Un diálogo con Murcia en frases

They haven't turned 30 yet, but their lives are full of anecdotes that didn't seem to lead them to what Frases is today, a restaurant with 3 employees for 14 diners with which they are determined to make "the people of Murcia proud of their gastronomy and for those who come to know it."

Marco Iniesta (1995) was prevented from passing an army entrance exam because he forgot his ID; he worked as a dishwasher and then as a cook in a run-down restaurant. There he met María Egea (1994), who was working as a waitress while training to become a national police officer. On a trip to Girona, they wanted to take a picture in front of El Celler de Can Roca, and Pitu Roca offered to show them the kitchen and wine cellar. They didn't have a reservation, but there was a cancellation, and they were offered a table. They fell in love with the restaurant's "elegant and welcoming" atmosphere, with the happiness it exuded to its diners. Upon returning to Murcia, they quit their jobs. "We're here because of a meal at El Celler de Can Roca," Iniesta sums up, because they had decided they wanted to work professionally in the hospitality industry, but as self-employed individuals.

With loans and by renovating the premises themselves, they opened Frases in 2018 with a rather informal concept. After the pandemic, in 2021, they refined their approach, adding a tasting menu (now 21 courses for 80 euros) and putting their philosophy into practice: "To understand cuisine as a language and dishes as phrases that write a final story." The story of Murcia, because they are very clear that they want to act as ambassadors for their region, and they put all their effort into both the tasting menu and the à la carte menu. This culinary commitment earned them a Repsol Sun in 2023.

That's why the first bites evoke the tapas of Murcia, with a mimicking olive from Cieza and its gazpacho, the famous marinera (here in a corn tartlet with pickled beetroot instead of anchovy, or octopus if ordered à la carte), and a small ball of roast chicken, a Sunday specialty. These are followed by the cured meats that Marcos makes with Murcian chato beef, characterized by its high fat marbling: chiquillo (rolled and spiced bacon rind, dehydrated and puffed), blood sausage, onion and pine nuts transformed into a cream that fills a profiterole, and panipuri with bacon marinated in a garlic and paprika sauce.

The croquette, made with ham from the same pig, has unfortunately been removed from the menu, but it may return due to popular demand because it could be a worthy winner of the Madrid Fusion competition, where, incidentally, he is nominated for Revelation Chef in the edition taking place from January 29th to 31st. “We initially had a roast chicken croquette and then the one with Iberian ham; we are defining what kind of croquette we want now” he explains.

The white prawn tartare from Águilas, marinated in ribeye fat, might be a bit too smoky, but it works well with the chilled corn soup and salmon roe. One of the most brilliant dishes is their version of the Murcian salad, made with tomatoes they bottle themselves in the summer to have one of the region's prized produce, in this case, from Cartagena, available the rest of the year. An example of resourceful cooking, using the peels and juices from the preserves, it feels fresh and honest, respecting seasonality. It also fulfills one of Marco's obsessions: making everything in-house, with exceptions like the bread, which they buy from Pan Moreno.

It's also gratifying to see a humble Murcian onion roasted and transformed into a smooth cream, accompanied by bluefin tuna belly, portobello mushroom, and Segureño lamb jus; and the steamed hake from Burela with garlic seaweed and cod tripe deviates from this dialogue, because it would be more appropriate to opt for local fish. It returns to its roots with pork knuckle and jowl from the Murcian pig and Totana pumpkin, served with a sequence of secreto steak tartare with crispy pumpkin.

He puts an imaginative spin on what would be a typical regional cheese board, using two sheep's milk cheeses from Ruperto (San Javier) and a blue goat's milk cheese from Roano (Purias, Lorca). He then shortens the dessert course with a chocolate ganache, carob gel, and smoked goat's milk ice cream from La Yerbera, topped with petit fours.

The wine cellar is small, mainly due to lack of space in a place that the couple also decorated, but it follows that line of betting on local products.

Only in the kitchen, in the dining room he works alongside María, the very young Laura Juárez (21 years old), Marco Iniesta is aware that carrying out a tasting menu and a menu with proposals such as the Murcian mojete flan, the red prawn from Águilas with codium and caldero juice from the Mar Menor or the steamed empanada filled with chicken in pepitoria with stew juice is “very complicated”.

But he's hesitant to focus exclusively on the set menu because, precisely in 2023, his clientele has opted more for à la carte. A trend that seems to be spreading.

“We’re operating at 15% of what we could offer in other facilities” he says. But they seem happy with what they do, with having managed to create a space where their mostly local clientele finds its own identity in flavors rooted “in tradition and memory.” And to share those flavors with everyone else.