Marcos Granda: 'Michelin is a way of life'

Manolo Castillo

Málaga

Thursday, 27 February 2025, 19:48

He is one of the top three Spaniards for Michelin stars. His career was resurrected after "dying from success" and his Skina, in Marbella, is close to receving its third star but he says it's "the pressure" that keeps him "alive".

-You have six restaurants and seven Michelin stars, but you still define yourself as a waiter.

-Material things are short-lived. Today you have the stars and tomorrow, for whatever reason, you may lose them. I say it with my hand on my heart that it is not the most important thing for me. I consider myself a waiter because it is my profession, the trade I fell in love with and that I am proud of. I don't like to see myself as a master of anything or as another entrepreneur.

-What was your childhood like in a small Asturian village with just over three thousand inhabitants?

-I am very proud of my roots. My father worked in the mine, which is very hard. I come from a humble family that instilled in me the values of hard work and sacrifice. My parents, when I was eighteen, opened their own cider house, and the cider culture made me who I am. Toasting, surrounding yourself with friends, sharing a bottle, I have hospitality in my DNA.

-You often talk about hospitality, about making the customer feel at home. How do you impart those values?

-This profession is very competitive and I realise that, in the world of chefs, there are a lot of misunderstood egos. I like business management but also human management, the emotional part that is not so obvious. I have realised that happiness does not come from more restaurants or more stars, but from within. What I need cannot be given to me by a friend or a girlfriend, or even a daughter. And awards and rankings are there, they are important, but I give more value to the emotional part.

-And how do you manage anxiety, the pressure of haute cuisine?

-First of all, without obsessing, and above all by delegating. I have learned to trust the people in my team, to forgive them for their mistakes too. And there is something I have put into practice in the last few months, and that is the constant improvement in my habits, a daily improvement of one percent. In Skina, for example, we are eighteen people. In June we moved to a larger place. I always tell my kids that "we can't expect to do everything in one month, and so, the important thing is to improve a little bit every day". But imagine if we all improve one percent every day, without losing our mind about it, where we can get to.

-What is your routine to cope with all this?

-I try to lead as structured a life as possible. Last year, for example, I started every day with a swim in the sea, rain or snow. That made me more relaxed. And I usually do a lot of sport, running five days a week, or climbing in the mountains. I try to have habits that make me feel good, not to drink too much alcohol, to have a meal plan and above all to get enough sleep. Getting a good night's rest is essential. And you also have to disconnect from everything once in a while.

- How do you manage it emotionally?

-I am an impulsive person, with many faults. I have too much emotion, although I am learning to control this. I want to be more aware of myself. Sometimes I slam doors and that hurts me, but these are behaviours that can't be changed in a week or a fortnight. I want to be able to stop and listen, not to explode. And I'm improving.

-And how do you improve?

-I try to do it through therapy, to try to be conscious of my actions. I've realised that anger, in reality, seeks a solution, not a slamming of the door. It's difficult, eh? I'm talking about it and it seems that...

-But at least you try.

-I try. I've been going to therapy for years and working on my personal growth. These problems cannot be changed overnight, but the important thing is to see them, be aware of them and deal with them calmly.

- How are the kitchens in your restaurants, is there a lot of pressure?

-In all honestly, they look more like spas. I come from a culture of kitchens with a lot of tension, shouting and strict discipline. Here there is an attitude of hard work but in harmony and, above all, with a positive working atmosphere. I think you get more things done that way. For people to follow you, you have to provide a comfortable working environment. There is no shouting or disrespect in my kitchens, but that doesn't mean there is no discipline.

- And how do you manage to attract and above all retain talent, which I think is precisely one of the keys to your success, in a sector where you often hear that there is a lack of waiters or chefs?

-A leader must be able to bring out the best in the people he has working around him, but on the basis of his values. I think people stay with me because they see something different from what they have encountered before. I work with very young people and, at 48, they are the ones who give me the strength to continue. I don't keep opening restaurants to feed my ego, rather because I enjoy seeing all the talent I am surrounded by.

-How is your relationship with your staff?

-I have had to learn to separate the professional from the personal. It's very difficult for me because they are like my children, part of my family. I am so fond of them that I have had to learn that they don't belong to me. Because before, when someone left, I suffered, I saw it as a betrayal. I have had to work a lot on that, to understand that people have to go their own way.

-What is loyalty to you?

-For me it is one of the greatest values a person can have. To do this madness that is the Marcos Granda Group, I need loyal people. And I think I am loyal too. With my suppliers, for example, or by going to breakfast in the same place under my house for the last two years, after moving house. Without loyalty it would be impossible to be where me and my team are right now.

And disloyalty hurts you?

-It's not pleasant, but I've learned that people don't belong to us, as I said before. And when someone does something wrong, I try to think that they didn't know how to do it better. But it's true that I sometimes get very frustrated.

-You talked earlier about working on your own personal growth.

-Because I have a lot of defects. And I don't believe in the idea that you should never change. Of course you have to improve. I opened my first restaurant when I was twenty-six and success came fairly quickly. I was not going through a good personal period and I suffered from this success. I am not proud of that period of my life.

-Why?

-Because I had no order. I wasn't able to manage my emotions. And a Michelin star for a small restaurant, in a city like Marbella. No, I'm not proud of that time. That's why I decided to establish habits of conduct that have brought me to the point where I am today, with my faults and also my virtues.

