If there’s one dish Chef Manuel Olveira Seller keeps returning to, it’s tortilla de patatas – a Spanish omelette that brings together onion, potato and eggs. “Growing up, I would eat it almost every day,” he says. “My mother would make it. Whenever we were hungry, it was there. I’ve been eating it since I was young and still can’t stop.”In the kitchen of his Bandra home, he moves with the ease of someone who has cooked this dish a thousand times, which he has. But first, coffee – a cup of cappuccino – which is his morning ritual. We meet him at noon. He offers us a cup. A can of Kali coffee beans — the lid vacuum-sealed — is followed by a small grinder, a portafilter, a tamper and the machine. Beans are freshly ground, tamped, extracted. Milk is frothed simultaneously. His coffee, we learn, is sacrosanct.The tortilla gets the same attention. Potatoes — eight of them, peeled and thinly sliced — go into a generous pour of olive oil, enough to almost submerge them. Two onions follow. “This is not frying,” he clarifies. “This is confit. Low heat, slow. You want the potato to be soft, not crispy.” He’s unhurried about it, stirring occasionally over the next 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the onions lightly caramelised. He lets them cool slightly before draining the oil — this part matters, he says. “Adding hot potato straight to the egg will start cooking it before you’re ready.”Seller grew up in Villatobas, a small town of about 2,500 people near the UNESCO heritage city of Toledo in Spain, surrounded by vineyards, olive trees and wheat fields. “We were a bit isolated — you always needed a car to get to town,” he says. “But it was a beautiful childhood. We grew up outdoors.” His parents ran a popular restaurant on the highway, a stopover for Madrileños driving to the coast for holidays. “Cars then couldn’t run for long hours, so people would stop, eat, sometimes stay the night,” he explains, adding that at its peak, the family restaurant was doing 600 covers a day. “My mother ran the kitchen and my father handled the service.”He started helping out young first at the bar, making coffee – he could barely reach the machine – and serving guests. The weekends were spent in the kitchen. “The first thing I remember making was custard — huge batches of it. I must have been 10 or 12.” Manuel Olveira Seller flipping the Spanish omelette on a plate (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)Also Read | ‘Meri biopic ban rahi hai’: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor reveals his big Bollywood plans, favourite festive memories, diet, and moreAt 16, he decided to go to culinary school in Toledo. “For the first time, I was interested in what I was doing. I did very well — completely the opposite of my school years,” he recalls. His teacher eventually sent him for training at El Bohío, a one Michelin-star restaurant run by Pepe Rodríguez. They hired him after. Madrid followed. It was his years at Sergi Arola Gastro that shaped him. Arola brought him to Mumbai in 2012 to open a restaurant. By 2015, Seller had developed his own style, one that no longer aligned with his mentor’s. “When that happens, it’s time to leave,” he says.Mumbai, however, brought him more than just career. Here he met Mickee Tuljapurkar, a boutique real estate businesswoman. Two years after their first meeting, they were married in Spain — about 100 guests flew in from India. “For a small city like Toledo, it was quite something.” After stints in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it was Mickee who eventually said, “bas, bohot ho gaya — pack your bags, we’re going back”. “I came back to Mumbai without a plan or a job. It took me about six months to figure things out,” he says. Meanwhile, he stayed at Mickee’s home, which gave him an insight into the Indian palate.Story continues below this adA pop-up was happening and when Seller was asked to set up a stall, he said ‘yes’. He rented a kitchen in Bandra, put together a small menu — mushroom and truffle croquettes, pork belly, gambas — set up a few induction stoves. It was sold out. “That was the moment I thought: maybe there’s a market for this.”La Loca Maria opened in July 2019, 15 seats inside and 10 outside on benches, doing 90 to 100 covers on a Sunday right from the start. The menu was built in layers — a core that stays constant, and new dishes that rotate every few months. Croquettes, gambas, pork belly. And paella. “Paella will never leave the menu,” he says, with the finality of someone who has been asked this before. The walls are covered in murals — flamenco dancers, imagery rooted in Spanish tradition — done in an understated watercolour style. The palette borrows from his hometown: terracotta, warm beiges, the earthy tones of the European countryside. Recognition followed, and he received multiple awards.Part of what keeps the food honest is what he carries back from Spain — sometimes literally. His last trip involved 50 kilos of produce: pimentón, olive oil, anchovies, piparra peppers, beans. And two legs of Iberico ham, nine kilos each, cured for up to four years, tucked into his suitcase. The producer, based in Salamanca, doesn’t yet export to India but now they are trying to officially bring it in.La Panthera followed — larger, louder, 4,000 square feet built for 90 covers and up to 300 for events – in 2024. Unlike La Loca Maria, which is intimate and will not have outposts, La Pantera is built for celebration and will see expansion. “From sweet 16s to 90th birthdays,” he says. “People come to celebrate.” Every future outpost will carry the same European soul — but none will be a copy. “What works in BKC may not work in South Mumbai.”Story continues below this adBack in his kitchen, 10 eggs go into a bowl, then the cooled potato-onion mixture is folded in gently. The pan goes back on, with a little leftover oil, and the egg mixture is poured in and spread evenly. Low heat, again. Four to five minutes, until the base is golden. Then comes the moment that separates the confident from the hesitant — a plate placed over the pan, one clean inversion, the tortilla slid back in to finish the other side. “This is where people make mistakes,” he says. “They cook it too long. You want it still soft inside — almost yielding.” A few more minutes, then off.It looks deceptively simple. That, he says, is exactly the point. “In Spain, the best tortilla is always the most humble one — the one your mother made.” He slices it and sets it on the table. The inside is just as he described — almost yielding, a deep golden yellow.Also Read | Move aside momos and chaat, Korean street food thelas are the new rage nowTortilla Española (Spanish Omelette) Spanish omelette (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee) 31.03.2026Preparation time: 20 minutesCooking time: 10 minutesServes: 6Ingredients: 10 large eggs, 8 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced, 2 onions, thinly sliced, 1 cup olive oil, Salt, to tasteMethodStory continues below this adCook the potatoes and onions: Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the potatoes and onions and cook until tender and lightly caramelised, about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.Prepare the egg mixture: Beat the eggs in a bowl and season with salt. Drain the cooked potatoes and onions from the oil, then gently mix them into the beaten eggs.Cook the tortilla: Using the same skillet, pour in the egg and potato mixture, spreading it evenly. Cook on low heat for 4–5 minutes, until the base is golden.Flip and finish: Carefully invert the tortilla onto a plate, then slide it back into the pan to cook the other side for another 4–5 minutes, until set.Story continues below this adServe: Slide onto a plate, allow it to cool slightly, then cut into wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature with mayonnaise, tomato salsa, or ketchup.