Menu Del Dia with Franck of Celler el Moli
Lucy Hawkins is our new Food & Drinks Columnist with her Menu del Dia series of interviews of different people who have settled here. Join her and get to know how other people enjoy life in the North of Mallorca.
This week, Lucy talks to Franck of the Pollensa insitution, Celler El Moli.
Where are you from?
I was born in 1953 in Brittany, France. My parents were butchers and I started working for them when I was 10. After school I would help them at the markets selling pork. They cooked a lot. When I was 15 I studied at hotelier school for 3 years.
Afterwards I went to the army for one year as it was obligatory. I was a paratrooper based in Toulouse in the south of France.
After the army I went to work in a kitchen and I’ve worked in kitchens ever since. It was a typical restaurant with a mill.
I left France to work in Switzerland for two years because I love to travel and see different places, learn different things. After Switzerland I returned to Brittany and had a food truck travelling to folk music festivals, I was 22 years old and there were bands from around the world. Brittany is famous for its folk music. People like Alan Stivell the Breton and Celtic musician were there.
How did you arrive in Mallorca?
I came here on holiday in 1986. A friend of my parents who had family here was the head of a kitchen. When I came here in January I contacted him and he told me, good, come and work at my French bistro, it was very well known. Boats ran between the Port de Soller and France exporting oranges. During the civil war many people from Soller went to France on boats so there were Mallorquin families there and French families in Soller. He had a restaurant in Palma and in Pollenca called Can Cuarassa. At that time there were only 5 restaurants in Pollenca. In 1991/92 suddenly (Franck makes an explosive sound) they grew like mushrooms.
It used to be hard to open a new restaurant because the 5 existing ones had to give you permission. Today anyone can open a restaurant.
Then I ran my first restaurant called El Algorraba meaning the carob tree (Now Comunidad Inspira, formerly Finca 49). It was a French restaurant and we lived there, I had married my wife and we had a young daughter as well as her 3 daughters from a previous marriage. There weren’t supermarkets or petrol stations next to it then, just goats with bells. I had many plants, I grew trees with a nice smell. The saxophonist of Dire Straits ate there.
We had it for 5 years but then they didn’t renew my contract as the children of the owners of the property wanted to run the restaurant.
After that I went to work in Port de Alcudia at a restaurant called El Pince, it was next to the boats, we cooked a lot of seafood. I was there for 5 years and after that I went to the Hotel Sant Jordi for 2 years. My friend had opened a restaurant called La Farina in the old flour mill in Pollenca and he persuaded me to buy it. I called it Celler El Moli. I’ve been here for 20 years.
What food did you want to serve when you started the restaurant?
I wanted a fusion between French and Mallorquin. The menu changes every day but the idea has stayed the same. Good, fresh food.
I work a lot with the markets in Petra and Muro. Until 2 years ago I had a printed menu because we opened at night. But now we’re just open during the day. I always have 4 starters and 3 main courses. Paellas, fish, lamb shoulder.
What did you eat yesterday, what does a typical day look like for you?
Every morning I have fresh orange juice with fresh lemon.
Then I don’t eat anything until after service at 5pm.
I might snack on these… (Franck goes to the kitchen and comes back with a radish and takes a bite.)
Last night at home I made Chilidron, a Mallorquin lamb stew with red peppers and onions.
What does the future hold for you and Celler El Moli?
I’m selling the restaurant, it is on the market. But I’ll be open until it’s sold.
I want to be with my granddaughter, I want to trek, ride my bike, travel around Spain. I’ve been in the kitchen for 46 years, I want to relax because it’s hard work. The restaurant was open for 365 days a year for years, over carnival, Christmas Day, New Years. But I still love food and cooking.
It’s Pollenca’s loss.
Yes but it’s time. It was a success.
You can find Celler El Moli on C/Pare Vives in Pollensa.
The restaurant is open 13:00-15:30Friday to Wednesday (Closed Thursdays).
Stay tuned for more from Lucy!
