Chef Christian Rullán - "Simplicity allows us to experience extreme luxury."

His voice conveys directness, simultaneously mirrored by a gaze that seeks to live the simplest aspects of life. Love brought him to Portugal, and it was in Guimarães that he realized his dream of opening his own restaurant. Today, at Le Babachris, a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand, he invites us to enjoy his multifaceted and unique cuisine.

- You were born in France and raised in Palma de Mallorca. How did your passion for cooking come about, and what brought you to Portugal?
My passion for cooking came from my parents, who ran a takeaway restaurant in Mallorca, a northern city, and were somewhat of a pioneer in the takeaway industry in the 1970s. Because of that, I've always lived in the kitchen. But before becoming a chef, I was a forestry technician. I left that field to dedicate myself to cooking, but I started late, at 24. I enrolled in a hotel and restaurant school in Palma de Mallorca and then at L'école Lenôtre in Paris, where I learned a lot. That's where I gained all the foundations I have now—Mediterranean French foundations. I arrived in Portugal thanks to my wife, who won me over. I was that uneducated guy who didn't want to visit Portugal because I thought there were many more interesting countries, and I was very wrong. Visiting Guimarães 13 years ago was incredible; it was like experiencing the slow living of that era, at a time when I saw mass tourism in Mallorca. Guimarães has this tranquility, this slow living, a more peaceful life. Before moving here, I had other professional experiences in Mallorca and France, namely in a Michelin-starred restaurant, but then I decided to look for a space to open my own restaurant.

Le Babachris is a project inspired by love, awarded by the Michelin Guide. Tell us about this beautiful story.
The name Le Babachris is a combination of Bárbara and Christian, my wife's name and mine. I met Bárbara in the Isére Valley. We fell in love, perhaps because of the cold and the altitude... Then there was a separation, because I was working as a private chef for a family in Madrid, and it was during this time that Bárbara invited me to come and visit Portugal, at a time when Portugal was also undergoing a period of change. I was very reticent because in my mind I believed that northern Portuguese cuisine was very traditional, and I don't cook traditional cuisine, I cook my own cuisine. But I started to see what could work here in the north. We decided to come to Guimarães, also because it's a more peaceful place. I didn't want to create a fad, but a trend. People often confuse that. I'm not a fad, I'm a trend; I have a philosophy of life, a way of thinking. We all fit into the world, and we must have respect. I wanted to create something very informal, but where my dishes made it clear that I was passionate and a professional in the kitchen.

- What is most important to you when cooking?
When I start cooking, I put myself in the customer's shoes. I'll never make anything I don't like, just to give it to the customer. When a customer comes here, they need to see that there's a job, a person behind each dish, committed to their craft and who does it with all their heart, not just for money. That gives them an experience. That the flavor begins one way and ends another. When I make a dish, I try to make the customer enjoy it to the point of forgetting their problems, their things. Our job is to surprise with taste. I'm interested in what's behind the visual aspect. It breaks my heart when a customer comes here to eat and is on their cell phone; I suffer with that. And I think if you don't have 30 minutes to eat, I don't know what you're doing here. I sound too radical, but what I think is that things need to be experienced.

- Is chef Christian at Le Babachris the same chef who cooks at home?
No, Barbara gets mad, but I don't cook at home. And here, I enjoy cooking, but there has to be discipline and hierarchy. Because the customer won't forgive.

- In a society often consumed by excess, there's a growing desire for a slow lifestyle, which values ​​appreciation for the present. Do you sense this desire in your customers and in the way they enjoy your dishes?
I realize that customers come here largely through word of mouth. And if you ask them what Le Babachris is like, they don't know how to explain it properly, because it's so fusion. There are Asian touches, there's Mediterranean… For example, in Portugal there are hundreds of cod recipes. And I invented another, a much more expensive hook-caught cod, where I use the loin and accompany it with bourbon, a basic French sauce made with a reduction of shallots, vinegar, and white wine, with a small amount of butter. And, of course, there's a contrast that when Portuguese customers taste it… they're amazed. I always use the best quality products possible. And when customers come here, they realize the food is healthy.

- How do you choose your products? Do you prioritize organic products?
It's impossible for all products to be organic because the customer doesn't want to pay. So, I have to transform. We, who are in the Michelin Guide, and everyone who makes medium-high-end cuisine, don't know where we're headed. We can't lower prices, because that would be like going down to low-end products. I defend my craft because it contains wisdom, travel culture, study, geography, history, chemistry, and investment. But of course, explaining this to the customer is difficult, and it doesn't matter to the customer.

- What do you do to take care of yourself and slow down when you need to?
I don't know how to do this... I'm in a process. I'm in therapy and I've started working out again. I try to see the glass as half full, not half empty. I don't know if it was luck, but I identified with a book on Stoic philosophy, which helped me a lot, especially in understanding some issues. I don't have answers for everything, but I reflect on everything. I used to get stressed easily; I was very radical. Now I try to see opportunities in things, to be calmer. I don't meditate and I don't know how to meditate because my mind is always racing. But I think meditation begins when you forgive yourself and the things that have happened in your life.

- What do you consider a luxury?
Luxury for me is my freedom. It's what I do. On the other hand, I know that this luxury comes with great responsibility, because my team and my family depend on me. But being able to have breakfast with my daughter, take her to school, walk to work, be 10 minutes from home… If that's not luxury, I don't know what is. Simplicity allows us to experience extreme luxury.

Text: Carla Martins
Photos: Ana Nogueira