I interviewed chef Mohamed Quach at his restaurant El Terrat in Tarragona, after enjoying the Olivus menu (€85), one of two he prepares. Located high above the city, very close to La Rambla, El Terrat has a panoramic view of the sea from its entrance. In 2018, Chef Moha Quach opened it with a partnerBut he's been running it alone for a year now. Before he rented the space to open the restaurant he dreamed of, Moha Quach, El Terrat was already operating as a restaurant. "I felt sorry about changing the name; and I kept it when we started our own in 2018, but now, little by little, I'd like to add my name," he says. Perhaps soon, the sign will say Moha Quach-El Terrat. For now, he's already engraved his name on the napkins, white and spotless. The chef is thirty-four years old, this year has won the revelation award at the National Gastronomy Awards and has an endless passion for cooking, especially Catalan, Roman, and romesco dishes, because he was born in the Rif (northern Morocco) and claims that, ultimately, all the peoples bordering the Mediterranean cook in a similar way. Moha lives in Tarragona, but when he arrived in Catalonia at the age of twelve, he settled in Miami Platja, where his mother lives. He has his siblings far away, between France and Germany.

I interview chef David Solé one Monday afternoon, just after service has finished. In the dining room, preparing the tables for the next day, is his brother, Fidel, who tells me he's almost three years older than David. Also present is David's son, who is a cook like his father, and he tells me that on the day I interview his father, he's been working long hours. Between nine and ten, and so they only serve from midday, Monday through Saturday. This is the reality of the profession, which is also a passion, and everyone at Barquet transmits it.