It is logical to think that in a restaurant you eat according to the taste of the cook. The criteria would not have to vary, unless it is the property, outside the kitchen, who sets the guidelines for what it will offer, based on its own palate or on the knowledge of what could satisfy its clientele. This is the case in houses where the restaurateur has a prominent presence, who decides and instructs on the kitchen he wants. Isidre Gironès or Josep Monje, indispensable figures on the Barcelona gastronomic map (both honored by La Boqueria as influential figures, are an example).
The case of the businessman Javier de las Muelas is different, whom we do not expect to find in a single establishment, but we associate with his various businesses and who in those where he feeds does not emphasize the figure of a cook, but instead He prioritizes his trust in an executive chef who goes from one kitchen to another setting the guidelines and controlling the proper functioning of everything.
In his case, it is Iqbal Singh Prince, from India, with whom he has worked for almost fifteen decades. The bartender and businessman, a born entrepreneur (did you know that an average of 3,500 cocktails are sold daily in all establishments?), He is an ambassador for the places he runs and to which he brings his personality and his tastes. And one of them is Montesquiu (Mandri, 56), that old and successful Torremadé family winery that turned 70 last year and where he had his first beers when he was a student.
He acquired it in 2001, years later he expanded it with an important reform and for some time now he has recovered the tapa and cane formula in his bar (for two euros and following the model of its origins, in which each tapa had a specific container). . Although it winks at the spirit of the bars and there is also no shortage of cocktails, the Montesquiu is a restaurant with a wide range that reflects an eclectic cuisine.
What sense does it make that on the same menu there are squid Roman style, wrinkled potatoes, a delicious stew of Santa Pau beans with clams, a classic lobster roll, a pizza, a chateaubriand, a little rice or a classic dessert? ? All. Because that repertoire is a reflection of Javier de las Muelas’ culinary preferences and his travels and experiences.
His taste for things from Cádiz can be seen in those shrimp tortillas or nettles, his weakness for the Canary Islands, in wrinkled potatoes and those mojo sauces that he learned to make there decades ago and that are found in all his places, (like the tortillas or the lobster roll). It also includes a small section of Indian dishes, which change every two days and which are the contribution of the cook, and another of classic desserts, which move Javier de las Muelas because they take him back to his childhood, such as the Alaska cake that has just to prepare in the room.