-What importance do you attach to personal branding?

-Now I am in the phase of giving visibility to all the talent that I have around me, both chefs and waiters. I want to step aside, that's why I never go up to collect the stars. I'm at the bottom of the pyramid and I want my boys, Christopher, Jesús, Marcos and so many others, to get what they deserve.

-How do you deal with criticism?

-When I started, they bothered me a lot. The beginnings were hard. Now I understand criticism as something necessary. And ninety percent of the time they are right, or at least make sense. Negative criticism can help you much more than positive criticism, you just have to know how to filter it and analyse where you can improve as an entrepreneur.

-What do you think about chefs looking like rock stars or football stars?

-I think there are chefs who don't handle ego and competitiveness well. I consider myself a generous person. When someone needs something from me, they can depend on me. In the end, the key is to give normality to your profession, to everything you do.

-How do you handle the pressure of being a candidate for a third star?

-I have learned to step back. It's nice, I love the pressure. It's gratifying to see us there, now that everyone thinks we're going to get the third.

-But you don't deny it, you say it frankly, you want the third one.

-I am sure we are going to have three stars eventually. I don't know when, but I have thought about it and I am sure that, with constant improvements and this sacrifice, we will get there. I'm sure we will. And we will do it with a lot of hard work and as a family, but without obsessing. I live with that pressure every day.

-It can't be easy.

-But living is not easy. If only everything could be explained in a manual. Being a father, for example. But it's about doing the best you can. It's gratifying to dedicate ourselves to this and every November, Michelin comes and rewards us with one, two or three stars. That pressure keeps me alive.

-You've said that you are able to get customers to like you. What does that mean?

-You have to pay attention to body language, in those thirty seconds before the first contact. There are customers who need everything to be quick and there are other customers who want to eat more slowly, just as there are diners who are going to photograph every dish and others who don't care. There is also a lot of intuition, knowing whether they are in a good mood or in a fight with their partner, whether it is a business or leisure meal. And depending on all that, we have to respond accordingly.

-Tell me something you can't stand in your restaurant.

-Disrespect and rudeness. When someone addresses the waiter in a derogatory manner and wants him to be subservient. Service is one thing, but servility is another. That irritates me.

-You also often talk about being honest with what you put on your plate .

-Of course. I always say the same thing. If we say that we have caviar, we have to serve caviar. Now, for example, we have carabinero on the menu. We can't give a medium or frozen carabinero, I want the best carabinero there is. That's honesty for me. And I'm focused on it.

-What differentiates your restaurants from each other?

-They all have the same stamp in terms of values related to cuisine, produce and seasonality, but each one has its own identity. It is not the same to open a restaurant in Madrid as in Marbella or Asturias. In each area you eat differently, there are different climates for example.

-What now?

-I would like to open something outside Spain, I don't know where. I've lived in two big cities, Madrid and London, and I'd also like to try the experience of starting a business in New York. In a way it's the capital of the world, isn't it?

-Well, now the chefs choose Dubai.

-Like golfers with all due respect. To set up a restaurant in New York I need a bit more security, but it's a dream I'm sure I'm going to realise. It's a very competitive city, but I'm very attracted to such challenges.

-There are chefs who have turned away from Michelin and have opted for larger businesses. Are you at that point?

-No. I am a very restless person. It is true that there are chefs who have left haute cuisine because they feel more comfortable with more informal business models, and I respect that, but I am comfortable with these smaller restaurants, with tight-knit teams and I am fortunate that there are people who follow me and share my curiosity for travelling and getting to know different places and cultures. But to do things well you have to be prepared for them.

-There is a French chef who has put a sign on the door: "I don't want Michelin inspectors." They live with a lot of pressure too.

-A bank manager is under no pressure, or a plumber? I don't know. Michelin is a way of life, at least that's how I understand it. And I will always be grateful because it brings me the values of sacrifice, effort and perseverance. Is he right? Well, like everyone else, he will have his strengths and weaknesses, but I won't be the one to speak ill of Michelin, which after all is a client of our restaurants and we are lucky enough to be awarded annually.

-Do you think haute cuisine is under pressure?

-Fads may or may not pass, but good restaurants will last over time. And that means identifying your business model, differentiating yourself and being as honest and hospitable as possible.

-What do you think when you hear people say, in a derogatory way, that Malaga is a city of waiters?

I arrived in Malaga twenty-two years ago. I very much admire what has been done in that time. It is an exemplary city. The change has been spectacular.

-Who are your gastronomic inspirations?

-My parents, without a doubt. And my time at Bulli in 2000. That had a huge impact on me. Juli Soler, Luis García, Lluís Biosca... The chefs who were there made me understand that I had to continue training.

-And in Malaga, where do you like to eat?

-I identify very much with the Palodú team because of their values, the affection and the normality it transmits. I think it is one of the best restaurants in the city and the province. I think they deserve a star sooner rather than later.

-Are you afraid of failure?

-Of course but that is part of the game too. I like to face my fears. Every time I open, I panic. Is it going to work, is it going to go the way I expect it to? But fear is necessary for success.

-Where do you see yourself in ten years?

-I will be 58. I will be retired but active, because I think I will never be able to stop my whirring mind. But I think I will be at peace with myself, serene, doing sport and fulfilling my personal ambitions.

-And maybe looking out the window at Manhattan.

-I wish, I wish.