Bruno Balbás: "The pandemic made us more Barcelona residents"

Bruno Balbás is not good in the kitchen, something he realized early on, "when I was studying cooking and saw that I didn't have that gift." He laughs explaining it, because he is one of those people who know that the substance is close by. And if paradise is not in the kitchen, it must be in the act of attending, serving, welcoming in an establishment that, for him, "is a factory of happiness, because the idea is that, when you come to eat, you leave aside your worries, your problems, and enjoy good service, good food, a good moment." 12 years ago, he and the woman who ended up becoming his wife and accomplice, Sofía, planted the seed of what ended up flourishing as Banco de Boquerones: a restaurant group of an eminently Barcelona character that today has nine establishments, such as Casa Rafols, Casa Lolea, Sophie, Bru or Club 61, with an average staff of 160 employees and a turnover that, with a bit of luck, will reach 10 million euros by the end of the year.

Their most recent milestone has been the reopening of Casa Leopoldo, the mythical eatery from which the group recovers the menu and, above all, the essence as a piece of the sentimental life of this city. Because a place like this deserves to continue being much more than a pretty backdrop for guiris and expats to eat well. Because it has to remain in the gastronomic, social and cultural focus of Barcelona residents. Bruno Balbás laughs, yes, because he and Sofía have a mission. And it's going well for them.

--- What made young Bruno feel inclined to dedicate himself to restoration?

--- When I was a child, I was madly hooked on the series Hotel and I was absolutely clear that when I grew up I was going to be the director of a big hotel. So I decided to start with what I thought was my vocation which, naive me, I thought was cooking. But after two years of studying it was already evident that it wasn't my thing, so I moved to the dining room. And that was a great discovery, because at first I thought I wasn't going to like it and, suddenly, I saw that a world opened up to me that I fell in love with from the first minute.

--- Did you then give up the idea of hotels?

--- No way, I went to the Canary Islands to study Tourism and I still had the idea of being a hotel manager, but little by little I started to see that what I really liked was in restaurants. And then I had the opportunity to join Planet Hollywood, which was super professional. Everything was very well analyzed, measured. That was like a second university. There I really learned to manage restaurants. After Planet Hollywood, in 1999, I was given the possibility of going to manage a ski slope restaurant in Andorra, and off I went with everything I had learned in my previous stage. The same methodologies and work system, and that was a success, because after Andorra I went to Aragon, and there I managed five resorts: a total of 35 restaurants. It was crazy! Then, in 2012, things changed.

--- What happened?

--- Two things happened. The first, that a group of friends and I decided to start our own business, and we launched the Lolea sangria. In parallel, it happened that Sofía, who was going to be my wife, opened Elsa y Fred with her sister, which we could say is the first restaurant of our group...

--- I don't know if you got the name from Marcos Carnevale's eponymous film…

--- Yes, yes, it was named that because it was Sofía's mother's favorite movie, who had died of cancer shortly before. It's a tribute.

--- And that's how your group was born?

--- The group as such was born in 2015, when I opened Casa Lolea as a result of the brand's success. There, Sofía and I already saw that it made sense to join forces. This is how Balcastro was born. And then, from 2018, which is when we sell the Lolea brand, I concentrate on the restaurants. On the other hand, the link with Lolea is still there, because we continue to advise them, but it is no longer my property. At the same time, its sale has allowed us to have financial muscle to move forward with the group, open new restaurants like Can Framis, Sophie, La Pepeta... and face the hard blow of the pandemic.

"We understood that what we want is to make factories of happiness, yes, but that they are from Barcelona! We have no plans to go abroad right now"

--- We didn't disappear by a miracle, and above all, as I tell you, thanks to the muscle of Lolea's sales. Because we had been working for ten months with the opening in Madrid and Miami was already a disaster. Even though the world was stopped, we were made to pay a penalty for not opening on schedule. We also had an opening project in Amsterdam that we didn't even push forward. But it's also true that the pandemic made us look at things from another perspective. It made us more Barcelonian.

--- What do you mean?

--- We told ourselves "let's look for our origins," and we realized that growing abroad is great, but where we are really comfortable, the place we really want to pamper, is our city, our home. The nature of our group changed. We understood that what we want is to make factories of happiness, yes, but that they are Barcelonian! So, in fact, we have no plans to go abroad right now. Barcelona and, perhaps, with time, its province. And maybe now I'm getting a little romantic, but Sofía and I are very excited to think that our daughters will inherit this someday.

