The secret of Can Facundo is not only its rice: it is Jordi
Among rice dishes, memories of Josep Pla and unadorned hospitality, this restaurant has become one of the most beloved in Palafrugell
Can Facundo
- Address: carrer de Torres i Jonama, 118, Palafrugell (Baix Empordà)Menu: with local produce and no snobberyMust-try: Palafrugell riceWine: practical listService: efficientVenue: old-fashionedPrice paid per person: 40 €
There are people who have the talent to make you feel expected. Jordi is one of them. It's not just a way of serving tables or learned cordiality; it's also a way of looking, listening, and always finding the right word. In his restaurant, hospitality is not a gesture: it's a way of understanding life. That's why, when you cross the door of Can Facundo, you feel like you've been there before, even if it's your first time.
Can Facundo is much more than a restaurant. It's one of the names that form part of Palafrugell's memory. It all began more than sixty years ago, when the family opened a small shop there. Over the years, Jordi picked up that legacy and transformed it into a rotisserie. But he didn't stop there. More than twelve years ago, he took another step and expanded the project to turn it into the restaurant we know today: a place where family tradition remains alive but never static, although, like everything, it was hard to get going. The secret, betting on the same traditional cuisine.
Their specialty is rice dishes. Well, actually, rice. Because there's only one on the menu: the Palafrugell rice. And it doesn't seem like they need any more. They prepare it in a casserole, with its own personality, and customers order it almost by inertia.
Before that, though, we'll have a little something to start. We get some bravas that the menu describes as "loaded by the devil," and we can certify that the devil has truly been there. Also, some calamari andalusa style and a broad bean salad with prawns that provide the freshest contrast. Then, yes. It's time for the Palafrugell rice.
"We only have this one on the menu, but it's our hit. Everyone orders it," explains Jordi. And it's not hard to understand why. It's one of those dishes that don't need grandiloquent presentations: just a spoon and hunger. But we are incapable of resisting temptation. We see an entrecôte pass by to another table, we follow it with our eyes like one watches a departing train... and after two minutes, we've already ordered one to share.
The desserts are also all homemade: a delicious flan, a puff pastry filled with angel hair, and an apple pie that closes the meal with that simplicity that always works. All washed down with a Montmar of black garnacha, elegant and balanced.
Customers are loyal to Jordi because he is loyal to each of them. There are some from Palafrugell, from Barcelona, from Northern Catalonia, from France... but they all end up sharing the same feeling: here they are treated as if they were at home.
And this has a very simple explanation. Jordi is the soul of Can Facundo. He enjoys conversing, listening, and making others feel comfortable. He is sincere, natural, and one of those people who don't need to put on a show because his way of being already fills the space.
Josep Pla was also from Palafrugell. And, in fact, Pla had a great friendship with Manel, Jordi's father and founder of Can Facundo.
"My father would bring him his papers, he would stop by the house, and I would accompany him to Pla's. We could spend hours there. Pla was a sponge: he talked to everyone and knew how to get the most out of any conversation," recalls Jordi. He smiles before adding: "I try to imitate him, but I can't manage it. He was a genius at doing that." Perhaps he is mistaken. Perhaps he doesn't write like Pla. But, in his own way, he also masters the art of listening to people.
And this explains many things.