One year at Celler De Can Roca

My passion for cooking began when I was a child, while I observed and helped my parents during their daily work at the family restaurant, tasting what my grandmother and my mother prepared for my young and inexperienced palate. I gradually grew closer to this world, and more and more fascinated by it.

I remember that one of my favourite games was playing with the fresh egg pasta knead, shaping it in the form of animals and people. I’ve always been creative, as a child, with a passion for art, a vocation that led me to attend the Art school, without abandoning the world of cuisine which, as art, represents a way of expressing oneself. This is why, while I was studying at school, I also attended cooking and pastry classes. It certainly was an important time of my life: it helped me to better comprehend the art/cuisine duo, and to improve my skills when decorating and placing food on the plate.

Once I finished school, I decided the time had come to acquire some new experience and to get to know other realities. Therefore, following my father’s advice, I dined with some friends at Celler De Can Roca in Girona, Catalunya, one of the best restaurants in the world. I was so struck by its simplicity and genius that, once home, I immediately proposed to my father to do an internship in their kitchens.

The year spent in Catalonia was very hard and demanding, but it was certainly gratifying too. On the one hand, the chaotic life of Girona tired me, on the other, everything that I experienced in the kitchens of such an important establishment repaid me for all the efforts. I worked at all stations until they put me in the pastry section, under the attentive eyes of the two masters Jordi Roca and Makito Hiratsuka: they taught me very many techniques to work with sugar and chocolate, which I’m still happily using.

I’m very grateful to Celler for giving me the possibility to live this beautiful experience which has helped me to grow both from an artistic and a human point of view: the competition among young commis, the experience of the chefs and the helpfulness of the Roca brothers have certainly helped my potential.

Euphoric after this adventure, once home, I’ve put heart and soul in the kitchen, trying to create my own personal philosophy. With the help of my parents and my brother, while respecting the tradition and the raw materials of my territory, to which I’m strongly connected, I’ve tried to create dishes that could represent my idea of “cuisine”. For me, in fact, cooking means trying to make it possible for the people who approach my world, to experience what I am feeling.