It is often said that Via Veneto in Barcelona transcends the great professionals who have passed through what is considered one of the most emblematic restaurants in the country; the oldest haute cuisine in the Catalan capital and the only one to retain its Michelin star since 1975. Great chefs, for years the talented David Andrés, have sought excellence faithful to the rigor and values of the Monje family, who took the command in 1978.
Discretion and humility characterize Josep Monje, who at the age of 16 left Pallars Jussà, where he was born, to carve out a future in Barcelona, and his son Pere, who has been in charge for years. Both are considered links in that path of excellence of Via Veneto, but those who know them know that it is the self-demand of this family that has taken to the extreme the rigor and respect for gastronomy that they have transmitted to their team (some members, such as the maître Javier Oliveira or the sommelier José Martínez González, among others, with decades of maximum professionalism and dedication). And, above all, absolute respect for each diner, many of them lifelong customers.
The history and relevance of the establishment have just been collected in the book Via Veneto. The great restaurant in Barcelona (Planeta Gastro) signed by the Monje family and includes the texts of the journalist Trinitat Gilbert Martínez and the photos of Jordi Play, as well as historical images. A careful volume that has prologues by Rafael Ansón, president of the Ibero-American Academy of Gastronomy, and Carles Vilarrubí, president of the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition, both friends of the house and knowledgeable of the experiences accumulated in the room and the reserved dining rooms where important agreements have been forged and important meetings and leisure meals continue to be held.
The book, which has other contributions from gastronomes knowledgeable about its history, includes not only that story that begins on April 30, 1967, when it opened its doors, at that time thought by Oriol Regàs (soul of Barcelona's gauche divine) as a restaurant with an Italian concept that became a symbol of modernity at the end of the dictatorship; also anecdotes from illustrious diners of art, literature, cinema and many other disciplines (some left dedications for posterity, such as Dalí or Miró).
But Via Veneto. The great restaurant in Barcelona also reflects the importance of a unique room in the world, in which the impeccable staging has always been preserved, finishing many preparations in front of the diner (there is the perfect choreography of the duck à la presse or the virtuosity in the cut of the orange, the hallmark of the house. Via Veneto has always sought harmony between that room cared for in detail and the kitchen from which classics come out that combine with new creations, always elegant and in keeping with the place, like those that have David Andrés was incorporated or as his predecessors, Josep Bullich, Josep Muniesa, Carles Tejedor and Sergio Humada did in their day, achieving that balance between tradition and modernity, without losing sight of the culinary legacy and supported by excellent seasonal products, with Catalan roots and respect for classic haute cuisine.
The book allows us to understand well why Via Veneto, with a space in which constant changes are made to update it without hardly being noticed, is a unique place, with its classicism updated. A place marked by the Monje values of respect, effort and rigor.
