Can Jubany

Can Jubany is a restaurant of Catalan cooking on the road to Sant Hilari Sacalm in Calldetenes, in the Catalan province of Barcelona. Chef Nandu Jubany owns it with his wife, Anna Orte, and it holds a Michelin star.

The couple opened Can Jubany three decades ago, and Jubany recalls that he began by sleeping on a mattress on the floor. For its first ten years he hardly left the restaurant. He later chose to build a wider business, and the group now runs many restaurants as well as croquette and cannelloni brands, a consultancy and a hotel. Teams lead each house and share in its earnings, so Jubany no longer has to cook every week at Can Jubany or at Pur.

The cooking is a refined version of traditional Catalan food, with an innovative touch and produce from the region. Jubany raises his own vegetables, herbs and livestock for the kitchen, so much of what reaches the table grows close to it. Dishes of the Catalan countryside are given lighter, more precise forms without losing the flavour of home cooking. A kitchen that farms its own animals and garden keeps the distance between field and plate short.

In 2021 users of TheFork voted Can Jubany the favourite restaurant of Spain, a result Jubany called a pleasant surprise for the whole team. He has said that he could have earned three Michelin stars had he aimed for them, and that he would accept it calmly if the guide took away the one he has. The family looks ahead as well: of the couple's three children, one son already cooks, and another, Gil, may one day run Can Jubany. The restaurant remains the starting point of everything the family has built since.