Sala Pro returns to the Culinaria event with a program that celebrates the evolution of front-of-house service in haute cuisine
Throughout the day, participants will have the opportunity to learn firsthand how top restaurants manage their dining room, from team leadership to the integration of beverage service and customer care.
Sala Pro Raíz Culinaria returns to take center stage at the Culinaria Congress. The event will bring together some of the most influential professionals in Spanish gastronomy, with a program of presentations and debates reflecting the diversity and richness of front-of-house service understood as a holistic experience. The meeting will open with the round table “Evolution of Front-of-House Service in Fine Dining Restaurants,” featuring Pere Monje, owner and director of Via Veneto Restaurant (*), one of Barcelona's most emblematic establishments and Dalí's favorite restaurant; Laura Fernández, head waitress at Pedro Martino Restaurant in Caces, Asturias; and Alberto Fernández Bombín, food writer and owner and sommelier of Asturianos in Madrid. This conversation between three generations of professionals will explore how the relationship with diners has changed in recent decades.
Continuing the morning with “A service at El Celler de Can Roca”, a unique approach to one of the most prestigious dining room teams in the world, with Marianna Suárez, head of service at El Celler de Can Roca (***), Girona, and Marta Cortizas, Head of Sommeliers of the restaurant, who will share keys to their work and the relationship between the head of service and the sommelier in one of the most sought-after three Michelin stars in the world.
The second presentation will be “The finishing of dishes in the dining room at Bardal”, with Benito Gómez (chef and owner at Restaurante Bardal (**), Ronda, Málaga) a two Michelin star restaurant and Marcos Trujillo, head of operations at the restaurant, who will show how the finishing in the dining room becomes a gesture of identity and closeness, as important or more important than the recipe itself.
In the experimental gastronomy section, “Natura, Fermented Foods at OBA” will feature the insights of Juan Sahuquillo (chef and owner at OBA(*), Casas-Ibañez, Albacete) and Andrés Vera (R&D fermentation chef at OBA*), who will demonstrate how fermentation research opens new possibilities for service and storytelling in the dining room. At their restaurant, this is how they understand the use of surplus or overproduction to transform it into naturally fermented beverages.
The connection between kitchen and dining room will be addressed by Pepe Solla, the chef who championed the new Galician cuisine and is the owner of Casa Solla (*) in Poio, Pontevedra. In his presentation, “The Pairing Connection: Kitchen and Dining Room,” he will emphasize the essential synergy between these two worlds to create memorable gastronomic experiences. Solla, a sommelier before becoming a chef, is one of the chefs who best understands this relationship.
The journalist and director of Madrid Fusión and San Sebastián Gastronomika, Benjamín Lana, together with Carlos Maribona (food critic at ABC) and Esteban Bezanilla (gastronome and sommelier at Restaurante Pico Velasco in Carasa, Cantabria) will star in the debate “How do I like to be served?”, in which the expectations of the customer when arriving at a gastronomic restaurant will be confronted, what they like and what they don't like.
The final part of the morning, dedicated to mixology, will feature “Drinking is not just about quenching your thirst,” led by Borja Insa (bartender and owner at Moonlight Experimental Bar, Zaragoza), one of the most promising young talents in the world of cocktails, ranked fourth in the latest list of the world's best bartenders, who will highlight the role of the bar and cocktails in the overall narrative of a gastronomic restaurant.
In the afternoon, the focus will be on the celebration of the II Steak Tartare Competition in the dining room, aimed at students of the Cooking Schools of Castilla-La Mancha, which will test the skill and creativity of the professionals.
With this program, Sala Pro Raíz Culinaria reaffirms its role as a leading laboratory of ideas and best practices for the future of front-of-house service, a space where tradition, innovation, and customer connection come together to build a new era of gastronomic hospitality. It is a unique opportunity for hospitality students and industry professionals, a chance to learn from the best and connect with front-of-house experts. Throughout the day, participants will have access to speakers in talks designed to inspire, educate, and celebrate the art of service in restaurants.