--- And what about changing the name from Balcastro to Banco de Boquerones?

--- It was Sofía's idea, she didn't like the previous name at all and wanted to change it. And we spent a year listening to proposals and thinking about it. Among other things, because at first I was very reluctant. But in the end we stuck with Banco de Boquerones, because it has humor and is very Mediterranean, and the truth is that it's a name that has also made me fall in love. The name, and the claim: The Barcelona that is eaten and drunk. I love it!

--- Tell me about Casa Leopoldo. How did the opportunity to revive the mythical place on Sant Rafael street arise?

--- Like the best occasions, it arose by chance. The truth is that we had already looked at it when Rosa Gil, the historic owner, sold it. But then we were just starting out and it was too big for us. Think that we hadn't even sold Lolea yet. So we already had the desire to run this restaurant.

--- And what happened?

--- The fact is that, after Rosa's sale, it changed hands a couple of times and one day in 2023, passing by, as I told you by chance, I saw that they were hanging the For Rent sign on the door. I didn't think about it. I asked and immediately we deposited a down payment. From there, we spent months talking with the property, negotiating, getting to know each other, explaining our project, our commitment to this piece of Barcelona's history. And we all convinced each other that we were going to do something beautiful. And here we are, because it has become a bit the apple of our eye. In a restaurant where when you enter it's as if the walls were talking to you, telling you a thousand stories, a thousand characters of this city.

--- How has it been since the opening?

--- Look, it's only been open since March, but Pedro Sánchez and Collboni have already eaten here, and when they called us to tell us, we thought it was a joke, and no, it wasn't! We also love to see how an infinity of people return to Leopoldo for the first time since Rosa Gil transferred it and tell us anecdotes about this woman and this restaurant. Recovering the investment and making it work is, certainly, a long-distance race, we have to let the city know that we are here, and we have to continue betting on the Raval, but we are very happy.

"Everything we earn on November 30 will be donated to those affected by the DANA"

No, no, Sofía and I are alone. We don't want to work with funds or with family offices. Our muscle, in addition to the sale of Lolea in 2018, is based on bank financing and a very committed team. It's true that we went through very tough periods. There are moments when you wonder how you ever thought of getting into this madness and you throw your hands up in despair. But, deep down, we feel comfortable. This is ours and one day it will be our daughters', and that allows us to make decisions completely independently. About product, about hiring more staff, about the style of restaurant we want to do. An independence that is incompatible with funds that only see a profit and loss statement and act exclusively based on it. We don't want that pressure, because it would prevent us from promoting things like, for example, what we are going to do on November 30.

--- What happens on November 30?

--- Well, everything we earn that day, 100% of our collection, we are going to donate to those affected by the DANA in Valencia. Be careful, we are not talking about profits, but about all the cash we make. Can you imagine how an investment fund would react to such a decision? They would tell us no way, but we cannot stand idly by. And note that the banks have told me that we are going to make a mess. "Bruno, you're going to make a mess," they told me. But what cannot be is that there is a tragedy like the one thousands of people have experienced 300 kilometers from home and we all look the other way.

"In 2025 we are not going to open more premises, and we are going to concentrate on the growth of our newly inaugurated catering service"

--- Because it coincides with the 29th, there is a benefit concert with Serrat and other artists and, the truth is, we would have liked Barcelona to have been more involved with this. To make a solidarity weekend with DANA, each one to the extent of their possibilities. Bars, restaurants, concert halls, clubs… it would have been nice. Be that as it may, we are going to make this donation, and we can do it because we don't have any partner who prevents us from doing so. On the contrary. Since we announced it, we have received nothing but support, from the notary who will not want to charge his fees to many of our workers, who have asked us to work overtime to give all their support, without charging.

--- And how does 2025 look for Banco de Boquerones?

--- It's going to be a year of digestion, after so many openings, including Casa Leopoldo, which is still in marathon phase. We come from a difficult year, with many expenses and a summer in which the America's Cup did not quite work out as we expected, which is a shame. We are not going to open more premises, but we are going to concentrate on the growth of our recently inaugurated catering service, which already has a name: Volando Vengo.

--- Very good name.

--- And the catering, I don't even need to tell you!