The word “empowerment” made no sense but there was Rosa Esteva to exercise it in 1980s Barcelona at the head of her Mordisco, the first of the 26 restaurants of the Tragaluz Group. On Thursday, Barcelona paid tribute to the person and her vision in a packed Saló de Cent, from Mayor Collboni to the last worker.
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And more than a formal tribute, it was a collective declaration of love to a woman, now in her eighties, who helped transform Barcelona “by creating spaces where the life of a city happens,” in the words of Jaume Collboni.
A shower of affection for the founder of Mordisco and other “spaces where the life of a city happens”
The Mordisco restaurant in the Concepció passage opened in 1986 anticipating trends in the way of eating thanks to the genius and figure of Rosa Esteva, who, without a husband to support her and with four children of school age, insisted on opening an innovative restaurant where even women alone – a rare sight in 20th-century restaurants – felt comfortable (not to mention men alone).
People had no mobile phones and they used to chat with others. “A place to eat something good and quick and where those who ate alone did not feel alone,” summarized the mayor of Barcelona.
Mordisco was Rosa Esteva’s “here I am” in a restaurant scene that was not very equal. Others followed until culminating with the crown jewel, the Omm hotel, so lively and welcoming that it did not seem like a luxury hotel for visitors but the home of the cheerful Barcelonan man and woman.
The tribute was due to a successful collaboration between the public and private sectors and when Rosa Esteva made her entrance, in a wheelchair, the Saló de Cent went wild, something that Javier Mariscal, one of the first collaborators in Esteva’s venture, almost achieved with his irreverent, inappropriate and consequently hilarious speech in which he praised Rosa Esteva’s decision not to remain “a mom who makes children and plays bridge” but to choose to “complicate life wildly.”
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Friends and collaborators took the floor, with journalist Xavier Mas de Xaxás as master of ceremonies although formalities barely had space, in the style of the Tragaluz Group’s hallmark. All in an atmosphere very much of pre-Olympic Barcelona, rich in vitality, people with drive and high doses of personality because everything seemed to them to be yet to be done.
“Rosa is a creator and she envelops everything,” said designer Mario Eskenazi, a way to soften Rosa Esteva’s whirlwind determination so that all her establishments reflected her virtues as a hostess and the cosmopolitanism of someone who traveled as a child and was not silly at all. Clementina Milá, a loyal collaborator, recalls in a fragment of Poldo Pomés’ documentary that they tried 150 croissants until they found the chosen one…
A catalyst, demanding like few and endowed with a unique vision. That’s how Josep Roca defined her, who had the first Celler delegation at the Omm. “Rosa had her stings and her balls,” a phrase that loses much when written.
For winemaker Álvaro Palacios, “in Rosa veritas”: a tough, modern woman with a unique outlook.
Without speaking – due to some vocal discomfort – Rosa Esteva took over the Consell de Cent. Her granddaughter Ale read a brief message from Rosa, surrounded by her family, with a final phrase that sums up her career: “You are all my family!”. Designers, chefs, journalists, architects, the fauna of Olympic Barcelona.
