The Celler de l’Àspic restaurant in Falset, one of the great food and wine references in Priorat, has closed coinciding with the retirement of its owner, chef and sommelier, Toni Bru Llecha. During the last half year, Bru, who since he was little dedicated himself to feeding others in a family of bakers, has tried to give continuity to the establishment, but has ended up hanging up his jacket without sealing any agreement. On social networks he has already said goodbye to his clientele. During the next few days he does not rule out closing the restaurant permanently, transferring it or having his son Pau continue the business if he finds a partner to run the kitchen.
Toni Bru even stated that “love for the land is the great secret of our work.” And he added that “the cuisine of El Celler de l’Àspic is frank and clean, with local products as the main ingredient and that, together with the use of good raw materials, are the main reason for the good functioning of this restaurant in Priorat. ”. The establishment takes its name from the cold dish, especially meat or fish, which is presented covered in gelatin in a mold.
It also stood out especially for its wine list, with those from the DO Calificación Priorat and those from the DO Montsant as the main protagonists, but also with an outstanding international selection in which the great German wines have shone, one of Toni’s great weaknesses. Bru, or the French and Italians. Toni Bru is proud of the fact that his establishment has hosted great Spanish and also international winemakers, “from Álvaro Palacios to Azienda Agricola Foradori or Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff.”
Its wine list, which has reached more than 800 references, has also been notable for its reasonable prices and for including historic vintages. They have only charged a slight increase over their retail price for the wines, and have offered products by the glass and countless wine tastings, tastings and presentations. He states that they have wanted to “promote wine culture from Priorat”, and recognizes that “we have also grown with the Priorat wine boom”. Toni Bru, for whom wine is “a wonderful world”, was for a decade the president of the Catalan Sommeliers Association in the province of Tarragona. And he opened the 2 Orígens wine bar in Falset.
Theirs has been a cuisine that has followed the philosophy of the international eco-gastronomic movement Slow Food. Its gastronomic proposal has had its roots in Priorat, but maintaining memories of the Ebre Delta. Its menu has changed in each season of the year, presenting seasonal dishes where salads, rice dishes, fish from the La Ràpita fish market have stood out (it has worked for three decades with the same fishmonger), meat and cheeses from the area. or desserts. Toni Bru has been a member of the Tarragona Hospitality Association, the Institut Català de la Cuina and also the international organization of chefs Eurotoques.
Born in Cabacés (Priorat) 65 years ago, Bru has run an establishment that has remained the great reference in the capital of the Priorat region and also in the south of Tarragona. He opened in July 2003 in the Falset-Marçà Cooperative complex together with his wife Rosa Borràs, after running the Amposta restaurant that made him known for 16 years (L’Àspic). In this first restaurant in Montsià, which opened in 1987, its gray rice became very popular, with small cuttlefish ink, artichokes and a Bomba Illa de Riu rice that at that time no one knew about. It was in Amposta, precisely, where he began to discover “the new adventures of Priorat wines.”
Toni Bru affirms that “passion, dedication and ability have made possible the small miracle of being able to find, in a region as small as Priorat, details of great importance.” The concern for constant improvement has been one of his great incentives, personalizing each of his dishes and “adapting them to my criteria and the new times.” Now he hopes to open a place similar to the Basque txokos next spring. It is a private gastronomic society to receive former clients and friends, and also where to occasionally celebrate wine and gastronomic events. The establishment will be located in the first establishment that opened, the former Els Cofins bar in Cabacés.
