INTERVIEW MR. QUIM MARQUÈS

Job: Restaurant owner and chef of the restaurant SUQUET DE L’ALMIRALL
Country: Balcelona, Spain
Position in Company: Restaurant Owner
Age: 51 years old

– Which values would you highlight about Mediterranean Diet?

I would highlight mainly 3 values:
• The balance and harmony of the food pattern as a whole lifestyle: healthy, socially viable, link to culture and respectful with environment.
• The wellness that it represents. Mediterranean Diet represents a complete lifestyle, not only a food pattern.
• The health. Mediterranean Diet is considered for the international scientific community as one of the healthiest diet of the world. There are many scientific evidences and studies based on its effectiveness against chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, etc.

– Which importance has the territory in a balanced and equilibrated diet such as Mediterranean Diet?

For mi is basic because the territory should never travel so much as it does nowadays. I mean that Mediterranean Diet must be Km0: seasonal and local products. We live in a privileged country in this sense, the problem is that we are not aware about it and we don’t believe it. There is a lack of consciousness around the origin of the products that we eat. That’s why in my restaurant we offer fresh and seasonal products, mainly from the sea.

– Why you decided to devote yourself to the world of gastronomy?

Because of 3 reasons:
• For family heritage.
• For tradition.
• For passion to food and to one of the best professions of the world.

– Personal opinion about Mediterranean habits and traditions

Because of my way of life, 100% Mediterranean, they are incomparable. I defend them to the end. In a gastronomic level, our habits and traditions to share, to celebrate around the table is something wonderful. It is linked to a lifestyle and the background of the Mediterranean people and communities. It means the spirit of the Mediterranean society and so their way of eating and sharing around the table.

– Which Mediterranean tradition would you link to the values of your restaurant?

All of them. Colours and feelings (the blues, the whites, the details that talk about the sea and the fishermen,…) to the pantry, what we cook and what we offer (sea and orchard products, traditional recipes, wines from the territory, etc.).
Suquet de l’Almirall is a restaurant based on traditional Mediterranean Cuisine, mainly from the sea considering the neighbourhood where it is located, and also the ambient is very Mediterranean.