CANARY MAGAZINE

Written by @loretosocorro

At Viera y Clavijo 27, next to the heart of Triana (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), there is a restaurant run by two sisters: Cristina Gómez who welcomes us in the dining room and Viky Gómez who is the manager and cook of the restaurant.

Cristina, Christmas is associated with excesses but you show that you can also eat delicious and healthy on these dates.

The Christmas menu is a sample of what is really offered here every day, but with a touch of magic. The kitchen is something more special on these dates and it is because we like it. People can share and enjoy in a healthy way and still celebrate.

The table has been decorated with the collaboration and good taste of Cristina's daughter, and the items from the decoration store "Interley Interiores", which dress the table for this report. Under a cage guarded by an angel, hides a Brownie pumpkin, about to trill with sweet notes. Our mouths water with the sample of one of the Christmas menus: the soup, the cheeks in a spectacular sauce, the leg, which is also offered throughout the year -on Wednesdays-.

The kitchen sigue working for clients who come daily and is about to elaborate those Christmas menus.

We prepare everything and it is delivered on the 24th until two in the afternoon. On New Year's Eve and Kings there is also demand. Customers call to order and then come to pick up the food at the store.

What does this healthy cuisine consist of that you defend and serve throughout the year?

We prepare weekly menus that we prepare from Monday to Friday, and we do it in such a way that no dish is repeated in the period of a month and a half or two months; so the variety is an incentive for the regular customer, the one who comes daily. In addition, we only use olive oil, banishing artificial flavor enhancers from our kitchen. We have the “Gustino” credential.

What is “Gustino”?

It is the hallmark that guarantees that we respect the Mediterranean diet.

As soon as we opened they gave it to us. That was in 2011. Our kitchen consists of local dishes and flavors from other cultures: lots of soups, fresh vegetables and fruits, and bread baked right here.

¿A Tu Salud Cocina Sana is a restaurant vegetarian?

It's healthy". Healthy is something that goes beyond the concept of vegan or vegetarian. It is real food, traditional food, based on quality products and the Mediterranean diet. On the menus there are always first and second courses that are vegetarian and meat and fish are also offered.

The good thing is that the people who come can combine the dishes as they want. This makes it easier for those who want to eat vegetables and legumes to choose, without getting bored.

And are desserts also healthy, Viky?

Of course, we always offer fruit and the pastries are homemade, without excess sugar as is often the case in industrial pastries. We do not serve anything that is not made here.

The sisters are still involved between the kitchen and the living room, while diners enjoy lunch surrounded by images of mandalas, oblivious to the click of our camera, which plays tag with some of the dishes planned for these holidays.

Cristina, who usually eats here, the workers from the Triana area?

People who work in the area and also people who live around here. The truth is, with Triana we have a very special bond; That is why we chose this area to put the restaurant.

Tell us about that link.

Our grandparents came from Castilla La Mancha, at the beginning of the XNUMXth century. They came because they wanted to be all together, things in life... the only son of the family was sent to the Canary Islands and the family did not want to live separately.

Were you also engaged in restoration?

No, they sold espadrilles and started to have stores like “La Muñeca” or “Bazar Nueva York”, a toy store and a record store on the same Triana street. That's where we want to start a business in this area, because we feel very much like our family.

Why dedicate yourself to cooking then, Cristina?

I wanted to undertake with my sisters and thinking about what to do, things came out rolling: Viky cooked for our mother who was diabetic and hypertensive. She did it because she liked to cook and because that's how she tried to make our mother eat rich and healthy. Later she got the bug to study and she trained in nutrition and cooking, remotely, while she continued working.

So they went on an adventure...

We turned to this project, as a business and as a way of life. The place was half of what it is today. When a travel agency that was right next door closed, in a single weekend we took advantage and tore down the wall.

Looks like they hit the hammer hard...

Well yes, I remember it was Halloween. We took advantage of it, we integrated everything and we had a great space left.

How were those early days?

Everything was new but motivating. We opened with a young Filipino cook, and then we had other cooks. Little by little, Viky realized that she could run the kitchen by herself.

Like many other businesses, the health situation slowed them down. The Gómez sisters explain to us that 2019 was their best year and that they are now working hard to return to the pre-covid level.

From the love of cooking, the desire and the daily effort, this restaurant was born that offers “a healthy body in a healthy dish”. Our way of cooking respects the product and that is something that people who eat on the street for work appreciate, as well as people who cannot cook for other reasons.

I ate out a lotsays Viky- I had to stick to salad or fritangos. We were clear that we wanted to offer healthy food on a daily basis, but that it was not just a salad.

What dishes are most successful?

As the menu is very varied over time, it does not give rise to a star dish. One thing we always have is gazpacho made here and also yogurt with saffron syrup. The people who eat here know that the lentil stew that we offer does not contain chorizo ​​or bacon... When people finish eating they tell us that it is as delicious as if it were from their grandmother and they ask us what we put in the food .

What do you put on it, Viky?

Good product and some kind -the cook Gómez comes out for a moment with her sunflower apron and explains to us – Thus the flavor of the vegetables is enhanced, naturally. People value it. I have no secrets, I tell you, I put such a herb or species. It is important for quality and flavor that we do not use processed products, neither in broths, nor in funds, nor in sauces. The idea of ​​the cube to add flavor or the tomato jar terrifies me. "A Tu Salud Cocina Sana" is the cuisine that has always been made at home and is what we like to offer.

Do you make custom meals for groups, celebrations?

On request we can do for a considerable group of people. This is more of a diner, actually. There are those who come every day and all year round. There are groups of people who come to celebrate and choose from the menu directly.

We thank Zulema and Tati for their daily work, who help us maintain this business on a day-to-day basis” – The Gómez Maciá sisters

Check the 2022 Christmas menu of the restaurant "A Tu Salud Cocina Sana" 👉 christmas menu

«We are what we eat and we can enjoy the food, while preventing for the future.

EsTas Christmas people who want to live these holidays without having to cook and knowing that they are going to eat healthy and delicious food have an appointment with this restaurant, in the heart of the capital of Gran Canaria.

The Gómez sisters are restraint and tenderness but above all they are flavor and health. They have known how to undertake against the wind and put the spoon and the food they nourish on the table again, without masks and with all their nutritional value. From Sal del Atlántico we thank you for the minutes you gave us, the smiles and the respect you offer on your plates.