"A place to turn off your cell phone and relax": the ironic reviews of the restaurant where Mazón had lunch on the afternoon of DANA

Barcelona"Our friend Mazón recommended this place to us. A real success. Tasty dishes and after-dinner conversations over a cigar and a drink. A place to turn off your mobile phone and relax. Good value for money. I would like to show the bill, but I can't find it right now." This is one of the ironic reviews that appear on Google about El Ventorro, the restaurant where the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, had lunch with the journalist Maribel Vilaplana in the middle of the DANA storm, extending the after-dinner conversation until six in the afternoon, with deaths and disappearances in different towns in the Valencian Country.

This central restaurant located just ten minutes from the Palau de la Generalitat has gained unwanted popularity. And the fact is that Ventorro, thanks to its private rooms, was a discreet place where many deals were closed. "We are trying to survive," is what its owner, Alfredo Romero, told ARA. He has declined to speak to any media since it was discovered that the leader of the PP in the Valencian Community was in his restaurant on the fateful afternoon of the DANA. Even now, three months after DANA, he does not want to elaborate and immediately hangs up the phone when this newspaper contacts him.

Romero, who inherited the business from his grandparents and has run it since the mid-nineties, has turned this home-cooked restaurant into a sanctuary of the city's economic and political power. But now it is in the eye of the storm. It was of no use that Mazón two weeks ago described the after-dinner conversation with Vilaplana as "legendary", when she was the communicator. who alerted Utiel of the damage and had it activated. Critical or mocking reviews of the restaurant are very present in search engines. "Meeting place for undesirable people", "Epicenter of Valencian corruption" or "There is very little coverage in the reserved areas. You can be totally cut off for hours" are some of the comments that can be read about the establishment.

To top it off and as expected, the management of the DANA monopolizes criticism and satire in the Fallas of 2025. And in the Príncipe Felipe Museum, where the dolls are displayed until they are taken out onto the streets on March 14, one represents. The work recreates the door of one of the reserved areas, with a sign that says "No coverage. Do not disturb", with hands collapsed in the mud asking for help symbolizing the victims. A menu also appears in the falla. The oxtail from the Mazón cattle farm and the rabbit with onion À Punt de Cocció are the star dishes. Discretion, Ventorro's always seasonal product, has passed away.