Joan Font (Barcelona, ​​1961) takes on the challenge of presiding over the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition when it has only been a month since the death of Carles VilarrubíThis Wednesday, at the traditional game luncheon that the Academy holds at the La Venta restaurant, he will officiate his first act as president, a position he will hold until 2030.

When at the end of the year Carlos Vilarrubí diedSources within the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition (ACGN) had already announced a swift and smooth transition to ensure uninterrupted work on the institution's various objectives. And so it was. Lawyer Joan Font i Torrent, who was already serving as ACGN vice president alongside chef Carme Ruscalleda, has taken over. With a clear commitment to continuity, he was the only candidate and will lead the board until 2030. According to a statement released by the ACGN itself after the appointment took effect, the new president faces the challenge of "defining the entity's new strategic direction, consolidating its position, and continuing its commitment to serving society." Upon being sworn in, Font expressed his desire to "work intensively to build a strong Academy that is a true benchmark of excellence within the world of Catalan cuisine and restaurants, leaders in global gastronomy." He added: "The world evolves, and we must evolve with it. We must continue on the path, begun and followed by the previous president, that will lead us to enjoy an influential, modern, active Academy that is useful to society."

We are a pacifist country, but Catalan cuisine must defend itself. This was proclaimed last year by chef Jordi Vilà when he published the manual with defensive movements., Not an attack, but a counter-offensive against the invasive dishes that dazzle us and make us forget that we have a cuisine documented for over 700 years. This year, the chef of Alkimia, together with the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition, has published a paper calendar, the kind you hang in the kitchen, with the twelve movements, three more than Vilà had planned at the beginning of last year. The calendar is sponsored by Royal Bliss; it's a gift for restaurateurs, and it was presented at the Windsor restaurant, run by Joan Junyent.

Carlos Vilarrubí died early this morning in Barcelona at the age of 71. Born in Barcelona, ​​Vilarrubí was involved in the most important institutions in the country and in recent years was particularly linked to gastronomy, having served as president of the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition since 2016, where he was considered a man of consensus. Throughout his professional career, he dedicated himself to the world of business and banking. He was also a close associate of Jordi Pujol and a key figure in the early days of Convergència i Unió. Once in the Generalitat (the Catalan government), with Jordi Pujol's rise to power in 1980, Vilarrubí was one of the driving forces behind Catalunya Ràdio, where he served as secretary general and deputy director, and years later, RAC1 and RAC105. He was also tasked with creating the Autonomous Entity for Games and Betting (EAJA), the Generalitat's lottery, which never became the large company Pujol envisioned because the State blocked its growth. Even so, Vilarrubí was responsible for launching Europe's first online lottery, 6/49. More recently, he was one of the businessmen accused in the Pujol case of money laundering and attended the start of this trial at the National Court in late November. Throughout his career, he held various positions in the world of finance, insurance, and sports. The financier Javier de la Rosa recruited him as CEO for a major project backed by the Generalitat: Grand Tibidabo/PortAventura. At that time, the park was called Tibigardens. This was the period when both Pujol and his then Minister of Economy, Macià Alavedra, held up De la Rosa as an example of a successful businessman. Shortly after, Vilarrubí decided to distance himself from the project after detecting some suspicious activity. Ultimately, De la Rosa ended up in prison.

The Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition held its grand gala evening, presenting its National Awards. This year, the award went to Els Tinars chef Marc Gascons in the Signature Gastronomy category, and to Els Tinars chef Marc Gascons in the Traditional Gastronomy category. in the charismatic chef who died almost a year ago, Fermí Puig.

Catalonia currently has more than 16,000 active restaurants. But it's estimated that over the last 60 years, there have been more than 500,000 different establishments. How many memories are encapsulated in each of them? What did we eat 30 years ago that we can't find anywhere now? What temples have they left us, even though for a time they were the place where everything happened? What wines were on the El Bulli menu, and how much did they cost when converted from pesetas to euros?

Paul Freedman (New York, 1949) is a professor of history at Yale University, specializing in the social history of the Middle Ages, and particularly in the history of Catalonia and its cuisine. He's visiting Barcelona because the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition (ACGN) will honor him this afternoon as an honorary member. He welcomes me at the hotel where he's staying, and we agree to conduct the interview in Catalan. "I love having people to practice it with," he says with a smile.