Lucía Ruiz Lafita (Madrid, 1995) studied Business Administration by obligation. Her passion since childhood was cooking, but her parents told her to first make a "serious" career and then dedicate herself to whatever she wanted. And so it was.

He took advantage of the internships required of him at the University during the summers to do them in "the kitchens" of hotels and restaurants. "I remember one year I was at the Villa Magna and I dedicated myself to preparing the room service of the guests, while my teachers believed that I was working in the administrative and management departments," says the young entrepreneur, who today, at 28, runs her own company dedicated to catering haute cuisine and confectionery with Parisian influences.

It is called Delirium and, in the almost three years it has been operating, it has already conquered with its services personalities such as Georgina Rodriguez and Cristiano Ronaldo or Isabel Preysler, luxury brands such as Loewe or exclusive investment banking firms such as Rothschild. Currently, it serves up to five caterers a day. From her small workshop in the center of Madrid she covers all kinds of events for more than 150 people, but above all, what Lucía bets most on is delivery.

"When I started I didn't have the capacity to do large events and, in addition, due to the pandemic, home orders were taken much more. So it was phenomenal and now I prefer to make a delivery for 20 people (I put the waiters, the cook and the best food), than a face-to-face catering for 30, "he says. "People love to receive casually and more and more are asking us for all the takeaway. Some customers pick it up directly at the workshop and others take everything home personally. We always offer them the option of serving the food ourselves or sending everything ready to serve." Among its specialties, stuffed birds (from quail, pintada, pularda ...) in season, strogonoff sirloin, menier hake or monkfish to the American, hearty dishes that are complemented by a careful pastry with hazelnut and chocolate cakes as bestsellers.

Very soon after its creation, Delirium caught the attention of the very wife of the footballer Ronaldo. "I met her on the set of the Netflix series Georgina, when I was hired for catering. They told me that he took several cards and that he was very interested in it. After two months, she called me directly to organize her daughter's birthday in Madrid," says the young entrepreneur.

Alone and without great risks

But let's go back to the beginning. After finishing her degree, Lucía decided to continue with her passion and attend the prestigious haute cuisine school Le Cordon Bleu in Madrid, Paris and Mexico City. Then he was with Cari Goyanes in his catering Sixsense, until the confinement arrived and he was out of work. "I decided to strike out on my own and start from scratch at home. At that time there were no large events, it was more small meetings, of six people ... And the business was in delivery... Instead of one big event, four had to be done; I saw an opportunity there," says Lucia.

The key to her success, according to the entrepreneur, is that she never took a big risk, nor made a large investment, because she started at home; "It's always been little by little." He barricaded himself in his parents' house and installed his workshop in the guest room. "In fact, my mother wanted to get rid of an old fridge and I told her that I wasn't kidding, that I kept it. They removed the two beds that were in the bedroom and that's when I started the company." Her first client was an office that called her to serve them breakfast for 12 people. "It had to be done by individual packages. It was very successful and at the time it seemed very simple, but I had to do it by myself." For a time I worked from 7 am to 3 am non-stop. "I did everything, delivered, cooked, made invoices, shopping in Makro, talked to the client... It's crazy, so I didn't even have time to think about how to organize myself, because I was overwhelmed."

Finally he took the step and found the place where Delirium is located (María Panés, 9), "very close to my house". It was an old cup cake shop and had a kitchen, so it did not need a large investment to put it to work. She hired six other people and, although she no longer cooks, she still takes care of everything else. "I miss it, but right now it seems more complicated to find a person like me, who is 24 hours a day, seven days a week solving problems of all kinds, than a cook, who I can teach to make the recipes as I want and make sure they are always done that way."

The growth of his business has been such that today he is allowed to refuse services. "I don't have enough capacity for the high demand for work, so I usually recommend to customers other caterings that I like from the competition. The workshop I have is very small and I can not get more people to work at the moment, "he says. An inconvenience that will be solved soon, since you have already bought a new space, near the current one, which is under construction and to which they will move shortly. "It's a step I had to take at some point in order to grow." The new place is designed for events, tasting menus, where people can and under reservation, sale of gourmet products ...

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