I do not doubt for a second your interest in choosing a restaurant suitable for each occasion.. Nor do I doubt that, in search of the perfect place, you have found the blog of The guy who never eats dinner at home, a space on the internet of infinite gastronomic wisdom. In it, Type classified (Now I will explain the use of the past perfect) the gastronomic proposals of some four hundred restaurants in the city at OK levels, always under three premises: I had to be able to dine for less than twenty-five euros, They were not franchises and had to offer at least one dish that could only be eaten there. The texts were cinnamon sticks, with a humor that mixed clever word games with dick jokes, while he described each of the dishes tasted and what they had made him feel.
Well then, The Guy has left us. It seems he fell over Niagara Falls pushed by a corroded archenemy, definitely, for its undeniable success. The dinner world could have been thrown into chaos if it weren't for Meredith Kibble, your faithful personal assistant, He has compiled all his wisdom in a wonderful book. Applied scenery, of Shipyard Books, It is a manual to learn how to dine out correctly. Why, as The Guy would say, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.”, But give him a beer and he will ask you for a tapa.”. Definitely, This is the most fun book about gastronomy that you can find because, apart from explaining the types of cuisines of the world, differences between Ribera or Rioja, or what are the points of the meat, The Guy gives us tricks to decide who eats the last bite, makes conversational suggestions and, even, reveals what things make us look like garrulas (I will never order a cappuccino after noon again). All this with his particular humor, vulgar and hilarious. After conveying our condolences to Meredith, We talked to her about who the Guy was., about his legacy and the publication of the book. GLORIA POZUELO
Let's start at the beginning: choosing a restaurant. In Applied scenery, The Guy explains that, both influencers as rating pages, They should not be our guide to choosing a restaurant. We know that he defended word of mouth above all else, But... did you also rely on some other means to decide which restaurants to try??
Bueno, The man did not even have his own Instagram. In general, I found all the restaurants on the recommendation of sleeper cells of colleagues spread throughout different neighborhoods of the city, or simply, taking a walk. Pretty analogue all around. Normally I would receive a phone call or a whatsapp from someone who told him: “they have opened this in this direction, "I'll wait for you here with a beer.".
We confess lost, Meredith. Now that he is gone and has left us (as they say) in panties, Where would you tell us to go to choose a restaurant?? Apart from Urban Agenda, of course (wink, wink).
He would recommend them to be attentive on the street and trust anyone who does not gain anything from the recommendation..
At this point, You already know that we are staunch fans of El Tipo and we would have loved to get to know him better. Given the tremendous success it had for so many years, Do you think the pressure of knowing that he could sink a restaurant... or crown it was beyond him??
Bueno, is that he always understood his work as something more informative than critical.. A restaurant sinks or crowns itself, he simply gave them visibility. like i used to say, “Who is destroying the restaurant?”, you for putting a plate of hummus for fifteen bucks, or me for saying that you have hummus for fifteen bucks?” – Shrug – All relative.
Given its tremendous influence on Valencian men and women, Do you think he was loved or feared in the city??
Definitely, he was loved. People always know how to appreciate a good free social service. In fact, even the hoteliers. From more than four hundred restaurants reviewed, barely ten percent were “No Okay” and several of those (like Moflete or Acapulco) They had fabulous reviews and it was specified that it was simply a price issue. He never went to draw blood.
Dipping a little more into flour, that is to say, delving into the countless teachings of Applied scenery: The Guy considered Valencia a good gastronomic city, TRUE? What does our city have? What is missing?
Oh, bueno, Yeah. He was in love with the city. Valencia has everything good about any European capital and can be crossed from end to end in twenty minutes by car.. He loved that in the same city there was so much variety in hospitality. Sometimes he played throwing a dart at a map on the wall and went to eat at a restaurant there.. He loved Camarena and Russafa, but I think—from what I knew him—that he always missed more small places with a personal project, like Giramon. Also a gastronomic market with interesting places, because the ones we have are mostly made up of stands from brands or other restaurants.
Let's go with the tricks, the people want to know: How do you recognize a good restaurant and how do you detect a bad one??
Bueno, everyone detects that. It is no coincidence that right now it is impossible to get a table at Taula de Yoon and that many others are always empty. My boss was like Rick Rubin. I had no technical skills, and I really didn't know anything about gastronomy, But he knew what he liked and what he didn't.. And furthermore, He had tremendous confidence in his taste and his ability to express it.. In the end, it is impossible that, if a place is very good, people don't find out.
reveal something to us, Meredith: How the hell did he manage to eat dinner all these years for less than twenty-five bucks??
In general, with common sense, you already know: desserts to share, not asking for the most expensive wine… We have managed to gather several tips about that in the book, but I think the most basic thing is that there be four or more diners. And then, of course, avoid some of those trendy new bars with gildas and tartare brioches that, a lot of bar a lot of bar, but they put some crazy nails in you, ha ha ha. Uy, sorry, that bad, excuse me. I just had a Radler.
This question is a bit personal. (and quite serious). Do you think he could have had dinner with people, or have as friends or partner, to those people who say they eat out of obligation, just to survive?
I would have had them as friends, But I wouldn't have gone out to dinner with them.. The man had a lot of respect for people with disabilities and was committed to their integration..
Let's do free advertising, that we are that generous. Bueno, The guy too, who in his book makes recommendations for all tastes and occasions. Can you tell us your top three favorite restaurants?
It's just that I didn't have a top three. He went a lot for times and circumstances, because a group dinner is one thing, another is a couple's dinner, and another is a Michelin Star. I guess, If we talk about the blog and the last period… Sardo, Boni's bar, Petraher... Maybe La massawina and the Milanese, that was also setting fire to it, o Thousand Cranes and Kukla, to which I also went a lot… I don't know.
and the second top three: What did The Guy hate the most?: the pride of cocktails, the pretentious letters, or restaurants with shows?
Curiously, the three are usually linked. Places with shows, in his excessive desire to pasta always over gastronomy, They always have colorful and overpriced cocktails and bombastic menus. And for the record, I'm not the one thinking about Alegal, not even in La Diva, or anything, Are you the one who has a dirty look?. I guess what he hated the most were matching cards., no personality, find the same dishes in any place you went to.
Since those places where I, with my dirty look, definitely, I have thought, they are going to burst, Shouldn't everyone have in their possession Applied scenery?
Well you will see… Really, It's not that I don't recommend it., but… The man had a way of being and writing that some critics have described as “psychotralla”, and I think maybe it might be too intense for someone who is not familiar. In the book we have compiled his last weeks, based on audios, articles and testimony of Little Timmy, your intern. It is true that it is infinitely more entertaining than any gastronomy book that has ever been written., but… Bueno, I don't know. Let's say I recommend it, but not to everyone.
