The Caelis restaurant, led by Romain Fornell, turns 20

Chef Romain Fornell celebrated this Monday the 20th anniversary of the Caelis restaurant with a gastronomic lunch alongside some of the most relevant chefs on the national scene. Names like Nandu Jubany, Joan Roca, Carles Gaig, Xavier Pallicer, Paolo Casagrande, Albert Adrià, Rafa Peña, Hideki Matsuhisa, Oriol Ivern, Fran López, Víctor Torres, David Andrés, Javier Torres, Sergio Torres and Óscar Manresa wanted to accompany the Toulouse-born chef in the celebration that took place at the Ohla Barcelona hotel.

"Today is a very special day. When we started this adventure, we could hardly expect this gastronomic project to go so far. We thought about the next service, dish by dish, day by day, and today we complete two decades of an exciting story," explained Fornell, who thanked the unconditional support of his colleagues in the guild.

Romain Fornell opened the doors of Caelis in 2004 at the Hotel Ritz in Barcelona (currently, Hotel El Palace) with a personal proposal that harmonized roots, avant-garde and creativity, combining French and Catalan culinary tradition with innovative techniques. The chef wanted to demonstrate that hotel cuisine was not at odds with haute cuisine. Just one year after opening its doors, Caelis obtained a Michelin star, a recognition it maintains to this day. The Caelis restaurant moved in 2017 to the Ohla Barcelona Hotel, on Via Laietana, a change of location that also meant a renovation of its proposal, opening a new, more contemporary stage.

Romain Fornell was born in Toulouse (France) in 1976. In 1994 he entered the prestigious Toulouse Hotel School where he was chosen the Best Young Chef of Midi Pyrénées. After working in renowned French restaurants, in 1996 he moved to Barcelona as second chef at the La Maison du Languedoc Rousillon restaurant. In 1997 he returned to France to work with Michel Sarran and, later, with Alain Ducasse. In 2000 he opened the Chaldette restaurant in Lozère, where he showcased his creative potential and for which in 2001 he obtained his first Michelin star, becoming, at only 24 years old, the youngest chef to achieve it.

In 2002 he returned to Barcelona, where he has resided ever since, to take charge of the Diana restaurant at the Hotel Ritz, which in 2004 became Caelis, with its own philosophy independent of the hotel. Through the Goût Rouge group, the French chef owns other restaurants in the Catalan capital, such as Tejada Mar, Azul Rooftop Barceloneta, and Café Turó. In addition, he is the director of all gastronomic spaces at the Hotel Ohla Barcelona and the Hostal de La Gavina in S´Agaró.