Castell de Peralada, 10 years as an icon of Empordà

There are restaurants that seem to have been with us our whole lives. That's why, when the Castell de Peralada celebrated its tenth anniversary this Monday in an intimate party with chef friends, personalities, and journalists from the sector, a question ran from table to table: are they really only 10 years?

It's only ten, but the history of the team that made them possible is so intimately linked to Catalan cuisine, to Empordà, to its people, and to a restaurant that marked the destiny of world gastronomy like elBulli, that it seems it has always been there. That's why, chef Ferran Adrià was one of the personalities who did not want to miss such a prominent celebration. Neither did chefs of the stature of Mateu Casañas (representative of the tandem of Disfrutar and Compartir) or Joan Roca (El Celler de Can Roca). Three chefs who have been (and are) global references of three restaurants that have at some point occupied the podium of the best in the world according to the prestigious list The World's 50 Best Restaurants.

Also present in Peralada, on a suffocatingly hot July night, were chef Paco Pérez (from the neighboring Miramar de Llançà), Joan Jordà and Màrius Jordà (Empòrium), Fina Puigdevall (Les Cols), Joan Juncà (Ca l'Enric), Albert Sastregener and Cristina Torrent (Bo.TiC), along with other personalities from the business world. A night to celebrate, but also to remember the great absence: Xavier Sagristà, the Castell's first chef.

Castell de Peralada: a legacy of elBulli

The history of the Castell as a restaurant begins in 2016, at a bittersweet moment, when a wonderful chef like Xavier Sagristà and an exceptional maître d' like Toni Gerez had to close their restaurant Mas Pau (Avinyonet de Puigventós). Sagristà had been a chef at Adrià's elBulli and Gerez, his trusted man in the dining room and in sommelierie, also trained in the bullinian universe.

It didn't take them long to consolidate their first Michelin star (2017) thanks to a new Catalan cuisine based on necessary technique and local product. Javier Suqué, president of Grup Peralada, recalled during the evening Sagristà's "talent, rigor, and sensitivity" and the deep mark he left and which remains alive today at the hands of Javi Martínez, the current chef.

This night is also a tribute to Sagristà's memory and the legacy he left us.

"This night is also a tribute to Sagristà's memory and the legacy he left us. I want to thank Javi for taking on the leadership of this kitchen with humility and intelligence at such a difficult time, preserving the essence of the project and consolidating its prestige. Also to Toni Gerez, don't ever retire, Toni!", implored the businessman.

The Suqué family connected with Sagristà and Gerez in a very short time. "The offer came quickly and it was a perfect fit," recalls Delfí Sanahuja, the group's winery oenologist, in charge of preparing a selection of special wines for that night's menu.

Good news that firmly consolidated the foundations of a house that was looking for a top-level restaurant from the very beginning. "The family, from day one, was very involved and that is something to be grateful for," Gerez recalled. As an example, he evoked Miquel Suqué, who would call him to announce that ten people would be coming to eat. Gerez would reply: "Well, I'll prepare a cheese bacchanal for you. He was a great lover of life's pleasures and taught us to enjoy them, which is what we all have to do every day. But everyone, eh! Every minute we have."

The maître d' took advantage of Ferran Adrià's presence among the guests to recall the anecdote of how he encouraged them to accept the Grup Peralada's offer: "«The Grup Peralada! The Grup Peralada!», he would tell us. He doesn't remember, but, in reality, Ferran is to blame for us getting into this. Thank you for always getting it right!".

An emotional journey through time with 30-year-old wines

The artist Perico Pastor, whom Sagristà met when he worked as a cook in a psychotherapy center —"someone might call it an asylum," one of the attendees blurted out from the audience—, was in charge of illustrating the cover of a new menu with a selection of dishes from different stages of the house and other new ones that will be incorporated in the form of a commemorative tasting menu titled "Origin·Evolution".

"It's an emotional journey through time with Xavier's figure very present," Martínez explained emotionally during the presentation. "He taught us that cooking is commitment, he showed us the way; his spirit remains alive in every corner of this house."

It's an emotional journey through time with Xavier's figure very present

A legacy that would not be understood without its roots in Empordà: "Our cuisine is born directly from this unique territory; it feeds on its biodiversity, strict seasonality, and the direct and trusting relationship with our local producers, as well as a young team with unconditional dedication." "These 10 years have been very positive, the present is beautiful and the future even more so. I am the grandfather here, I am already old. I have to start slowing down, but we have a very powerful young team with Javi leading the project."

The selection of dishes began with a Letugat, a reinterpretation of a medieval Catalan recipe, and a "pedra" with Palamós red shrimp, accompanied by Gran Claustre, the winery's highest-end cava. The proposal continued with a refreshing scallop tiradito paired with Finca La Garriga Blanc, and a red mullet with seaweed tartare and mollusk vinaigrette, accompanied by a daring rosé made with Syrah from 1993.

"When Javier Suqué took the reins of the winery, he told us that we had to start experimenting and researching. From there, an experimental winery was born where the largest tank was 300 liters. Of this 30-year-old Syrah, only 12 bottles remain, and I opened the last one three years ago," Sanahuja pointed out.

This uncorking caused a sensation in the room, as did the rigatoni with lobster, served with another experimental wine of tiny production: a 1995 Chenin. "It's an even more experimental concept, with a grape variety that is not currently authorized in the DO Empordà, but with which we have worked on some bottles for specific and special occasions like this one."

The crispy pig's trotters with langoustines and Choron sauce —"a dish by Xavi that we haven't wanted to touch at all because it's perfect," Martínez noted— demonstrated the neatness and brilliance of a chef who left too soon. A 2016 dish as relevant today as it was a decade ago. It was served with an EX EX 2 from 1998, an experimental Cabernet Sauvignon already created for the general public and commercialized with the first harvest from the Malaveïna estate. "We only made 300 bottles and four remain in the winery," Sanahuja warned, adding: "Don't be scared, you've been served very little because it has 16.2% alcohol."

"It is the most special estate we have in front of the sea, expressing all the light of the Mediterranean"

The squab with carob and mushrooms closed the savory part, paired with a spectacular Magnum of Finca Garbet 2005. "It is the most special estate we have in front of the sea, expressing all the light of the Mediterranean," concluded the winemaker. The apple, basil, yogurt, and wasabi soup and sorbet (2017), the eggplant with cocoa, coffee, and whiskey (2019), and Vi to Bar (2024) were the selection of desserts that put an end to the evening.

Peralada: one of the best cheese trolleys in Spain

Despite the impressive cheese display of about 300 references, guarded in an adjoining room —the unmistakable aroma reached part of the dining room—, Gerez had his dairy moment with some maraschino cherries with blue cheese and River blue, the best cheese in the world 2019-2020, served directly at the table with a spoon. "We have positioned the restaurant and the world of cheese," he reflected. "I promised myself that we would make a cheese trolley that not even a racehorse would jump over. If we are not the best, we are among the best. We also make cheeses with wine, integrating the world of wine into our cuisine and our desserts. We have a lot of fun."

"We have positioned the restaurant and the world of cheese"

And it's not just the front-of-house team that has fun; so do we and everyone who is fortunate enough to experience a lunch or dinner in this living icon of the Empordà. Peralada is experiencing a moment of authentic enthusiasm at the beginning of summer with a triple celebration. The restaurant's 10th anniversary is joined by the 40th anniversary of the Peralada Festival and the 25th anniversary of its magnificent hotel.