ESTEFANÍA RUILOPE Madrid

Madrid

Updated Thursday, February 8, 2024-02:08

He is the fourth generation of one of the best restaurants, which bears his last name. Since 2007,

Elisabeth Horcher

(43 years old) has been in charge of managing an established establishment, which has been visited by personalities such as

Salvador Dalí

and

Sofía Loren

.

He confesses that he has always been bitten by the world of hospitality. «When I finished school I realized that it was what I liked. So, when I was studying in

Switzerland

I found out about a good school in the city of Lausanne, without any idea of ​​what my future was going to be. At the end, after a conversation with my father, I decided to become part of the family business.

Although people think that her childhood was in Horcher, Elisabeth remembers much more her summers at

La Fonda

, the restaurant her father had in Marbella. "We always went on our vacations, so much so that our relationship with the

maitre d'

was as if he were our family."

He acknowledges that, thanks to his father, he knows how to identify

good gastronomy

, "he has always taken us out to eat a lot, because he enjoys going out to places, getting to know other cuisines around the world to learn and, at the same time, valuing what we offer."

From his German roots he has inherited

order and perseverance

and, if you ask him about his work, he answers that it is very changeable and that he does a little of everything, since he tries to learn from the entire team. Because, he admits, he gets mad at people who claim to be experts on everything, and who give their opinion without knowing, "more than once I have had to encounter people who talk, criticize and deep down have no idea. "They say they know everything, but then they know nothing."

The year 2008 was bad

, he remembers it with great respect. The economic crisis forced her to think about whether they continued along the same lines or changed radically, but she feels very proud of her decision, and of continuing with the same essence as her predecessors. «It was a hard time where we questioned ourselves a lot. "We were a family business with no financial partner behind us."

When asked about the

required clothing

at Horcher, Elisabeth is very, very clear. Times may change and modernize, but there are certain rules that cannot change, and for her this point is important. «Good dressing has been a theme that my great-grandfather imposed and that we want to maintain. It is true that we have removed the tie, since there are many jobs that allow the

casual look

, but the jacket is mandatory. As for footwear,

sneakers are allowed

, but she asks us a question: "Why not dress for a good dinner the same way you dress to go to the opera?"

She does not consider herself an expert in social networks, but she knows that it helps make her space known to a younger audience: «We have Instagram, I run it personally with the help of a person who makes videos and photos.

"You have to know well what to convey

, since we cannot put everything, because it is better to leave some mystery so that the client lives that experience with an aura of surprise."

Sometimes he greets people as if he had known them all his life, and then he realizes that they were a well-known person from the world of business, politics, or art:

"We treat everyone the same

. "

If there is one good thing she has achieved, it is that her dining room brings together well-known people with anonymous ones, lifelong clients with new generations, but always preserving the privacy of each one of them.

"I never get involved in the work of the

maîtres

, I believe that each one should have their space, it is the only way to achieve a good team." He never takes

tupperware

: «I'm embarrassed to ask for them. I don't like to bother, especially during rush hour. Also, I like to separate work from my life, and I like to cook at home.

"I only take Christmas dinner

because it is a family recipe: a goose brought from France, baked and stuffed with apple."

Regarding his future plans, he is clear that

there will not be a second headquarters

, Horcher there is only one. "If you open another store it has to be something different."

DNA

  • His father gives him great advice.

  • Horcher started a restaurant in Berlin in 1904 with great-grandfather Gustav Horcher.

  • He has collected the 114 years of the family business in a book.