It's Saturday at noon and Girona has a game. Míchel's men usually play this season at a schedule that is completely incompatible for the Roca brothers, who are in full food service. “Due to our work we can't go to Montilivi much, only on some Sundays, which is when we have the restaurant closed, but we always follow it in one way or another,” explains Joan Roca, chef at Celler de Can Roca. “What he doesn't say is that he always has an iPad in the kitchen to follow the games,” reveals his brother Josep, the wine waiter, who declares himself the most passionate of the three. So much so that he immediately monopolizes the conversation and is encouraged to speak. “Normal, they play very well and on top of that they win,” he exclaims. Then Jordi also adds, who highlights how the mentality of many Girona residents is changing. “No matter how prudent we are, this team allows us to dream. They are showing us that we can win the League, like Leicester, and compete in the Champions League next year,” acknowledges the family pastry chef.
In contrast, Joan, “the most judicious of the three”, in the words of his brother Josep, considers that “we have to go step by step and with permanence practically guaranteed, the next objective has to be the Europa League.” The Roca brothers like to talk about football outside the kitchen, but also inside the kitchen, where they spend half their lives, because they always try to be there. As Joan explains, “people make an effort to come home to eat and, if we are not at a conference or traveling, they will always find us.” In fact, it is common to see them coming out to greet diners. “Now we talk about Girona more than ever with everyone and, to me (Joan), several chefs and colleagues from all over the world constantly write to congratulate me.”
“I suppose they identify Girona's triumph with the Girona reference that they know,” comments singer Gerard Quintana, although he now lives outside of Catalonia. “A similar thing also happens to me with a man I met during the last move I made. He now writes to me every week on WhatsApp commenting on the play. And he's not the only one. Because this good moment in Girona has also allowed me to reconnect with old school friends with whom he had lost contact. We have a group where we only talk about football,” explains Quintana, a regular at Montilivi since he was little, when “there were a hundred of us, including my cousin and a neighbor with whom I always used to go to the field. With that scratch that he put in...”, he remembers. The former leader of the Sopa de Cabra no longer visits Girona as much, but unlike the Roca, work does not prevent him from watching the games. “I look at them all, if necessary after the concerts. And it gives me so much to know the result. Because I enjoy the game so much that I swallow them whole,” he says.
The current Minister of Research and Universities, Quim Nadal, does not miss any of them either: “Now I am going to the stadium to enjoy this dream. You have to think that it has taken me 70 years to see Girona in the First Division, and I envy my grandchildren who have been lucky enough to do so when they have not yet turned 20." This explains why now in Girona the children do not belong to any other team than their city team. “Girona is the one that plays well, the one that entertains, the one that encourages and pleases, even those who have Barça DNA. Today while I was having breakfast at the bar I heard the owner talking to a customer about how badly Barça had done against Shakhtar, in contrast to how well Girona is doing in all their games. And that was unthinkable a while ago,” reflects the former mayor of the city. “And all of this is also thanks to the good performance of the new ones and the step forward that some of those who were already there have made, like Aleix Garcia, whom I saw this week you even gave him a green light in La Vanguardia!” Nadal exclaims.
“Obviously you can win the League, but I don't think it's a milestone that Girona has to set itself as a goal. In that I very much agree with Míchel's coherent speech.” And no one disputes anything with the Madrid coach. Nobody can do it. He is the man of fashion and the fans are in love with him. “He has adapted perfectly from day one and with the language he immediately won us over. He is close, always willing... Personally, now that I have just retired from football, I asked him if he could attend their training sessions to see how they worked, and he welcomed me with open arms. So I can say that I have had the luck and privilege of seeing the day-to-day life of this group firsthand in recent weeks,” says Eloi Amagat, former captain of Girona and the only club player who has worn the red and white shirt since 3 .th Division to First. “These days I have looked, I have listened and it has been non-stop learning. I have seen a fantastic group of people, who transmit joy and who believe in it, who see themselves capable of anything. And being ambitious. Because the other day after tying at Sadar, Dovbyk quickly went to get the ball into the goal so as not to waste time and try to win. Details like this are very significant,” emphasizes Amagat who is still cross seeing how the city of Girona is also recognized for its football and not only for basketball. And now the two coincide in the elite for the first time.
“From basketball we are very happy that the football team and the name of Girona are at the top. That is also a source of pride for us,” says Stefi Batlle, CEO of Bàsquet Girona. “It is this Girona pride that we talk so much about and to which we have to add women's basketball with Uni Girona, roller hockey or skating. Few cities this small can say they are at the highest level in so many different sports.”
For Batlle, this football success does not harm them. “We don't live it like that. Let's not compete. It adds more than it subtracts and the impact of the promotion of the two teams on the same day and a few hours apart was brutal.” For the general director of Bàsquet Girona, Girona FC is a good reference to verify that “if you work well, the fruits end up arriving. We, with Marc Gasol at the helm, will now celebrate a decade since we landed in the city, first betting on grassroots basketball and just a couple of years ago with the senior team consolidated in the ACB. But we can't run. We have to go little by little.” Just like in life. And in the kitchen. Because if we have learned anything in the Roca brothers' kitchen, it is that each dish takes time. Everything has its cooking point. And they are endorsed by three Michelin stars.
