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august 25, 2015 - Seat

Seat - The nomadic restaurant of the SEAT Leon Eurocup

- In paddocks around the circuits of Europe the #seat Sport ‘hospitality’ is ever-present and serves up to two hundred people per day
- For three days across one fixture of the series they bring 15 kilos of fruit and vegetables and 30 kilos of meat products and make up to 600 coffees and 500 drinks 

Like for many high-profile #racing series’ the paddock of the #seatleon Eurocup is a dynamic and fully functional ‘village’ that moves from one base to another. At the heart of the set-up is the #seat Sport ‘hospitality’ that provides a nomadic restaurant for the single make championship and where up to 200 guests per day are attended with a singular goal: “that each person who steps inside ends up leaving happy,” comments Javier Marqués, overseer of the catering operation.
This is achieved with stringent organisation, not unlike the world of competition in which is it centrally located. “You have to plan before, during and after in a very methodical way; we almost have motorsport DNA! We have been doing this for twenty years now. There is a way to work that is different to hospitality structures at other events because there are strict timetables and a defined type of guest,” explains Javier García, General Manager of the company responsible for the service. “We have to co-ordinate things very well because we have a lot of people visiting and limited space,” reveals Adam Morley, the Australian chef looking after the plates. “We are very tight with the timetables,” adds Marqués. García continues: “We bring our own contribution to the classification (laughs). We are always very close for timings.” Marqués follows-up: “We are always making fastest laps.” Morley: “It’s like an Endurance Championship!”
The #seat Sport hospitality is constructed from a trailer truck and support vehicles. The set-up also involves the awning, furnishings, #food and materials, such as the large fridge-freezer. All is looked after by a team of eight people. For the three days of a #seatleon Eurocup race they bring in 15 kilos each of fruit and vegetables, 30 of meat products, and throughout the meeting will brew 600 coffees and make 500 drinks. A lot of the products are carried from Spain, where part of the cooking is also done and then finished at the circuit. “All the fresh #food we aim to buy in the country we are visiting, so it is a ‘kilometre zero’ product,” says Marqués; “where we cannot find large stores and have to go to the supermarket then we horrify everybody because we empty the shelves (laughs).”
“A typical menu for the #seatleon Eurocup consists of a good range of salads so the people can eat healthily if they want. The following plates are normally something like pasta, risotto…and the main course will be meat, fish or something from the country where we are currently visiting, accompanied by vegetables and a lot of fruit. At the same Around fifteen hours is needed to erect all the structure necessary to bring the hospitality into working state. It is a job that begins Wednesday afternoon in order to have everything ready to go by Friday morning. “A difference to a normal restaurant is that here everybody, the chef included, helps build the hospitality so you are a key part of the team,” comments Morley. Great teamwork means that all the people roaming the paddock not only can enjoy the thrills of the #seatleon Eurocup but also digest and savour the gastronomic splendour of this special bolthole of the international single make #racing scene.