Tastes, colours and World Cup

A few short weeks after Casa del Mar was opened in January 2006, I left the restaurant in the capable hands of Adam, my son and Kevin, the head-chef and their young teams, and headed for Spain to conduct further research in Spanish cuisine. Well, that was the excuse I gave them to get away from slaving over a hot stove for a month in the new kitchen. I had enjoyed getting back to cooking, preparing and serving but it wasn’t a walk in the park, being on my feet over ten hours a day, six days a week. 

At the end of my first week in Spain, my mobile rang. The screen said “Adam”. I was reluctant to answer in case the news spoilt the rest of my holiday. 

He said: “200.” I asked him to explain. “200 customers on Saturday night!” He was very pleased that the tapas bar had served so many customers. I was delighted that they managed without me. I spent the second week of the holiday beaming from cheek to cheek. I realised that our third restaurant, like the other two, could now run without me. 

Adam and Kevin certainly deserved a present. I took back a Flamenco dress to decorate one of the walls and a bagful of Paella spice mix which turned out to be inferior to what we used. 

Now that Casa del Mar was up and running, I reverted to going between the restaurants, doing a bit of obligatory admin, offering advice to our teams and during service, meeting diners and picking brains in order to tweak our operations. Restaurant staff and owners often forget that the best way to steer the course of their business is to listen to their captive audience, the customers. Since the beginning, after I finished cooking, I made it a point of walking around the tables to talk and listen to diners and exchange ideas.

Apart from gauging their approval of our business, I often asked them for the name of restaurants they would recommend in the area. I always insisted on visiting those to compare the quality of food and service, and sometimes, even adopt ideas that we could adapt to our own restaurants. If a recommended restaurant did not live up to my expectations, I made sure not to slate it in the presence of the customer who had suggested it. As my favourite Latin motto says: “De gustibus (et coloribus) non est disputandum”. (“There’s no arguing about tastes and colours.”)

That fairly beautiful summer of 2006 brought the World Cup in Germany. I must’ve watched just about every single game of that competition. As I wasn’t stuck in any of our places, I used to pop in to Portofino and help out during the Happy Hour, then slip out and show my face at Casa Del Mar, do a tour of the tables, clear a couple of plates, take a drinks order, hand out a bill. Five minutes before the match, I got in the car and arrived home just as the national anthems finished. If I knew how long it took to cook a medium-rare steak, I knew how to time my escapes. 

If my mobile rang while I was watching a match, I checked the screen to see who was calling me. Football came first. I only answered calls from the restaurants. Everyone else had to wait till halftime.

I turned the television volume down and replied. If it wasn’t an emergency, it could wait after the final whistle otherwise I’d reluctantly get in the car and head back down to the Marina.