Romain Fornell: "The best thing about Barcelona is its capacity to fall suddenly and be reborn"

Romain Fornell landed in Barcelona at 22 years old with a Michelin star in his pocket that, although it didn't save his career, "it did open many doors," as he himself confesses. That's how he ended up directly at the old Hotel Ritz and, although he didn't know it at the time, he was facing a professional and life experience that would mark his trajectory forever. "Surely,the Ritz experience is what has helped me the most to relativize everything that has come after". And it is that when one spends some time in hell, purgatory seems like a pretty cool place in comparison. "All lgastronomy in general responds to an organized disorder. The kitchen is a very precarious balance because it is a place of pleasure for the diner, something everyone enjoys," says Fornell, and continues: "butthere has to be a military discipline behind it for everything to work". It may be that his stay at the Ritz, where he earned another Michelin star, the first for the establishment, is not the chef's best memory, but it was the moment when he began to gain credibility and prestige. It was from here that things began to happen. "I have managed to transform cooking, which can be very enslaving, into a way of life. One must know how to combine family life and personal life with the professional part. I think I've set it up well so that everything works." These are the words ofcreator of the Goût Rouge group and the starred Caelis, who in this book recounts anecdotes, impressions, memories and, of course, the story of his professional life so that, as he himself confirms, "everything works." In France at the Tablereview essential recipes, such as that ofthe first cream puffs she cooked, which were at home and for his father, something that determined his career despite confessing that he prefers savory to sweet. "The profiterole seems like a very simple thing, but for me it was something magical because by mixing a little flour, egg, etc., suddenly something took shape and meaning. It motivated me, it inspired me."The one of the famous French dessert is followed by many others such as vichyssoise on an ice cube, lobster and celery stuffed macaron or chateaubriand with soufflé potatoes. In the pages of the book, the ingredients of numerous recipes that have somehow marked his professional career are mixed with a series of chapters that narrate his life since he won his first Michelin star at La Chaldette restaurant (Aubrac/Lozère), until he arrived in the Catalan capital. "Barcelona is an exciting, Mediterranean city, it is a beacon, a reference in many fields. The best thing about this city is its ability to fall suddenly and be reborn, and without being a state capital, it is super attractive, it is a whole that you never finish". The love for Barcelona of this French chef who has been here for 20 years is so unconditional that he is one of those who subscribe to the mantra that we will emerge better from this. "Now we are living through complicated times, but this is not forever. And you only get better when you fail, because you learn, so I have a lot of hope in that rebound". Kitchen and life, from hotel to hotelFrom its origins, Fornell's career has been linked to gastronomy, but also to hotels. Another challenge to add to the chronicle of an announced success that today, more than 20 years after his arrival in the city, he can consider fulfilled. "The Ritz was the first big challenge, because at that time there were no hotel restaurants. I think we paved the way for other hotels and today the great restaurants of Barcelona are, for the most part, in hotels. How Romain Fornell has managed to hit the right note to make the harmony between hotelier and restaurateur sound is a mystery, although the chef himself points out that it is a "joint venturebetween one and the other where the hotel provides the space and the chef hisknow howgastronómico". Fornell confirms, furthermore, that since he arrived in Barcelona "I have always been in hotels, from the old Ritz, today in the Ohla with Caelis (1 Michelin star), in La Gavina de S'Agaró… I am very interested in the binomial between a gastronomic restaurant and a hotel". Surely none of this has been premeditated in his business success, but rather it has been step by step, slowly but surely, as he has added other establishments, this time at street level and with a much more casual concept, such as the Bar Turó, Casa Tejada or Casa Leopoldo where he neither commands nor cooks anymore, but thinks more, "because in addition to the stoves, now I have a role as manager so I take care of projecting ideas and giving morale to the team, which is my great challenge."

Now, in addition to the stoves, I have a role as a manager, so I take care of projecting ideas and boosting team morale, which is my big challenge.