Bistro 6, just down from Plaza Vendimia has been newly taken over by Gilly and Gary who are both well known in the village of Competa. Gary is an extremely talented chef and Gilly is a likeable, personable and an efficient front of house. They really do make a perfect combination to run a business. Gary is not new to running his own business as he has run his own restaurants and bars on and off throughout his career. Gary graduated from Chef School at Southport University 40 years ago where he trained under the Roux Brothers heading. He explained he was trained in French which was usual in those days to gain chefs qualification. After graduating, Gary went on to work in London for 25 years. He opened Coconut Grove both in London and Marbella. Also, for 7 years Gary ran his own Bar and Brassiere in Brixton. Then friends asked him to chef at their restaurant El Parador in London, a Spanish tapas restaurant with famous clientele such as Ken Livingston and Bjork. In 2001, Gary moved to Spain to open a bar/restaurant in Caniallas de Albaida. However, soon after an opportunity presented itself by a friend in America who wanted him to go out there and help set up a new restaurant in New York. This time he would work both with his friend and James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) who was their investor and business partner. Unfortunately for Gary he was unable to obtain a green card after a year and so he returned to Spain to continue to chef in places such as The Mudejar, La Plaza and Oscars. He is a respected and a known chef in the area but he also said he would never open his own business again! However it seemed the influence of his girl friend Gilly and the newly available perfectly sized location for them to work together made him change is mind! Gilly is not new to front of house work or to Competa. She has lived in the area for years. Over this time she has built up knowledge of what people want from a bar and dining experience. She did also add in jest that she has had plenty of experience on the other side of the bar too! That is Gilly though; she’s funny, makes me laugh and always has something to say. When she walked into the bar to meet me for this interview the atmosphere changed she had immediately engaged with customers, chatted easily and was laughing while she set straight to work. The Bistro 6 premises have had a make-over as Gilly and Gary have painted, made lighting and soft furnishing changes and created a definitive bar area separate to the dinning space. On the newly painted walls there is a black board for delicious sounding specials and behind the bar further blackboards to display their wine and beer list. It has a warm and cosy feel good for both intimate dinning and with a few friends. A few days later after the interview friends suggested trying out Bistro 6 so 6 of us booked a table and went. The place was warm, packed and buzzing, Gilly even had to turn people away or ask them to sit at the bar. Despite how busy they were Gilly was attentive to all customers, our table always had drinks and food came out together in a timely manner. We all agreed the food was fabulous, tasty and well presented. Gary came out at the end of the meal and asked if the food was OK and Gilly was a dynamic host until we left. We all thoroughly enjoyed the dinning experience and we will definitely be returning soon.
