Chef

Juanjo Lopez: “If my restaurant were for everyone, it would be McDonald’s.”

by:
Claudia Bartoli
|
copertina juanjo lopez

This is a Madrid chef who revolutionized his career by going from corporate to cooking. Today he reflects on the relative value of guides and criticism versus the need to satisfy regular customers—the story and opinions of Juanjo Lopez Bedmar.

The opinion

Juanjo Lopez Bedmar has been a cook and owner of La Tasquita de Enfrente, a Madrid tavern opened by his father, for more than two decades. But Juanjo, who is now in his 60s, did not always dream of following in his father's footsteps by getting his hands dirty in the kitchen. The realization that he wanted to go into the world of food and wine matured in him when the hectic pace of his previous job in the financial sector caused him to suffer several illnesses.

@Alvaro Garcia


It is a long step from insurance executive to restaurateur, and he has walked it courageously by starting afresh as a self-taught chef. However, his idea of cuisine is still tied to a romantic ideal, which, according to the chef, is now leaving too much room for fads and standardization. "Twenty-five years ago, people mainly went to restaurants to eat. Now eating is the last of their concern."

@KIKE PARA


"You always have to think scandalously, make a fuss to stand out. In business models with a lot of finance behind them, they show you approaches that, let's say, are not so romantic. I come from a restaurant system where romance reigned, where the most important of issues was that the customer felt comfortable: all that has disappeared. Today we go straight to the results. It is difficult to find Starred restaurants that are self-sufficient and do not need outside income. It no longer happens like in the old days, when the owner lived off what his restaurant generated. That is not possible today. You must be a businessman. Otherwise, it all falls apart," he says regretfully.


Juanjo describes himself as a purist and speaks of his dishes as simple compositions with a maximum of three ingredients. However, he does not hide his skepticism about debated issues such as zero-mileage products. He says, "If everything in Madrid's restaurants were really zero-mileage, you would have only alfalfa to eat."

Russian salad with caviar @Stefan Johnson


And his opinion of guides?

"What interests me and makes me proud is to see a customer who came for the first time 20 years ago come back and return to my restaurant to feel good and taste good dishes. The guides help us a little bit in the initial stage, but they remain extremely subjective. Other judgments don't matter to me." He concludes, "After all if everyone liked Tasquita, it would be fast food. We are not a place for everyone. Those looking for easy food go to McDonald's."

Source: 7canibales.com

Find the article here

Latest news

show all

We respect your Privacy.
We use cookies to ensure you an accurate experience and in line with your preferences.
With your consent, we use technical and third-party cookies that allow us to process some data, such as which pages are visited on our website.
To find out more about how we use this data, read the full disclosure.
By clicking the ‘Accept’ button, you consent to the use of cookies, or configure the different types.

Configure cookies Reject
Accept