BARCELONA
INTERVIEW JAZMIN CASTRESANA / PHOTO JAVIER LORITE
If there is one word Jordi Cruz repeats time and time again in the course of this interview it’s “complex”. Yet he is not necessarily addressing the complexity of his cuisine or an insurmountable hurdle in his auspicious professional career, but the decisiveness, commitment and clarity with which he approaches each project. Needless to say, and despite the circumstances, his outlook is always positive.
Born in Manresa, the man who boasts the title of chef at restaurants L’angle de Sant Fruitós de Bages and ABaC discovered his talent early on. “As a child, sometime between the age of 7 and 10, I realised I was good at cooking, and bad at everything else; that is, I could make it a trade, a hobby”, he explains.
Now 33 years old, Cruz’s career, while still burgeoning, has been intense. At 17, he was already a head chef with 10 cooks under his command.
At 25, at the helm of the restaurant Estany Clar, he claimed his first Michelin Star and, in the process, became the youngest chef to receive this distinction. In 2010, he took over from Xavier Pellicer as head chef at ABaC and, thanks to his impeccable management, managed to recapture the Michelin Star in jeopardy following the previous chef ’s departure.
ABaC Restaurant has been awarded by the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy as the best restaurant in 2011. nomy. At ABaC , we prepare cuisine influenced by the tradition Xavi left behind and which revolves around top-quality produce handled with great respect. We’re artisans, and, with the philosophy of equal parts tradition and creativity, gracefully incorporating the two, we aim to make this produce shine on the plate. What do you expect from diners who sample your dishes?
We work to ensure our customers eat exceedin-
gly well, and that what they eat is delicious. After that, if we surprise or elate them, great. But that’s not our ambition. In today’s day and age, we’ve all seen so much that surprising people is complex. The concept of “sustainability” is intimately linked to your cuisine...
The word “sustainability” is the solution to a lot of problems. It’s like we said earlier: aiming to always surprise isn’t sustainable, but cooking well and preparing great food is. Nature is sustainable, because it produces what it can produce and that’s it. Us humans should try and think along these same lines: consume what we can consume. What are your expectations for the year?
I don’t have any. I stopped having expectations after my first Michelin Star and with the ability to manage teams. Now it’s time to consolidate our current projects, especially ABaC . Spain’s current economic climate is dreadful, and there isn’t room for 20 large restaurants. Therefore, our goal is to just keep it going. And if ABaC happens to receive its third Star, that would be a dream come true. I’m also thinking about writing an open online book, where you can post recipes and take photos in situ SUMMER 2012
What was the biggest challenge when you took over at ABaC?
ABaC knows no challenges. The one handicap here was perhaps the fact the previous chef had won two Michelin Stars, and the good thing is we normalised the situation. ABaC is a superb restaurant with a fantastic team and infrastructure. So it was anything but challenging. You just do what you have to do: cook to your fullest potential, be consistent and work hard.
How would you define ABaC’s cuisine?
It’s complex, because it’s always changing. I was raised at a time when creativity was becoming the norm. Ferrán helped chefs realise that it’s normal to be creative, although it’s not normal in gastro-