May 1, 2018

Meet Emilio Garcia of Barcelona Wine Bar in Norfolk County

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emilio Garcia.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m from Central America, Guatemala to be exact, and back in the day, “culinary” wasn’t really something I ever thought I would ever pursue professionally. It was especially this time of year (around the holidays), that was so exciting because it was the time I would be in the kitchen with my mom, cutting vegetables and helping to make all this food for Christmas. I knew then that I liked it, but I never thought it could be my career, so I went to school to be teacher. When I moved to the United States at 17, I made pasta this one time, and I just fell in love with it and became enamored with the whole restaurant scene and industry. I had to do it. Since then, I have just moved my way up.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t been smooth, especially with the language barrier (my first language is Spanish) so that was Step 1, but from the respect of cooking, I think it’s been somewhat easy because I’ve had the opportunity to work with good people, and I’m just so passionate about it, so it doesn’t really matter how hard it is. It’s just something that I really wanted to do, so if it’s easy I don’t think it’s “fun.” In other words, if it’s not hard, I don’t think it’s worth doing. Something that really was difficult for me – was the whole visa situation. The whole process when your visa expires and you need to become a citizen of the country, it’s hard to find someone who wants to give you the opportunity that will allow you to do that.

Please tell us about Barcelona Wine Bar.
Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant is a tapas bar inspired by the culture of Spain. The menu is constantly evolving, and really focuses on clean flavors, seasonal ingredients, specialties from Spain and the Mediterranean, and rustic small plate presentations. Barcelona was founded in Connecticut in 1996 and now has restaurants in Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Philadelphia, Virginia, and Washington D.C. As an Executive Chef of Barcelona, I personally love playing with local ingredients; some farms that I use more often are Allandale Farm and Eva’s Garden, I like to play with fresh seafood and I absolutely love playing with pasta, especially fresh pasta. I think that when guests see there’s pasta on the menu, they know it’s a special occasion because I really like to make it perfect. The hospitality that we provide is what makes me proud to be a chef, and to work for this company. It’s something that really gets me into it and makes me proud to be part of the Barcelona family. A lot of companies that I’ve seen use the “VIP” system but for us, every single table, every single person is a VIP to us. That makes me so happy and proud to work for this company. We don’t care where you came from – you are in our house and we are going to take great care of you.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Who else deserves credit – have you had mentors, supporters, cheerleaders, advocates, clients or teammates that have played a big role in your success or the success of the business? If so –who are they and what role did they plan / how did they help.
One person who deserves a lot of credit is my wife, who always pushes me forward to take the next step and succeed. She makes me fearless, and always points me in the right direction. The other person who has had a major impact on me is Adam Halberg (SVP, Barcelona Wine Bar). He taught me how to constructively deal with stress, especially in a leadership position, and use it as a way to motivate myself and my team.

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