The calm before the storm...

I took this photo on Wednesday afternoon.
We opened the doors at 5pm without advertising although we had posters in our other restaurants hinting that Casa del Mar would open its doors in 2006!

We refused bookings because we needed to get all the staff used to the new style of service. I was in the kitchen with our young head-chef, plucked from one of the other restaurants. He has been with us for 7 years, from the age of 16! So, to run your own kitchen by the age of 23, is truly AMAZING! He was rearing to go and so was I.

We had invited a few friends, relatives and the guys who carried out the work.
I warned them all that we didn't want compliments. All we wanted was constructive criticism!
They and the handful of customers who had heard of our "secret" opening night were absolutely delighted with the whole thing!
The decor! I made sure that everyone got to know how many hours each mosaic took me!
The food, a bit foreign to our English chef, pleased everyone.
Cordero en salsa, Favada, Calamares, Albondigas, Paella, Pollo al Ajillo, Gambas Pil Pil... and a few other specialities like Algerian Merguez sausages, Hummus, Tzatziki... just to make it a truly Mediterranean restaurant...
So, our first night was a success in the fact that the kitchen coped very well with the unusual service. 15 different tapas to one table alone!

Tonight, Friday, we served around 50 diners one of whom, a Spanish visitor was quite amazed at finding a corner of Spain tucked away by the North Sea.
Everything went like clockwork and we are gearing ourselves to a very busy Saturday. We only take bookings for parties of eight or over. We have around 30 reservations already and I have a feeling we will hit a century by the end of the night.

When I offered our young chef the job, I said that I'd working with him in the kitchen for the first three months until he got the hand of it... Last week I was thinking about cutting it down to three weeks... But after just three days, he has definitely proved that he is able to cope very well... I am really glad because I have a two-week Spanish holiday booked at the end of February.

I thank you all for your best wishes on the opening of Casa!