Multispherical pesto with eel and pistaccio - @Francesc Guillamet
lucky/unlucky coincidence when they created something which fit in the post-COVID world. “We noticed that a high percentage of guests were not able to wash their hands before eating at Disfrutar,” said Chef Xatruch. “So, we started to create a dish that worked like hand sanitizers in November 2019. That was presented in Madrid Fusión in January 2020.” To be sure, there are still challenges they faced. The business went from 50-50 tourists-local split to a mostly local clientele. It was hard to know whether the customers are all free from the virus. Not only that, consumer behaviors have also changed. “People want to take care of themselves from a health perspective,” he says. “People cooked a lot more at home and maybe someone that didn’t make omelet before can do that now; maybe (even do) more.”
to running the kitchen. They slowly started learning more about running the business. Now they have a total of 70 people working under the two restaurants, as well as a consulting business that helps other restaurants. “If $100 comes in, it’s not like the three owners would get $30 each and travel. The money goes back to the restaurant.” Eduard says. “We are still focused on the 2 restaurants. (We all) go to work in the kitchen every day, it’s very important to us.” When it comes to business, COVID-19 obviously made a big impact on the restaurant industry as a whole. For Disfrutar, it was relatively easy to handle from an operational perspective. The dining space was spacious enough that they only needed to remove two tables for adequate social distancing. They bathroom attendants increased from two people to six. Each team member gets their body temperature checked every day. They also had a
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