Sustainability 'most normal thing in the world' for top Catalan chef 

Catalan chef David Andrés is a busy man. 

During the week he works at Via Veneto, a classic Michelin-starred restaurant – once a favorite of Salvador Dalí's – in Barcelona's upmarket Sant Gervasi - Galvany neighborhood. 

But he's based in his hometown of Igualada, 60km northwest of the Catalan capital, where he is co-owner and chef at Somiatruites, a restaurant and boutique hotel in the city's old industrial neighborhood of Rec. 

It's a sleepy Monday morning when Catalan News calls in to Somiatruites, but inside, there's already a sense of energy, anticipation, and preparation. Lunch is just a few hours away.   

Luckily David Andrés, in his chef's whites, can spare some time for us. He's in his mid-30s, chatty and wears his achievements lightly: Three-time winner of best young chef in Spain and Portugal, named in Forbes magazine's 30 under 30 list in 2017, eight years as chef de cuisine in ABaC, with three Michelin stars.  

Did he imagine all of this growing up in Igualada? 

"That I would end up being a chef, having a place this this, and that you would be interviewing me? I can assure you, no!" David laughs.  

"Until I was 20 I was the most useless person in the world in the kitchen. I had never cooked in my life, never, nothing." 

So what happened?   

At first, he followed in the footsteps of his older brother Xavier, studying architecture. He liked it, but it wasn't the perfect fit.  

"I searched for something else I could get passionate about, something that connected with my philosophy, that was a little more restless, more artistic," David says. 

"I started in a kitchen, fell in love, and stayed." 

The logic of sustainability 

The prestigious Michelin Guide for Spain 2024 – which celebrated its gala in Barcelona this week – has once again awarded Somiatruites a bib gourmand for good quality, good value cooking, and a green star for sustainability. 

"Sustainability is applying logic to cooking," David says. 

"Now they give out medals for it, it's like we are reinventing the wheel, but what we're doing is the most normal thing in the world, what my grandmother did all her life: eat what the vegetable garden produces each season, eat healthy things, local produced, it's very logical really." 

"What we were doing for the last 30 years was probably not normal, but now we are returning to what was normal for 2,000 years," he adds.    

Family affair 

Somiatruites is a family affair. David's wife Zhou Mengxin is co-chef, bringing ideas and approaches from her native Chinese cuisine to this Catalan kitchen.  

And Xavier Andrés, co-owner with his brother David, is the architect who converted this 19th century tannery into, first, a restaurant in 2013, and five years later, a boutique hotel on the upper floors.   

"Applying these values of sustainability, instead of making a roof with artificial insulation we made a natural covering, with soil and a vegetable garden," David says. 

"When it's the season for tomatoes or other interesting things, it's very cool, and it enriches the cooking at Somiatruites."    

Produce comes first 

They keep hens on the roof too, so eggs aren't an issue, but what if an ingredient for a dish can't be sourced locally or sustainably, are they strict when it comes to sticking to green principles?  

As a chef, David explains, he goes about things in a different order. "We owe the produce," he says. 

"We look for excellent produce and then we think about how we can treat it to make it even better and serve it. The starting point is: What do we have? What's in season and what's best?" 

This is true across the board, from the high-end Via Veneto to Somiatruites, where they have a daily lunch menu for €18.  

"It is all the same concept. What season are we in? It's getting colder now, the first artichokes are appearing, let's go, artichokes. Then you think of a dish, and you have a good chance of success."   

Economic sustainability  

Beyond the kitchen, David sees creating economic sustainability part of the restaurant's role within the town. 

When they started Somiatruites, Igualada was "going through difficult times" after the global financial crisis. 

Opening the restaurant, "a very large space" in a "semi-abandoned neighborhood," was a risk for Xavier and David.  

The name Somiatruites – which means dreamers in Catalan, literally omelette-dreamers – reflects that. 

"We talked about sustainability, about putting down roots," David says. 

"We work with local businesses and suppliers, local butchers, local greengrocers, in order to give life to the town, which was our aim." 

Best prize

When I ask about all the awards, the recognitions, the Michelin Guide, David says of course it's always important, especially for the team, but it's not his ultimate goal. 

"The best recognition you can get as a chef is a big room like this, more than 100 people, filling up for lunch every day, and people leaving happy." 

"By a long, long way, that's the best prize a restaurateur can have." 

Podcast

Listen to the podcast below to learn more about haute cuisine in Catalonia, including a visit to Somiatruites.