Marc Ribas: "When I fall in love, I'm visceral, animal, and brutal."

Chef Marc Ribas says that from heartbreak, he learned that love must be nurtured every day to prevent it from dying. With this idea firmly in mind, he met Berta a few years ago. They've now been together for five years. "We met while working. I needed someone who knew about marketing and advertising to build my brand, and I signed her," explains the chef. It was watching her work that Ribas fell in love. "She's a strong, determined, and intelligent woman. I believe that in a relationship there can be things you like and things you don't like, but if there's no admiration, the relationship won't work," explains Ribas.

"When I fall in love, I'm visceral, animal, and brutal," assures the chef. He also believes his passion is fairly constant. "I feel almost the same as I did five years ago; I'm very stable. With complicity, the carnal aspect, and communication, everything works. Of course, you have to nurture it every day so it doesn't go to waste," he advises. With Berta, he says, they make a very good team. "She helps me land. I'm someone who flies very high and makes many pigeons fly, and Berta balances me out. She's stubborn in a good way: she never gives up and always wants to improve," the chef confesses. For both of them, work is very important. "For us, work isn't a means to earn money and be able to live; it's an important part of our lives. I don't think about retirement; for me, life without cooking or a cooking project wouldn't be the same. I think I need it; I'm constantly cooking," he adds.

At home, he's usually the one who cooks, because he has more time to do it and goes very fast. "I cook and clean at the same time," he says. Love and cooking have many things in common. "Cooking is a primary act of love. I'll make macaroni for one daughter, a sweet cake for the other, and black rice for Berta. Cooking is saying something." I love you", Ribas confesses.

From cooking, he says, we can learn a lot about relationships. "Just as there are dishes that are fast food, there are relationships that can be fast food: You end up regretting having eaten something so unnutritious, or you've messed up and then your digestion becomes heavy and dense," he explains. When it comes to food and love, Ribas champions what is good, healthy, and enriching. "Love is a driving force in my life. Cooking is the vehicle, and love is the driving force," he concludes.