I am Luisa Contreras Vargas, I am 25 years old, born and raised almost on the beach in the Barrio de Pescadores, El Palo. I am the owner of Chiringuito Promenade. My mother used to work here, as a waitress. The boss was in love with her. When he died, she inherited it. My mom knew how to serve dishes, but she had no idea how to run a restaurant. Within three weeks, she got this nervous breakdown. That’s how I came to be in charge here. I had only just finished Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, and I didn’t have the slightest experience, not even as a waitress. Actually, I was planning to go to Barcelona, to study Marine Biology. Buying, preparing and serving fish in a chiringuito was not exactly my dream come true.

Then, the barrio saved me. El Palo is a strong community. If we see someone struggle, we help. They arranged this meeting with this inspiring woman from Amupema, a meeting point for businesswomen and professionals from Malaga. Her most important lesson was not to give up on myself, ever. And the second most important was that I could not do this on my own. Not because of me. But because no-one could. I needed a network, I needed support, I needed publicity, I needed everybody talking about my chiringuito. And to fix that I needed a concept. What was this absolutely wonderful thing about my chiringuito that I loved? 

Formerly, chiringuitos were these huts with straw walls and roofs – simply placed on the beach without a floor so the chairs and tables were in the sand. As you can see, nowadays, they are on the promenade. The food did not change - we serve lots of fish. Our traditional espetos de sardinas are about to become a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. You knew that Malagueñans are nicknamed boquerones, didn’t you? We like to eat these boquerones - fried anchovies - every day.

Love? I felt no love. I hated it. I hated the menu’s and all the different prices. I hated the guests who were so unpredictable in their wishes. It would be so much easier if they just wanted to eat what I wanted them to eat. The woman applauded. There you are, she said. Para ser irremplazable, uno debe buscar ser siempre diferente - to be irreplaceable one must always seek to be different. Just do it your way.  

So, I skipped the menu. Now, the waiters walk around with trays filled with a choice of dishes, like pescaíto frito, fritura Malagueña, calamaritos, almejas a la marinera and paella. If you see a dish that makes your mouth water, just raise your hand and it’s yours. Each plate costs €7. You pay for the number of plates you have on your table.

So, I was 18, with zero experience or knowledge. And yet, I had to boss around a bunch of cooks, waiters, dishwashers. I had to decide on the menu, the price of the dishes, the drinks. Not to mention all the paperwork. It was a disaster. It’s not that I was not accepted as the host of the restaurant. I just could not accept it myself. I did this for my mom. I wanted her to be proud of me, of our chiringuito. I didn’t want to disappoint her. But actually, I was pretty sure I was going to fail. I worked so hard, I hardly slept, I never ever had the time to take a chair and join my friends and family for a nice chat on the beach. And still, the restaurant showed a more negative growth every week. I couldn’t even pay the staff properly.

People  like  it.  It   is  easy.  It  is  different. It makes    the    restaurant  special.  Can  you 

imagine that l have been  rewarded with an innovation prize for it?  Funny huh.  And you know  what?  My  mom  is  one  of  my  best waitresses.   So,  hungry?  Just   come.  over

and join the locals, the international Spanish language  students  from  the  neighbouring barrio  Pedregalejo  and  the  tourists.  I’ll   be happy to keep a table for you!