The chef, who lost his taste, opened a restaurant and continues to cook.

Expert conceptualization, management and consultingit created strong and identity locals for its recruits, the survival of the ‘luxury’ poultry shop Chez Cocó.

To the complexity of opening Adobo, Enrique added an unexpected physical complication: The covid he fell ill with in January left him tasteless and odorless.

He lost some irreplaceable instruments to be able to trade: “Terrible, terrible. How would I open a restaurant? I knew the notes but couldn’t play them. At first I took it as a joke: I could eat raw onions and garlic but a month later it was still the same. Doctors told me ‘Don’t be sad’. But the opening of the restaurant was approaching…”.

When I returned to Adobo, exactly one year after the first visit, I asked Enrique in early April. two senses are back, rejected by him. Other chefs had experienced the same, although within months the mouth and sense of smell had regained their analytical capacity.

Doctors advised patience, and he chose “optimism” to get rid of that sadness: “Every day I think it will be the last thing to happen to me.” The ear specialist suggested some scented small bottles training attachment, but each felt conditioned as they wrote the contents.

Because he is trained in suggestion: “I have recorded many smells and tastes on the brain’s hard drive. If I eat scrambled eggs or tomatoes, I know how it tastes, so my brain sends me signals. I imagine what they taste like, but my mind is playing tricks on me.” A sweetening mirage

Say what recognizes only alcohol in wine and he thinks of the oil along with the coffee and mustard: “As if he knew the taste of the oil!” And it just perceives “basic flavors and also distorted”. So nothing is as it seems. She eats little (“rice, grilled, salad…”), lost weight. And there is another threat in the air: “Confidence”.

Instead, I ate with pleasure and heavily. Cook with Enrique’s rustic elegance, taste: Iberian pork in Moorish sauce, hot dogs from ‘perol’ or lentils with quail on a good tablecloth and no faults or deviations in flavor.

I wanted to know if she was still cooking: “I’m aunt.” And how? “With the king’s tester. I need someone to test it.” Gerard Trilles, head chef and palate guide.

At first it was difficult: “Why let’s see who is at odds with the boss!”. Dialogue is now sincere, practical, enriching, and they need to reach agreement: each prefers some vinegar in the marinade. “I explain myself more than ever before. Confidence must be complete.”

Surprised by its power in thyme tomato tartare with pizza sauce (how good) it was Gerard who defended it and assured that it was just as aromatic. Absolute delight with candied and fried artichokes (and anchovies ‘garum’) and seasoned mango somewhere between Mexico and Japan.

In disaster, a profit‘ he said, although the doctors saw no association, ‘They’ve repeated a lot of dishes before: peppers, cucumbers, pickled bonito… I can’t identify them, so they don’t make me feel bad.’ I say it doesn’t make sense, and he agrees: “I don’t understand.”

He stopped going to restaurants because of the pain of not understanding. And a year ago, at a critical moment in his life, with the joy of owning his own business, he spoke publicly for the first time: that her mouth and nose stopped helping her and she lived with the desire for restoration.