“Meeting of people who have fun dancing”, this is how the DIEC defines the word sarau. And now it is also the name of the new restaurant that David García and Pol Velázquez, two Barcelonians and lovers of cooking, opened yesterday at number 11 of Tavern Street, in the Sant Gervasi-Galvany neighborhood of Barcelona. It is Sarau Barcelona and its main peculiarity is that the chefs will be different every month, as the establishment opts for an itinerant kitchen format. For now, Sarau offers dinner service from Wednesday to Sunday.
Initially, the two partners are happy to launch a proposal in the city that, as they have found, did not exist in Barcelona: “There are already restaurants where they cook in front of you, but none that have itinerant chefs who make a tasting menu. We believe we have achieved a groundbreaking format,” Velázquez explains.
How did it all start? “David has wanted to set up a restaurant for a long time and we didn't want a large format or a daily menu due to the investment it entails,” begins Velázquez, one of the two partners. The other partner, García, has traveled in recent years to London, Paris and New York, where he has learned about this type of restaurant, which offers tasting menus for a specific period. Although Sarau's chefs will change, the general coordination of the kitchen will always be handled by Alberto Rodríguez, who has studied in London, Oslo, among other places.
As Velázquez explains, they already have all the chefs scheduled to enter the premises on Tavern Street from now until November. To start, from yesterday until June 28, there will be Ariel McQueen, from Mexico City. However, the idea is for Sarau to incorporate flavors from all over the world. Catalan cuisine will make an appearance with Gerard Blanco, from Barcelona, who will be a resident from July 1 to 19. “Chefs from New York and Venezuela are already writing to us interested in coming,” Velázquez details. Regarding the profile of the chefs, they are interested in younger ones because they want “dynamic chefs who might like adaptability.”
To taste an autobiographical menu
At Sarau, you don't just go to eat; you have to go with all your senses awake, as each meal is an entry into an "autobiographical menu": "The chef serves the dish in front of the clients and tells them who he is, what he has cooked and why, and that pleases them," he details. These are the sensations they have received in recent weeks, when they have prepared private menus for friends and family. It should be noted that the venue has a capacity for twelve diners, who always sit at the bar. This intimate format favors, as they say, interaction between chefs and diners.
Finally, the two partners confess that they come from worlds very different from that of restoration. On the one hand, García works in the cybersecurity sector, works in a Pilates center, and has a bikini brand, and Velázquez has dedicated himself to professional sports and is now a salesperson. García's closest contact with cooking is through his partner, whose family works at Restaurant Bonanova (Sarrià-Sant Gervasi). Both they and the Olive Slow Foods Group have helped them with the start-up, especially with the selection of chefs. "We can't stand still," they conclude.
