or forty euros or you pay five hundred for a menu. We are in between, where eating costs between eighty and one hundred. And I justify the price because we use seasonal products. Those that have prices of thirty euros do not change the menu, they always have fixed dishes, such as patatas bravas, tortillas...

Which restaurants does tourism choose?

— Tourists do not choose quality restaurants, because the volume of tourists that come to us does not come with money to spend on restaurants like ours. They eat a slice of pizza or a frankfurter that a Chinese person has made for them while sitting on a bench on the Rambla. Tourists who can afford it go to Michelin-starred restaurants, and those in the middle, which is me, do not. Post-Olympic tourism has never had the level of purchasing power that we had in 1992. Now we have it, and we have a lot, but it is a different story. I also think that in Barcelona there is a lot of supply.

Ca l'Isidre is close to the Rambla.

— And we suffer from this location because, due to the type of restaurant, we should be located near other areas of Barcelona. I have considered it on several occasions, but the economy and also the pandemic have made me realise that no, I must stay here. And look, we have clients, especially businessmen, who tell us that they find it difficult to come to the neighbourhood because of the danger.

And what do you tell them?

— I don't agree, because in Barcelona they steal everywhere. You can be robbed at the door of the Hotel Majestic itself; I'm not making this up, it's happened. My father always went to the Boqueria loaded with bills to pay suppliers when he worked here, and nothing ever happened to him. So the danger, in Barcelona, ​​is everywhere, and it's not concentrated in the Raval.

Explain to me what you mean when you say that you haven't changed the location of the restaurant due to economic reasons.

— Ca l'Isidre is ours, my parents'. I pay rent for them, but it is a reasonable rent. This helps me to maintain the prices of dishes that are of high quality. So if twenty years ago eating at Ca l'Isidre cost one hundred euros, now it costs eighty. I promise that there is no menu in all of Barcelona with the dishes that we prepare, with such quality, that has that price. We adjust the prices a lot because Barcelona is not Madrid. In Barcelona, ​​many workers no longer have those meal tickets nor are there so many company meals. All of this is more under control for employers. Before, they would come five or even six days for company meals; now they come two. So, to adjust the price, I have taken into account the concept of economy in a global way. It is also true that we do not provide parking service, which is not necessary because there are plenty of car parks around, which also affects the cheaper prices.

Does the tasting menu cost eighty euros?

— We don't have a tasting menu. There is a menu; therefore, you can come and eat for forty or for eighty, because everyone chooses what they want to eat and what they want to spend. Years ago I made tasting menus, I had an extra cook to have them prepared, and then people told me they wanted to eat a la carte, so those dishes and that cook's salary went to waste. These prices, I insist, for the quality we offer are low; in Madrid there are queues in restaurants that do not offer such quality and where the menus cost twice as much.

What dishes are on the menu now?

— Since it's winter, we have dishes like lentils and haricot beans, which is the season. We also have artichoke salad; squid with eggs; meatballs; chickpeas stewed with chorizo ​​and ham; veal cheek; tripe, brain in black butter; Rossini steak, which can have either truffle or foie. By the way, the brain dish costs eighteen euros. That's why I was telling you that everyone chooses the dishes to make the menu they want to eat and the price to spend. When I make groups, they tell me the price they want to spend, and then we do it for them. Today I have a group of ten people who have asked me for dishes with truffle, and we prepare it for them for two hundred euros per person.

Núria, apart from Ca l'Isidre, do you work in other places?

— More and more, I am being hired as a chef at home. With the pandemic, with the difficulty of people coming to Ca l'Isidre, I promoted it, and I still do now. I go to homes and also to business centers to cook for them.

A reduction in working hours has been approved.

— Incredible. The government has never worked with the hospitality industry; it has never understood it. When the reduction comes, it will mean that we will have to pay the costs out of our own pockets, because we will not raise the bill to the customer to say: "The price of the meal has increased because we now work fewer hours." This job is very demanding, and we know it when we get down to it. Daily normality, fourteen. I am one of those who is always in their business. When clients come, they always see me, like Jordi Vilà does..

Finally, Núria, what are your dreams? What would you like to do in the coming years?

— To finally turn the restaurant around after everything I've been through. To improve every day, to analyze my defects in order to improve them. To increase the number of people who come to eat at Ca l'Isidre, to spread the word that The philosophy of Ca l'Isidre without Isidre Gironés, my father, is the same as always. Fighting to ensure that historic restaurants like Ca l'Isidre do not leave the city centre. These are my goals, and I work on them every day. I don't have continuity, because my son doesn't want to dedicate himself to it. I am the one who has to do it, and that is what I do every day. The only day we close is Sunday.