Javier Alfaro addresses a hot topic: how can we ensure fair compensation for kitchen staff if customers always want to spend less at restaurants?
The opinion
Javier Alfaro's passion for cooking, as the executive chef of the award-winning tortillas and bravas at Madrid's wildest tavern, is the result of a humble journey, showing that the worth of labor should match the earnings.
Today, Javier Alfaro is the brilliant mind behind the menu at Rosi La Loca, one of the liveliest and most frequented establishments in Madrid's gastronomic scene. Just a few meters from Puerta del Sol, it's a must-visit for tourists. "I am very demanding, I like to try and create new things," the chef stated in an interview with El Mundo. "I feel, and I take, the freedom to do what I want. I try to offer seasonal dishes, but at Rosi, it's complicated: you have to think deeply about what to include and remove from the menu according to the time of year, because we want to continue to be appreciated by a large number of people and, therefore, offer quality at affordable prices. The most expensive dishes are those based on rice, between 32 and 34 euros for two people," explains Javier, emphasizing that the average bill usually remains around 25-30 euros.
Fundamentally, Alfaro's dogma is to start from the ingredient, not the budget: "Sometimes I like to work with a grouper or a turbot and not always with sardines, (less prestigious), even if they are very tasty; therefore, in the menu I can include the product I want, as long as it is at a justified price. You have to think about everything: the mise en place, how long it will take to make the dish... At Rosi, productions are high, the space is not very large, but we have up to 400 diners a day. If we didn't have so many customers, the restaurant wouldn't be profitable".
Concerning prices, the chef speaks candidly. "At the end of the day, a chef earns less than a supermarket cashier, and it's clear that if you don't pay them more, you have to find other strategies. But the point is that even the customer should get used to paying more (to ensure decent income for the restaurant and fair employee compensation, editor's note). Even though the numbers in the hospitality sector may seem exorbitant, my prices remain reasonable for the quality of the offering." And what about the hours? "Our kitchen never stops, it's open from twelve thirty in the morning to twelve thirty at night. This has made it necessary for the team to work eight hours a day on rotation, with two hours of rest and 44 days of vacation."
Despite his extraordinary career, Javier remains humble and grateful for his roots and everything he has learned along the way. Javier Alfaro's cuisine is a celebration of the flavors of the world he has traveled and loves, with influences ranging from Asian to Italian, from Mediterranean to Nikkei. His dishes, like shredded beef rib with beetroot pink bread or smoked burrata with spicy piquillo salmorejo, are an explosion of taste and creativity that win over the palate and the heart of those who taste them.
