Rincón de Pepe: the strength of a Murcia classic
Summary:
A logbook by Sensei Hiroshi Umi.
I have a particular fondness for places that are, one might say, cross-generational. Establishments where whole sagas (as well as diverse groups and clans of differing inclinations) have gathered around a table over the years, where memories settle between dishes, conversations, laughter, the odd inevitable argument, and above all where invisible bonds are woven by affection.
Few settings give off that aroma. And few survive the ups and downs of business over the years, with an honest, flavourful menu, rooted and underpinned by a skilled and professional team both in the kitchens and front of house. Rincón de Pepe, in the heart of Murcia, is a treasure trove containing many variables of that equation of time and success. With very nearly a century behind it, El Rincón occupies a place in the heart of the people of Murcia, its course now decisively steered by chef Ginés Nicolás Aguilar, or Nico to his friends. Affable, talkative, as Murcian as a plate of zarangollo, Nico orchestrates a faultless kitchen, using the finest ingredients, always with an eye for our beloved migrant bluefin tuna.
From “Ultramarinos Pili” to Rincón de Pepe
“I’m a true murcianico, like the best paprika. I grew up in Churra, right where Odiseo stands today. It was fields then, countryside. My parents had a delicatessen by the name of Pili, and we raised livestock, did the yearly slaughter, cured sausages, salted hams… My grandmother had a couple of restaurants in Madrid. They sent me off to Torrejón de Ardoz as a youngster to work at what was Bodega Aguilar. That was back in the 1980s,” he recalls with affection, an era marked by the upheaval caused by the American NATO base established in the town outside Madrid.
In a twist worthy of Hollywood, Nico made a radical change, hung up his chef’s apron, and joined the Civil Guard. He spent 14 years as a police officer. The Barcelona Olympics, tough years in Eibar, a public prosecutor course in Sabadell, before being deployed to the port of Denia. After that whole odyssey, he left the force and went back to the restaurant kitchen at La Onda in Murcia. It was there that the trade finally won him over. “I realised that this was what I wanted,” he admits. Before long, he was chef de partie at El Rincón de Pepe, sous-chef six months later, and within a year was in charge of the restaurant. “It was set up by a businessman named Pepe González, and marks its hundredth anniversary this year. Years later, his nephew even won a Michelin star. It went through crises, repossessions… and ended up being taken over by the Orenes Group. This is a culinary landmark. I still get foreign customers coming in who were here 50 years ago on their honeymoon,” he recalls, from behind his diminutive spectacles.
Tradition sets the pattern for the legendary Rincón. Murcia-style hake (with sofrito and pine nuts), char-grilled shoulder of kid, creamy aubergine with red shrimp and acorn-fed cured ham, pan-fried tuna loin, belly, the canonical steak tartar recipe… “I started using tuna a lot when I spent some time at Odiseo; those few months when it opened in 2020 were crazy. Here we did a tuna butchery in 2021, and now do that every year, around November. I don’t remember tuna being served at home when I was a kid. Here in Murcia we ate a lot of sole, red mullet, whiting, anchovies, sardines… and salted roe and fish. Bluefin tuna is now a feature of our menu,” the chef explains.
Ramen, dim sum and bluefin tuna tartar, the stars of the menu.
His recipe book includes a version of ramen with akami loin, “but with a real touch of Murcia”, with plenty of roots and other vegetables, kohl-rabi, “using the backbone and skin to make a stock, with kaffir lime leaves and soy,” the chef explains. A version of dim sum with a cut of noten, and bechamel, “which we dip in egg once it’s cold, and stick thin sheets of tagliatelle to it, like filo pastry, to give it a crunchy texture and that uneven appearance”. Lastly, the casserole combines the freshness of the kaffir lime leaves with the same stock as the ramen, “served with teardrop peas from our kitchen garden”, finished off with a smoky touch, served at the table with a glass bell jar. Another of our most successful dishes is the tuna tartar, served with an emulsion of salted mullet roe and Fuentes bluefin tuna from the coast here, with traditional local pisto,” Nico finishes off.
El Rincón de Pepe also features a hotel, which has just undergone a dazzling refurbishment, and offers both à la carte dining and an eight-course tasting menu, as well as a reasonably priced executive menu. At its imposing bar, serious produce of the sea, wines by the glass, small plates to share: rice dishes, salads, carpaccios, baby broad beans, meatballs, open sandwiches, patatas cortijeras…
Nico acknowledges that he is now happily settled at El Rincón. When he gets a break, he hops astride his motorbike and spends his downtime on a plot of land in Archena, full of citrus plants and green shoots. “There’s not enough time in the day, it takes up so much, but I love hoeing and watering the land. It was just a tool shed, but we’ve done it up with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, porch and barbecue. If you come one day, we’ll stick a piece of back cheek on the grill, one of my favourite cuts of tuna,” promises the chef, whose replacement is waiting in the wings. For dessert, anyway. His son runs a pastry stall at the nearby Correos Market, where he serves up his own creations.. “At Madrid Fusión he poked fun of me, because he was on the main stage and I wasn’t…”.
