A few months ago Santi Temblador, local chef and owner of “fine street food” tapas bar El Cuelge, put this up on his Instagram mentioning the few “foodies” in the city who come to his place of their own accord and PAY THEIR OWN BILLS. Yep, I’m one of them. His disdain for so-called influencers is well-known by now. A few short years ago these shysters were bold enough to ask for a free meal for themselves and “a few friends” in exchange for some Instagram publicity, but now it’s even worse. Along with free grub they also want to be paid!

Anyhow, Santi went viral (again) this week when a couple of “influencer content creators” got in touch for the usual freebie and he said fine, named a date and time, and these two guys showed up. Santi filmed the whole thing, with him making a big production of preparing a mortadella montadito (basically a bologna sandwich) which he plated as if it were michelin-star quality and then presented it with a flourish along with a couple glasses of tap water. When the two influencers looked confused Santi explained that whenever people come to his door asking for a food handout this is what he gives them.

Santi, I salute you! And I look forward to visiting you and your bar again soon.