Begoña Rodrigo (La Salita): "I gave birth on a Sunday and the following Wednesday I was working in the kitchen... It was a mistake"

Direct, determined, kind, too clear at times, rebellious and loving each day a little more, the current version of Begoña Rodrigo (Requena, 1975) has little -or nothing- to do with the cook who rose to fame 10 years ago

.

We meet her at the Alicante Auditorium, where at night she leads a team of 11 Valencian cooks who, for the first time, will sign the menu for high-level gastronomic awards, the Repsol Guide suns.

She gets into things fast and gets wet in everything.

Thirty minutes of conversation squeezed to the max.

"We are here by right and nobody has given us the site. We have nothing to prove. We have eaten 850 million dishes from super top chefs who were not as expected and nothing has happened," he comments, while the teams are preparing to the gala.

It is what he transmitted to all of them when he accepted the challenge.

He is dressed in black, he has not yet put on his work jacket, and he addresses anyone who asks him a question in a leisurely tone, whether they are catering waiters who are arriving or top chefs like Vicky Sevilla, from the Arrels restaurant, who thickens that female list.

The whipping thing when you get home has passed away.

"

."

After 28 years in the gastronomic showcase -18 in Spain and 10 abroad-, this self-taught and traveling Valencian raised "behind a counter" enjoys a good professional and personal moment.

His restaurant La Salita, the one that opened in Valencia in 2005 when "there was no Facebook or Instagram" and was a reflection of learning and experiences, has moved to a spectacular palace in the Ruzafa neighborhood, where his land remains the axis of everything that happens there.

, which oozes orchard on all four sides.

His is a local cuisine, of territory, with recognizable flavors.

"I love the world of vegetables, tubers, roots...".

The menu adjusts to the season, which forces us to constantly renew the proposal, in which there are already essential classics, such as La Tiara, the all i pebre blanco or the carob pickle broth.

It took the Michelin star 14 years to knock on his door.

"It was my fault that it took so long to arrive. Let's see, if you're criticizing them all day, it's normal that they don't give it to you," she adds sardonically.

But beyond the opinions, she didn't quite understand the rules of the game either.

"I did not communicate anything about what I was doing; not even if it had opened, nor the gastronomic proposal it had...

".

When he started at La Salita, she did not invite critics or journalists to see his work.

"Perhaps that is why we have also slowed down in the achievements."

She says that many people still remember her from Top Chef.

"Overall, television was a positive experience."

Would you repeat?

"Why not".

She is still asked for the obligatory photos, and that she rarely goes out to say hello to the room.

"When I went to contests, I always had uncles around. They would make contacts, they had a great time. If they lost, they might get a little annoyed, but nothing more. If we go

."

In this she has changed her approach a lot.

"It's incredible how we have a multitude of incompetent politicians, but we only get fed up when there is an incompetent woman. It's that she crushes it."

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When he left the television sets and returned to the routine, "I saw myself as a character with whom I did not recognize myself."

Going to the market or the pharmacy is no longer easy and even pleasant.

"

. It was paranoia."

Times and relationships had to be managed;

It was hard to get familiar with fame.

"I got into the program so that I would be valued gastronomically. And there is nothing more stupid than thinking that," she says openly.

Winning it, he admits, gave him a "very safe" shot.

To this day, she continues to think that

."

A tireless worker, at the age of 18 she already had two companies.

She got used to customers asking the question 'where's the boss?'

The fear of the judgment of others, she admits without complexes, has made her make wrong decisions.

"

."

Until one day she got tired of herself.

"Why did she have to constantly demonstrate that she could be or do this or that with a profile that I didn't like."

Even to give birth it seems that she took into account her commitment to work.

"My son was born on a Sunday, the only day he was free," she says sarcastically.

"The following Wednesday he was working. When my son was 17 days old, my chef at the time took a vacation because he was exhausted."

And there she stayed, with her son "tied up and cooking."

At 47, she believes that this was a "big mistake."

"

."

From the cooks, "from the colleagues",

, because I always spend my money in restaurants and I knew them all from that, from eating."

Some of them, like Aponiente, Ángel León's restaurant in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) and Maca de Castro, the Mallorcan chef's restaurant in Alcudia, go and come back during the day just to eat something new that they have brought out in the letter.

Half cook, half businesswoman at this point, until very recently she has not requested a loan from the bank.

"

," he says half jokingly half seriously.

"She would buy new chairs when she had the money."

Getting into debt gave him a certain vertigo.

Also in this she has done a considerable reset.

"You change your mind when you see the potential of your project and what your business can give of itself with that help."

Now she bets on herself to the maximum.

"If you think you have talent, that you can do it, a bank is the perfect partner. It gives you the money and you don't have to consult anything."

This is how he considered it when he moved location in 2020 to an 18th-century chalet with a 400-square-meter terrace, including an orchard.

"It was a very important bet that required a lot of investment."

It was launched mainly because it had other income (from consultancies, congresses...) in addition to the restaurant.

That certainty of not depending only on La Salita and betting on herself were the perfect pairing at the right time.

When the idea of ​​failure flies over the environment, the answer in his head arises by itself.

"I have the best place in Valencia.

."

It's been a while since she understood that a restaurant is not just about food.

"Someone who you put something on their plate that they don't like but they've been treated well is likely to come back to your house. Now, a person who's been treated badly, no matter how much they loved the food, wouldn't come back safe."

In that balance he invests a lot of energy.

"

; that a dish is told well, the rhythm, the detail...".

One of the spaces of La Salita.

He sleeps little and his head never stops working.

He spends many hours on the pit, but he has also learned to measure what he gives.

"I run away from the restaurant many Saturdays and Sundays.

."

And what she wants for herself, she makes it easy for the team.

"People work four days a week."

That people are comfortable knows that it is essential for everything to flow better.

The level of demand in a restaurant implies a tension that not all aspiring chefs can bear.

"Every day is an exam and you should know that this is the case service after service... And that when you leave work you have to read and train, you cannot be left behind".

There are 40 examiners at lunch and 40 at dinner.

"When you want to dedicate yourself to the kitchen you must know in which league you want to play."

Address La Salita

.

C/ Pere III El Gran, 11B |

Ruzafa neighborhood.

Valencia.

Phone: 609 330 760.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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