Voyage
THE CHEF
In 1999, Eduard Xatruch met
Oriol Castro and Mateu
Casañas at elBulli, where they
went on to be joint head chefs.
When Ferran Adrià closed the
restaurant, the three kept the
band together and opened
Compartir (“to share”) in
nearby Cadaqués in 2012.
In late 2014, they followed it up
with the opening of Disfrutar
in Barcelona, gaining a Michelin
star in their first year.From top:
Mercat Santa
Caterina;
Tickets;
sea bass
at Lasarte;
EixampleClockwise from
above: Alkimia; Martin
Berastegui; tapas at
Dos Palilos; DisfrutarEDUARD XATRUCH, OF COMPARTIR
DIFFERENT TOQUES We are used to working as a team.
We work as one but with three brains, six eyes and
three palates. Compartir focuses on small dishes for
the whole table to pass around. It’s relaxed and not
high-priced, but the flavours are very important to us.
We don’t want you to say “wow!” when you walk in the
restaurant; we want you to be impressed when the food
arrives and by the service.
LOCAL & WORLD Catalan food is part of all our cultural
histories – for example, our first thought would be to
cookwitholiveoil,notbutter.Ourregionalseasons
are very important: you can eat pine nuts all year
round,butinlatespringtheyaresomethingmagical–
they are tender, like caviar. But we take influences and
ingredientsfromaroundtheworld–Japan,Peruand
Great Britain.
STELLAR LINE-UPWe a r e l u c k y t o h a v e s o m a ny g o o d
Michelin-starredrestaurantsinBarcelona.Ilike
Alkimia,ithasacleancuisinetomatchtheinterior,
butJordiVilàcookswithrealauthenticityofflavour.
Martín Berasategui’s three-star restaurant in Lasarte
is perfection in the kitchen and it’s a beautiful dining
room.OuroldbossestheAdriàbrothers’Ticketsis
agreatplaceforafunevening.Dos Palillosis another
less formal place – Albert Raurich produces wonderful
Asian tapas dishes.
CHEF’S DAY OFFIfIhavetime,Iliketogotothelocal
markets.Forme,thebestisMercat del Ninot,right
next toDisfrutarin Eixample, butMercat Santa
Caterinaisgoodtoo.Alternatively,Igoforbreakfast
that turns into a long lunch atGranja Elena,a
neighbourhood deli-restaurant in Zona Franca.
disfrutarbarcelona.com; compartircadaques.comMay 2018 | http://www.boatinternational.com226