Private chef in Girona

Dinner in Girona

Inland from the coast, the city of Girona rises over the Onyar river, its line of colourful houses reflected in the water and a medieval old town of cobbled lanes climbing behind. All around spreads the Empordà countryside, a patchwork of vineyards, farmland and old stone villages that has become one of the world's great gastronomic regions.

Lara cooks in villas and farmhouses, the masies, scattered across this region. An evening here feels grounded and warm: a long table in a courtyard or beneath old beams, the smell of something slow on the stove, and Lara moving quietly from kitchen to table. She shops, cooks, serves and clears away, while you and your guests settle into the unhurried rhythm of the Empordà.

Flavours of the Empordà

The Empordà is famous for its produce and its tables. Lara cooks with rice from the fields of Pals, the celebrated gamba de Palamós and L'Escala anchovies brought up from the coast, the wines of the Empordà DO and the region's own olive oil. She shops the markets of Girona and La Bisbal d'Empordà, and the Empordà tradition of cuina de mar i muntanya, sea and mountain on one plate, runs through her cooking.

From the markets and the day's catch she builds the dishes the region is known for: a slow suquet de peix, a golden fideuà, paella with Pals rice and a cool esqueixada of salt cod on warm evenings. Everything is finished simply and served with Empordà wines, so the quality of the produce stays at the centre of the meal.

From the old town to the countryside

Spend the day exploring: walk the medieval walls and cobbled lanes of Girona's old town above the Onyar, drive out through the vineyards and stone villages of the Empordà, or take the short road down to the coves of the Costa Brava at Begur and Pals. Then return to your villa or masia for a relaxed private dinner, with nothing to organise and the whole evening ahead of you.