In the heart of Murcia, just a stone's throw from the modernist Verónicas market, there is a restaurant that in just three and a half years has become a benchmark for those seeking authentic cuisine, passion, and conviviality. This is Café Bar Verónicas, run by chef Samuel Ruiz and his wife Isabel Torrecillas. Here, amid tavern banter, delicate dishes, and service that lasts just four hours a day, you can breathe in a unique atmosphere, one of intensity and lightness.
From haute cuisine to the bar counter
Ruiz's story is surprising: at just nineteen years of age, he began his career at elBulli, the world temple of creative gastronomy. Two seasons there taught him method and rigor, essential for transforming ideas into concrete dishes. After experiences at Joël Robuchon in Paris and Dos Palillos in Barcelona, the chef chose to return to his native Murcia. Not to a Michelin-starred restaurant, but behind the counter of a narrow, noisy bar, where he coordinates service like a captain at the helm in the midst of a storm.
Four hours of pure adrenaline
Verónicas is open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch only, for about four hours. A limited time that becomes a race against time: beers to tap, orders to take, dishes to finish, customers to welcome. “In a very short time, we have to feed as many people as possible — says Ruiz in this article in El País — and to do that, you need speed and efficiency”. A pace that at first glance seems exhausting, but which the chef describes as “adrenaline-fueled and even addictive”. Each service is a whirlwind of energy, different from the previous one, made up of new stories, people, and conversations.
Back to basics
Before Verónicas, Ruiz opened Kome, a small Japanese izakaya with only 14 seats per shift. It was a refined and intimate restaurant, still missed by many today. But the chef has no doubts: “I wanted to do something less exclusive, to cook for everyone. To go back to my roots and create a place that was more like my childhood.” Thus Verónicas was born: an authentic bar, with its counter and its buzz, a place where customers can relax, stop by on the fly, or even “waste time.”
A cuisine that follows the market
The secret of the gastronomic offering is its continuous evolution. “The market dictates the course,” says Ruiz. Every day, the menu changes based on what the nearby market has to offer. The chef constantly jots down ideas, experiments, tries and tries again, sometimes for months. The goal is always the same: to offer “two bites that elevate you.”
This is how dishes such as bocata di calamari (with small squid from Santa Pola, smoked cheese, and lemon zest), grilled artichokes with romesco sauce, leek confit with vinaigrette made from its own burnt skin, or the famous caballito di cigala, a reinterpretation of a Murcian icon that has become the symbol of the restaurant, are created.
Desserts with soul
Even the desserts are never mundane: from the classic flan with caramelized walnuts to tiramisu to the poetic “boccone del cardinale” (cardinal's bite), a strawberry sponge cake roll created while Ruiz was reading about the recent conclave. Among the most original creations is the reinterpretation of café asiático cartagenero: a flambéed mix of coffee, citrus fruits, and spices served with spectacular energy directly at the table.
Democratizing bars
The success of Verónicas proves that it is possible to combine haute cuisine with a popular spirit. The restaurant has remained faithful to its identity as a neighborhood bar, but has managed to expand its audience without excluding anyone. “Bars must return to being democratic,” explains Ruiz. “Being trendy or run by a chef should not mean tripling prices. I don't want anyone to be left out: I'd rather have customers come three or four times a month than just once to an expensive restaurant.”.
A winning philosophy
With this philosophy, Samuel Ruiz has transformed Café Bar Verónicas into a creative laboratory for everyone. A place where tradition meets innovation, where Michelin-starred cuisine comes down from its pedestal to return to the people, without losing any of its intensity or quality. Verónicas is proof that great cuisine can be made even behind a zinc counter, without straying far from the beating heart of the city and its market.
