Chef Albert Ventura, chef at Barcelona's Coure, stars in the new episode of the Stay to Eat podcast. Ventura reflects on the difficult times that Catalonia has experienced in recent years and how they have affected the sector, on his need to give back to the city how much it has given us and his desire to take advantage of the international opportunity of the Copa del América. He also questions the role of chefs as businessmen: "We are not good businessmen, but as Guardiola said, if you play well, in our case if you cook well and take care of the restaurant's operations, you will win." That is something that in their case involves putting the customer in the focus, but also by “looking for diners who think like you or who understand the restaurant as you understand it.” Otherwise, he considers, “if you get lost, the client ends up making you the restaurant he wants and not the one you want.”
He also insists that he does not believe that it is necessary to imitate successful models that are unrepeatable, such as Xampanyet in the Catalan capital, because they are inimitable and trying would lead to failure. He recognizes that he avoids the effort to conceptualize and sell ideas adorned with little bows and limits himself to making the cuisine that he would like to find in a restaurant. “And I don't follow trends because I'm very selfish. There is nothing beyond and simple is not interesting, but I am very simple and I am not looking for an interesting or novel concept. I am anti-marketing although they tell me that I do direct marketing when I serve behind a bar.”
Ventura assures that he has never understood the praise of critics. “When I worked in important houses and critics like Rafael García Santos arrived, it seemed like Satan was coming, everyone was nervous and I didn't understand that.” He recognizes, yes, that he has never received a bad review, but that he has never done anything to please the critics.
He also does not hide that as much as he is enthusiastic about his profession, in 20 years there have been difficult moments, although not enough to make him think about “professional suicide.” And he insists that the difficult thing is not to open a restaurant, but to endure 20 years, especially mentally and with enthusiasm.
He explains that he hates the liturgy of restaurants, “I can't stand it, it is very difficult for me because of the way I am” and gives the example of the wine service. “I love wine, but I can't stand the noise that surrounds it, because I have an intransigent streak. When I order a wine I want you to open it for me and nothing else.”
Coure's chef acknowledges that it is not easy to work with him, but explains that many of those who have been part of his team over time thank him for the patience he had in teaching them how to cook. “Because I don't teach how to work, but how to cook, and I have never used a recipe.”
He also explains that it has never hurt him that those who worked with him prospered and opened their own businesses, but on the contrary, “because we did it too.” And he tells of his experience in the well-known houses that he passed through before opening Coure and about sometimes abusive practices that he does not want to judge. “It is a question of two, of perception of situations. I neither defend the employer nor the employee. Each circumstance is different and I am not the one to judge.”
You can subscribe to the Stay to Eat podcast or become a follower through the Spotify, Google Podcast or Apple Podcast platforms. And so every time we release a new episode, you will receive a notification. Thanks for listening to us.
