It should have been a tribute in life, but it could not be. Juanito Bayén, creator of the historic Bar Pinotxo de La Boqueria, left by surprise on April 11 at the age of 89, leaving -in addition to a legal dispute between his relatives over the controversial transfer of his establishment- some other pending issues. Among them, attending the presentation of the book that reviews his career, nothing more and nothing less than 81 years behind the Pinotxo bar, or seeing how his figure was placed in the Barcelona Wax Museum along with other characters key of Catalan cuisine such as Ferran Adrià, Carme Ruscalleda, Jordi Cruz or the Roca brothers.
Today, although Bayén cannot be present as planned, he was reminded again. "Juanito will always be a benchmark for the people of Barcelona and an example for the markets," explained the Barcelona Councilor for Commerce, Markets, Consumption, Internal Regime and Finance, Montserrat Ballarín, moments before the book La boquería by Juanito Pinotxo was presented. (Editorial Genco), a work in which multiple professionals have participated with texts, photographs and drawings that not only reviews the history of Bayén, from his childhood helping his mother at the bus stop to his last days serving coffee with his wide smile, but also the history of this iconic market of which Juanito was an international ambassador.
In addition, it contains 37 open-hearted interviews in which Juanito's closest friends explain some of his best anecdotes. Like Isidre Gironès, creator of Cal Isidre, who during the presentation recalled how Bayén received journalists from the New York Times. "He never had a bad word for anyone, never a single yell, and whatever he did, he never gave up on his work."
Carme Ruscalleda, on the other hand, wanted to remember one of her conversations with Bayén. "He always said that everyone came to spy on him to see how he did it. And obviously it was like that, many chefs came to the Pinotxo bar to understand his complicity and proximity."
Other chefs and friends of Juanito such as Carles Gaig, Óscar Manresa or Pablo Albuerne (Gipsy Chef) have also attended the book presentation. They could not be physically there, but others such as Joan Roca, Ferran Adrià, Juan Mari and Elena Arzak, Christian Escribà or Javier de las Muelas did.
After the ceremony at La Boquería, the tribute continued on La Rambla, at the gates of the Barcelona Wax Museum, from where Juanito Bayén continues to smile today. The figure of him, which was commissioned six months ago by the Association of Merchants of the La Boquería Market from the British artist Michael Wade, is reliable, although it lacks the agitation, joy and soul of Juanito to finish seeming totally real.
