Jordi Vilà

Jordi Vilà is defining a style of cuisine that totally avoids all those labelling exercises in which, sometimes, we like to venture. His kitchen cannot be classified, it is free of signs of plain modernity and expresses itself through games and furiously current constructions of tastes. His are pressing tastes, intertwined with subtle strokes. He uses excellent products but then subjects them to compromise cooking interventions. He introduces breaking-through details between combinations of tastes that can be easily taken by calm palates and tempting tastes dressed with sober elegance. Vilà's kitchen is a mix of all of this and each client gives his own interpretation.

In any case, we're talking of a kitchen that's defining a new, contemporary classicism, permeable to modernity but indifferent to fashion. The landing-place is certainly one of the most solid, sensible and centred kitchens of the entire Spain, halfway between those who truly practice the avant-garde - who could be counted on the fingers of one hand – and the defenders of a certain culinary calm. Another great merit of Jordi Vilà, however, is that of striking every cord. He dominates high cuisine at the Alkimia - one Michelin star – and he does the same with the most popular tradition at the Vivanda. In love with Italian food, at his Dopo's, he creates unmatched product alchemies and a couple of years ago he dared to leap into the project of a pizzeria. People say Saltimbocca is already the best in Barcelona.

At the end of 2011 he started an adventure that could change the gastronomic scenery of the town. He now directs the Fábrica Moritz, open every day of the year from 6 in the morning till 2 at night. It's the first pub in Spain, founded in 1856. It has now been restored and redesigned according to a project by architect Jean Nouvel, winner of the Pritzker prize in 2008. At the moment, December 2011, the pub only serves dishes and neo-tapas from the Iberian and Alsatian gastronomy. In March 2012 a real restaurant will open in a dazzling place where beer will be produced in front of the clients. In the near future it is possible that Alkimia will move to this same location


Read also:
Alkimia catalana, 3rd July 2011