The most charismatic figure in Cartagena’s bustling restaurant scene, Juan del Mar spoke to us about his passion for food, how restaurant owners have changed – why he would prefer to be awesome over being rich.
“When we serve food, we are dishing out love”
Creative, multi-faceted, sensitive… That’s Juan del Mar, a marketing and arts major who backed gastronomy as the best way to have an impact on people’s souls. He is convinced that gastronomy is art, magic and passion.
“I have been doing what I do today ever since I was a child”
“At home, cooking was religion”, which is where his passion for food was born. His mother was a talented cook who made it a priority for his culinary education to be very strict, in the best sense of the word.
“We used to play at guessing the ingredients in a dish we were eating; and until we worked it out, we couldn’t leave the table”, explains Juan, laughing.
From the moment he decided to dedicate himself to the world of restaurants, “he has never felt as though he was working”, perhaps because each one of his three restaurants – Juan del Mar Mesa Peruana, Juan del Mar Pizzería Gourmet and Juan del Mar – bears the seal of the joy and love that characterize him.
“I feel blessed with my businesses, because not only do we serve food, but we also dish out love”, the 48 year-old from Cartagena tells us.
Juan has seen the evolution of Cartagena’s culinary scene from the days of the past to today’s very different outlook.
Previously there were traditional restaurants, but not so much in terms of their classic culinary offering. “Restaurant owners were found at the back of house, they weren’t active and didn’t come out to the tables to speak to diners.” There wasn’t the same warmth and closeness as there is today.
With the international and regional culinary boom came a newfound respect for a career in the kitchen and restaurateurs like Juan became increasingly visible in kitchens, bars and even rolling out pizzas, transmitting joy and vivaciousness to clients.
Despite being offered new restaurants on an almost daily basis, Juan is convinced that he would “rather keep on being awesome over being rich”. His only ambition is happiness and growing as a person. He did, however, share an exciting secret with us: he opened a hotel in his house on the Rosario Islands.
