The curtain falls on Can Fabes - but hopefully not for long say owners
"It will be very tough for everyone," says late owner's daughter.
After 32 years, the stoves at iconic restaurant Can Fabes will be put out this coming Saturday. The former owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant, Santi Santamaria, died in Singapore in 2011, and in July of this year, his family announced that the business would be closing, being no longer financially viable.
The final menu will feature a selection of Can Fabes' signature dishes, and the restaurant is already fully booked for the occasion, largely by regular patrons.
"It will be very tough for everyone and it won't be a happy day," said Regina Santamaria, Santi's daughter, who added that the closure of the restaurant, located in Sant Celoni in Barcelona, will be temporary. The family is in negotiations with domestic and international investors over the sale of the business. "The last thing you lose is hope," she said. The Santamarias also plan to rehire their 17 kitchen and wait staff. "It will be an honor for us if they want to come back."
Xavier Pellicer was Santi Santamaria's right-hand man in the kitchen, and after the maestro's sudden death he became his mentor's gastronomic heir. When he left in February, he passed the reins to a Frenchman, Jérôme Bondaz, and a Catalan, Iván Solà.
As it transpired, their stewardship of the restaurant was brief. As the Santamaria family made plain in its statement: "In these difficult times for haute cuisine in our country, Can Fabes lacks the necessary economic viability to continue with a project based on excellence. [...] We have decided to draw a line under one of the greatest chapters in Catalan and European cuisine in the last 25 years."
Despite the closure, the legacy of Santi Santamaria remains: "He taught us to be happy with a job well done," the statement continued. "Now that almost two-and-a-half years have passed since his death, we are satisfied that we have maintained the values and ideals that he instilled in us, even in his absence. We are very proud of the great teams we have trained and the distinguished careers of many great chefs, maîtres d' and sommeliers that have passed through Sant Celoni."
