Jordi Vilà closes Va de Cuina, his Sarrià takeaway food shop

Chef Jordi Vilà has closed Va de Cuina, the prepared-food shop he ran on Carrer Major de Sarrià. Sunday 4 October was the last day it opened, and Vilà broke the news himself in a video on social media. His verdict, in his own words: "Ya no va" ("It's not working any more").

This was the last of the shops. A second Va de Cuina in Sant Antoni had already closed more than a year earlier, and Vilà had told El Periódico at the time that he would keep the brand going by selling to other shops and raising the standard in Sarrià. That wasn't enough. "No hemos sabido resolver los problemas que hemos tenido" ("We haven't managed to solve the problems we had"), he said, calling it a carefully considered decision after six years.

He was open about one possible culprit: around 80% of what the shop sold was made in-house, without preservatives or additives, and he admits that may have been one of the mistakes that led here. He also says he closes with his accounts settled, having paid all his suppliers, and plans to explain the mistakes in more detail later so other entrepreneurs can learn from them.

The rest of his group carries on. According to Crónica Global, that now means Alkimia, which holds one Michelin star, Al Kostat, Al Kostat del Mar and Vivanda. You can find three of them in our guide: Alkimia, Al Kostat and Vivanda.