This is how it was born
CAITANADAS
It is a word invented, not by us, but by a woman named Teresa Manrique, who has been the unwitting protagonist in the creation of our brand.
But let's recap: Caitanadas was born from a beautiful love story between two people who found each other without knowing they were looking for each other, Pablo and Alba.
Pablo spent part of his childhood with his grandmother, Teresa, in one of the most beautiful villages in Spain, Urueña. Surrounded by wheat, wild flowers, endless landscapes, animals and the love of a grandmother he admired, because despite her small frame she was a tireless worker. Pablo was the most imaginative child ever seen, and his most repeated phrase was, ‘Can you imagine, Mum? Can you imagine, Grandma?’ Those ‘can you imagine’ phrases gave him a special sensitivity to things, an observation, a tradition, a refinement. He found beauty in everything around him, and if he didn't see it, he created it or fixed it.
In his natural creative zeal, he was always struck by an expression his grandmother used, referring to Caitanadas as those things that were unnecessary, silly. Anything that went beyond the simple or the necessary was, for Teresa Manrique, nothing more than Caitanadas. A word she always said with a smile and her eyes closed. A word she invented herself.
It was some time later, after spending several years designing products and lamps under the artistic pseudonym Paul Manriq, that Pablo realised he could turn the ‘unnecessary’ into something necessary. Creating beauty to complement any chef's culinary offerings. Creating beauty for some of the happiest places in the world: restaurants.
That was when Alba, the other half of Caitanadas, appeared. With her enthusiasm, her sensitivity, her zest for life, her love of beauty and, above all, her love. Together they created a fascinating team, nourished by the classics, inspired by nature, fascinated by the savoir faire of artisans, by the buildings of the different cities they travel to, who enjoy life and together also created a purpose: to create beauty.
...Going beyond what is necessary to create excellence.
