They fell in love in the kitchen and already have their Michelin star

The coincidence of fate one day led María and Marco to accidentally cross paths with Josep Roca at the door of Celler de Can Roca. They visited Girona without a restaurant reservation, but the prestigious sommelier, while chatting with them, saw their deep passion for gastronomy and reserved them a table for the next day, taking advantage of a last minute cancellation: something unusual in a restaurant with a waiting list of almost a year.

So what was supposed to be a leisurely trip became the experience that forever changed the lives of this Murcian couple: “Joan Roca assisted uswho showed us the kitchen and who stayed with us for a while,” María explains to EL ESPAÑOL. When they returned from the trip, they left their jobs in the restaurant where they both worked – she was the manager and him the head chef – and they began to pursue his dream: founding the Frases restaurant in the capital of Segura.

Today, María Egea (Cartagena, 1994) and Marco Iniesta (Germany, 1995) achieved before the age of 30 what many hoteliers try their whole lives: to make their business work and succeed. Proof of this is that this year the Frases restaurant, which they have been running since 2018, He has just obtained his first Michelin star.

There could not be a better setting to receive this great international gastronomic award than the Víctor Villegas Auditorium, as it is located just one kilometer from the Frases restaurant. The Michelin Guide Gala, attended by the president of the Region of Murcia himself, Fernando López Miras, became the most special moment of a love story which started years ago, between two restaurant workers who met at their workplace.

– If you had to define what makes the restaurant special Phrases in one sentence, what would it be?

-Maria Egea: I could tell you in one word: personality. The hardest thing for a restaurant to do is to differentiate itself because your project is personal. We refer to Murcian cuisine with contemporary touches, updating it with current techniques. We base everything on a single common thread: the Region of Murcia, its memories and its traditions; from the art of the table and the restaurant environment to the speech we give.

Murcian gastronomy as the root of their activity: this is the key to the success of the cuisine of the Frases restaurant, managed by Marco Iniesta. María Egea, for her part, is the head of the room. Already in 2023 they began to appear in the Michelin Guide and that same year they won their first Sol Repsol. All thanks to the turning point they gave the company in 2022: “We introduced the tasting menu, we modified the menu and we are significantly reducing capacity“, explains Maria.

– What are the restaurant’s signature dishes?

-Maria Egea: We have a menu and a letter. What we sell the most is the tasting menu, which highlights a reinterpretation of the Murcian salad. It is made with pear tomatoes, very typical here; with preserves that we prepare ourselves…

Also in this menu we give a more modern touch to a product as humble as the tomato: we prepare a tomato flan; also a cloud of caramelized tomatoes, to which we apply the same technique as the candy clouds.

-And what is the most special thing you can find on the menu?

– We have a small red shrimp tartare that we prepare and accompany the rice that we have here in Murcia, Calasparra rice, with its Bomba variety. With this we make the traditional recipe for the Mar Menor cauldron with the extras of red shrimp carcass, then we add the shrimp naturally.

All dishes have the particular tradition which is added to the fact that they are prepared with local products. María herself emphasizes that “100% of the menu” is supplied with products from the Region of Murcia. The Calasparra rice with which they prepare the cauldron is one of the most prestigious foods in the region, since it is the first variety of rice with a Designation of Origin in the world.

– What are the main local products that you use?

-Maria Egea: For example, we work with chicken eggs from Murcia which are served to us by a small producer from the El Romero Ecological Farm. We also use La Yerbera milk, which comes from Pozo Estrecho; and local cheeses. The most emblematic is Abuelo Ruperto cheese, whose cheese factory is located in San Javier. And we work all the vegetables directly from the adjacent markets, such as the Verónicas market, which is near the restaurant.

The average price to eat at the Frases restaurant is between 65 and 70 euros order individual dishes from the menu. For its part, the tasting menu costs 85 euros per person. To this must be added approximately 20 euros per person in each offer if wine is ordered.

The restaurant is located behind the Post-marketa few steps from Murcia Cathedralat number 1 Soledad Street. Open Thursday to Sunday. Thursday only during dinner hours – 9:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. – and Sunday only during lunch hours – 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays are open in both teams.

Personal conciliation

With these hours and a small space, María and Marco are committed to providing the best service to their guests. Which, in turn, provides them and their three other workers with “a personal life balance very important.”

“In high season We move around 420 to 440 guests per monthalthough normally we can move around 300 seats per month.” Not bad for a restaurant with only six tables that is committed to serving 14 people at the same time.

Furthermore, María emphasizes that in a restaurant “it is very important to have a few days more than usual to be able to be able to carry out research and new projects“And on the days when they are not serving their guests, they dedicate themselves to thinking about how they can improve the business.

“At the end of the day, it’s up to us to take care of almost everything. And when it’s our turn, for example, to change dishes or buy parts, we don’t see that as a nuisance,” he emphasizes. “We love him more, It’s like we bought ourselves a treat“.

All this delighted the public. The Frases restaurant has made an average rating of 4.7 stars out of 5 in the 440 reviews it has on Google. Some reviews speak of a “spectacular” and “memorable” experience.

Now, with the Michelin star, Couple plans to do ‘something special at the restaurant’but we still don’t know what.” María and Marco are a great example of how passion is one of the best tools entrepreneurs can use.

This story, which began by chance almost ten years ago at the doors of Celler de Can Roca, in Girona, is written about the key to success. For this reason, María enthusiastically expresses that this experience was “the push” they needed to gather their courage and start all this: “We would also like to say it one day to Joan Roca himself.“.