El Cafè del Center (Girona, 69), a house with more than a century of history whose gastronomic proposal has been in charge of chef Víctor Ferrer since 2022, has just received the National Award for Centenary Commercial Establishments awarded by the Generalitat of Catalonia. The recognition coincides with the 150th anniversary of this modernist establishment, which opened its doors for the first time in 1873, although at that time it functioned as a casino.
Agustí Bel, third generation of the family that has run the establishment since its beginnings, transferred the family business to the Confiteria Group of Lito Baldovinos and Enric Rebordosa in 2021, when it was rehabilitated with success and respect for its origins.
Inside the space, the pavement of black and white square tiles, the four cast iron columns, the modernist garlands on the ceiling and the old casino clock were maintained, among other references that many patrons were grateful for being respected. The carpentry of the exterior façade was altered, losing its characteristic brown color to recover the original green.
Personalities such as the journalist Montserrat Roig, the politician Pasqual Maragall, the actress Julianne Moore and the writer and gastronome Manuel Vázquez Montalbán have passed through the white marble tables of this century-old café, which are also original.
The history impregnated on the walls of the establishment is already worth a visit, but also the signature tapas that Ferrer (chef of the Betlem restaurant) makes there, such as the eggs mimosa with diced red tuna, ginger mayonnaise and bottarga; the black sausage and caramelized onion dumplings or the roasted leeks, accompanied by cured meat and hazelnuts.
Sabina’s followers should also know that the video clip for the single “Y nos gave las ten” (1992) was recorded in this space. Do you remember the love scene between the singer-songwriter and a waitress at the bar?
The Generalitat has also awarded centennial spaces in the city such as Mercat del Clot (Plaça del Mercat, 26) and Mercat de Sant Gervasi (Pl. de Joaquim Folguera, 6), as well as other businesses distributed throughout Catalonia.
This 23rd edition of the awards has also included a posthumous recognition of Joan Bayén (Juanito), former owner of the Pinotxo bar, who spent almost 80 years behind the bar and became an iconic character in the Boqueria Market. Recently, the establishment now run by Bayén’s nephew, Jordi Asín, has moved to the Mercat de Sant Antoni.
At the awards ceremony, the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonés, vindicated the importance of local commerce, stating that “it is not just doing a job, it is having a vocation, a job, and a will to persevere in times that sometimes Sometimes they are really difficult and complex.
He also highlighted the culture of effort, a culture that “we have to transmit to future generations, not only of merchants and those who work or run establishments, but of society as a whole.”
