by OSCAR SONEIRA
photos by MARÍA ÁNGELES TORRES
D
aniel Lechuga is the chef and
owner of Caldeni and Bardeni
restaurants in Barcelona. His reputation as the meat cook precedes him, but in the social networks many
have regarded him as cantankerous and
unfriendly. Without doubt he is someone
who does not leave indifferent. One of the
things that most caught my attention about
Dani (let me call him this way) is his passion for wine. One of those cooks that are
worried about it, not just on a personal level or for his restaurant wine list, but that
is usually interested in its pairing. One day,
as we talked about that between us, it ca-
me the idea, quickly seconded by Dani, to
create an atypical pairing (punk pairing, as
we discussed by phone) for his meat dishes.
And this was the result. A series of six dishes served at Bardeni and Caldeni, paired
with six surprising wines and a little conversation around them:
-Where is born your passion and taste
for wine?
When we started, we had a sommelier,
but with time I run away a little from haute
cuisine and I began looking for something
more familiar. This meant having fewer
staff and at the end you are mastered in all
aspects of your business: from the kitchen
to the wines which world you enter, but
without reaching frikism.
- And how is that done?
It’s like everything. When you taste what