I had the good fortune to get to know the appetizing gastronomy of Casa Curro, of Casa Curro Group, through a friend of mine, hotel manager and expert in gourmet dishes, who took me to this place located in the old quarter of Marbella, without telling me anything about what I was going to taste.
And I must say that I was delighted with the culinary experience I had attended and that I have already repeated many more times and, as a journalist, I wanted to investigate who was behind this excellent cuisine and the idea of renewing the concept of tapas, misunderstood and associated with a low quality product. On the contrary, the dishes, made with good ingredients and well presented, have made an important place for themselves in the world of signature cuisine.
Curro Rodríguez, owner at Casa Curro Group
The great team that are the soul of the company
For those who don’t know anything about Curro Rodríguez, I would like you to briefly tell us about your beginnings in the gastronomy sector and how this evolution from the beginning with «La Taberna Casa Curro» to the design tapas of the current «La Tienda Casa Curro» came about.
Since I was 14 years old, I have always thought that I wanted to have a tavern, good wine, good food and little more, but my father had a plumbing company so from the age of 14 until I was 28, I worked in the family business. At 28 I opened my first bar «Maraku». I thought that drinks were the easiest thing to do, and although the business did very well, I sold it. And I opened La Taberna Casa Curro. The previous business was a clothes shop and I kept original elements such as the floor, ceilings, and structure to give it the style that La Taberna has today.
La Tienda came about because the person who had the premises next door (where La Tienda is now) told me that the rent was very good, that I should take advantage of the fact that he was leaving it, and that’s how I ended up deciding to take advantage of the opportunity.
The name «La Tienda» came about because I really wanted a canning shop, but I wanted people to be able to taste things there. People liked it so much that we started to develop a menu until we got to what we have today. However, the road was not an easy one. We were going to open on 20 March 2020, but the pandemic was declared on 11 March. So, you can imagine what the beginning was like: first quarantine and then restrictions in Spain. But here we are.
As I said before, we don’t want people to associate La Tienda Casa Curro with tapas.
Here I would like to thank you for this opportunity of visibility to show our foreign customers our food. It has happened to us that they have come asking for tapas, they have seen our menu and they imagined croquettes and patatas bravas.
High quality products, formulas created with imagination and love are the ingredients that «Casa Curro» offers. What would you add?
You have said it perfectly. I would add knowledge, speed and passion, our motto.
At the head of the kitchen is Omar Pérez, Chef trained in the School of Hotel Management of León, what value has he contributed to the gastronomic offer that you offer?
Omar has fitted in and understood the philosophy of the business to perfection and has helped to develop the menu we have so far. He is a young man with a lot of projection, he is continually training in other cuisines as we have done now with the new shop with Japanese cuisine. He is fundamental to the project.
Omar Pérez, Chef trained in the School of Hotel Management of León
It is also important to mention the careful selection of cheeses. How do you manage to create such a careful selection of brands?
Raúl Villabrille, our sommelier, is undoubtedly at the helm. In his family, from his grandmother to his brothers, they have had and still have cheese businesses. Therefore, he is the expert without any doubt.
And we cannot forget the wine cellar that has authentic jewels. A lot of references and not all of them well known. How do they reach the palates of the customers?
Here again, Raúl Villabrille, who deserves an interview to answer this question hahahah. His career as a sommelier is what allows us to have what we have. He has always liked to combine cheese and wine.
Raúl Villabrille, Sommelier
The offer of «La Tienda Casa Curro» is undoubtedly complemented by «La Taberna Casa Curro».
Yes, they are two businesses that continuously feed off each other. At the beginning, La Tienda grew thanks to La Taberna, because of the situation I was telling you about earlier about the pandemic. As La Taberna was well known, it gave a big boost to La Tienda. And now, we can say that La Taberna’s customers are getting to know La Taberna.
Any other project for the future?
Yes, soon to open «El Almacen». In the premises we have between La Taberna and La Tienda, we are still in the same street so you can’t get lost.
Very few tables and mainly seafood will be served. I don’t want to say much more because as we start, it can evolve in many ways.
Apart from this new place, we are already developing our online shop where everyone will be able to enjoy our wines from home.
And much more…
