I interview Sílvia Subirós i Mercader near the office where she works, in Barcelona. She tells me that her son is three years old, his name is Guiu, and between work and family, she has snatched time from time to write the biography of her grandfather, Josep Mercader. The creator of the Motel (Cal·lígraf). It is a book like no one has ever written it because she has been able to access unpublished material: recipes dictated by word of mouth by her grandfather and especially the films he had recorded. A large part of this material was already used for the documentary La cuina dels homes. In the book, there is the information that she could not fit in.

At the Hotel Almadrava, located on Almadrava beach in Roses, the sea and sky are the landscape that captivates your eyes at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's as if you're inside a painting with all shades of blue. Restaurateur Josep Mercader liked this landscape when he built the hotel, and also because it was close to his hometown of Cadaqués. This is the assumption made by his four grandchildren (Albert, Jordi, Lluís, and Sílvia), his daughter, Anna Maria Mercader i Baret, and the son-in-law, the great and wise cook Jaume Subirós (Figueres, 1949). Together, they have preserved the legacy of the man who lived life to the fullest, worked tirelessly in restaurants in Girona and France, and founded two hotels: the Motel Empordà in Figueres and the Almadrava in Roses. Next year, in 2026, he would have turned one hundred. His son-in-law, Jaume Subirós, has worked at both hotels longer than his father-in-law did—sixty-five years, which is exactly the same age as the Motel Empordà and ten years less than the Almadrava. His children work with him in management, in the kitchen, and in the dining room. And his youngest daughter, Silvia, is making films and writing her grandfather Josep Mercader's biography. Together, they form one of the great families of Catalan cuisine.