Much-loved restaurant to close after 10 years
A MUCH-LOVED restaurant in the heart of Cardiff is shutting its doors after 10 years serving up some delicious and, as per its own description, “utterly authentic” Catalan food and wine.
Cafe and deli La Cuina opened in Canton in 2012 and is owned and run by Catalunya-born Montserrat Prat who wanted to raise awareness of the importance of sourcing, origins of food and producers and have maintained that ethos since its opening.
But now Montserrat and her team, who have created an authentic Catalan experience with La Cuina, are closing the doors of the restaurant after experience importing products and getting staff, has proved difficult.
Montserrat said: “We have sustained this idea of ethical sourcing whenever possible during these 10 years of trading, and this had driven our approach throughout. [Then] Brexit was implemented and things have changed substantially.
“Although we try to source some products locally whenever we can, the nature of our project is Mediterranean and Catalan food, and importing is essential, and we have done it ourselves throughout.
“This has become very difficult since the implementation of borders and the end of free trade with Europe, and has eroded our flexibility to import small quantities as one of the changes is that you cannot mix pallets from different producers, which is catastrophic for small enterprises like ours.”
Montserrat, who has poured herself into La Cuina, adding that she had not seen her family as much as she should have in the past decade, also said that employing staff from the areas La Cuina specialises in, is a ‘closed road’.
She said: “Another aspect of Brexit that has impacted us profoundly is personnel. Although we haven’t been short of people so far, I can foresee the difficulties in the near future. It’s very difficult to find people in this sector, where most employees have been from abroad.
“In the past, I used to contact family, friends or producers in Catalunya or other parts of Spain, and I would always find someone who was willing to come to Cardiff to study English, or to do further studies, working for us part-time. This is now, for a small business, a closed road.”
Over the weekend the restaurant released a statement on social media confirming some devastating news for their fans and followers, with the caption: “Diolch yn fawr. Gracies. Thank you.”
Posting to Instagram and Twitter, the restaurant, famous for its pork three ways, rabbit and stunning lamb dishes, wrote: “Dear customers, friends and neighbours, next month our project will pass the threshold of its first decade. With this anniversary we want to say thank you to everyone: without your support La Cuina would not have existed.
“It’s been a pleasure to see full tables of enjoyment, hardworking teams, and to experience that evening rush of adrenaline. But it is also an appropriate moment to bow out as La Cuina will permanently close its doors to the public on September. 3”
The statement continued: “Thank you customers for making this project possible, thank you to all the members of our team for bringing so much of themselves into the flavours, the fun, the atmosphere, the good humour and the relaxed feel that La Cuina has wanted to create.
“Thank you to all our suppliers and producers, here in Wales and in Catalunya, people who create food and wine with love, their ethos has been our lifeblood. And thanks to all my family for putting up with my absence and my commitment to the business for so long. Hopefully we will see you in the next few weeks again.”
Montserrat concluded that while the restaurant is doing well, she’d rather end it on a high and that it was time to look at new ideas.
She said: “For me it’s been a crossroads encounter: to either open other branches and start a large operation where I would have been able to delegate more and have more staff, or stop altogether. The latter has been our preference as a family. Life is precious, and I have done this project for 10 years.
“Cycles are important in life and it’s important to start them and finish them with pride. I came from a very different field and this has been a great project, but it’s time now to look at new horizons and new ideas.
“La Cuina is working extremely well at the moment, and it’s very very popular, so rather than be sorry to close, I’ll say: we are leaving on a high!”