It is a spring Saturday, it is twelve o'clock noon sharp, and the chef Joan Roca sits at one of the tables at bar Normal, located in Plaça de l'Oli in Girona, opposite the Normal restaurant. Ten minutes later, all the tables are full. The bar Normal was inaugurated just a few weeks ago, and it is clear that they have succeeded again with an informal offering, which can serve for having a vermouth (they always open at twelve noon) as well as for all other meals of the day. Bar Normal has its own kitchen, but they share the wine and beer menu with the Normal restaurant, so you can have some fried potatoes with chipotle sauce, which are Joan Roca's favorites, with a good Catalan wine from Empordà, as is fitting where we are, or from Burgundy.

Journalist Lakshmi Aguirre, author of the article Rocío, tapas and sushi or the silence of Itamae has won the award for best gastronomy report of 2024, awarded by the Roca brothers, co-founders of the Roca Awards along with journalists Toni Garcia and Òscar Broc. The award was announced to Spirit Roca de Girona restaurant, located inside the Sant Julià Castle, in the town of Sant Julià de Ramis.