Anima | Les Cols Restaurant, Puigdevall, Puigvert

Bilingual Edition: Spanish/English Fina Puigdevall, who has run Les Cols since 1990, bares her soul in her first book. The work details the philosophy and creations of a magical restaurant where peace and tranquility are savored. Its 384 pages radiate an intimate and instructive beauty. In 1990, a young Fina Puigdevall opened the doors of Les Cols (Olot, Girona) in the farmhouse where she was born. Over the course of 27 years, together with her personal and professional partner, Manel Puigvert, she has forged a unique restaurant, one of a kind, that boasts two Michelin stars and reflects every part of her soul. Now, the chef lays it all bare in Anima, her first book. The book, published by Montagud Editores, offers an intimate portrait of the restaurant. Each of the 384 pages of Anima radiates a didactic spirit, beauty, reflection, and contemplation in equal measure. This is achieved, for example, through Fina Puigdevall's 82 most significant creations. All of them take the form of an offering to the diner, while at the same time reflecting with exquisite fidelity one of the central themes of her cuisine: "The immutable cycle of the seasons." The product, which is presented not merely as an object of homage but as the recipient of a deep devotion and love for the land, is the discreet yet undeniable protagonist. Furthermore, the book features contributions from 10 experts in contemporary art, culture, philosophy, and poetry, among other disciplines. Their texts open a window onto fundamental aspects for understanding Puigdevall's cuisine. These include the representation of a landscape, a profound awareness of the environment, and the peace and tranquility that can only be attained when one reaches fulfillment. They all follow the same line as Fina's dishes, in which the superfluous is dispensed with to focus directly on the elegance of the essential. The Anima circle closes with 84 celebrated and insightful reflections from inspiring sages across history and from every corner of the world, from Fray Luis de León to Oscar Wilde, including Rabindranath Tagore; and with photographs by Mikel Ponce, which emanate the same values that guide the unhurried development of Les Cols. Sincerity, balance, naturalness, authenticity, and emotion are among them. “I try to connect every moment with beauty and live each one intensely,” says Fina Puigdevall. “It is the little things that fill me with happiness and bring me closer to seasonality and a life lived to the fullest.” “Editing this beautiful work has been a reflective exercise for which we are grateful,” adds Jãvi Antoja de La Rosa, director of the book and of publishing projects at Montagud Editores. “We have adopted as our own the ideology of Les Cols, whereby the most intimate aspects of being are presented as an offering to the client with a contemporary language.” Montagud Editores, 2017