Know me
My name is Pilar Montojo and I have been a cooking teacher at the Girona School of Hospitality and Tourism for 18 years.
I started studying cooking at the age of 13 and I practiced in my parents’ bar and at home. I have been dedicated to vegetarian cuisine for three decades, since the beginning of my adventure with what was my vegetarian restaurant Ti la, the first in the city of Girona. I am also a nutritionist and chef specializing in vegetarian cuisine. The Food Science and Technology degree has helped me see food from a more technical point of view, more from a laboratory.
My world is the world of vegetables and everything that revolves around them. I’m glad the world is starting to think like I did thirty years ago.

My story
I studied cooking at the Girona School of Hospitality and Tourism. I have a degree in Tourism, in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and a degree in Food Science and Technology.
I come from a family traditionally dedicated to the hospitality industry, both grandparents, uncles and parents. My grandparents opened the first bar-restaurant in the city in 1950, the Rhin Bar, where my mother worked as a waitress and cook. Later my parents opened the Bar Aragonés, where they ate some of the best tapas in the neighborhood and in the city. This is where I started my professional career.
I opened the doors of my own vegetarian restaurant, the first totally vegetarian bar-restaurant in Girona in 1993. For 15 years I offered my clients fresh, innovative cuisine and showed the world of vegetables in a totally different way. A natural kitchen and with the foundation of the classic kitchen, totally unknown until that moment.
In those years, vegetables reached “normality” through the day to day with breakfasts, menus, gastronomic menus and with special events such as vegetarian cooking courses, art opening appetizers, theme nights, weddings, bachelorette parties,…
My facet as a vegetarian businesswoman and chef have provided me with most of the knowledge and experience. They were very difficult years but also very satisfying on a personal level.
I am currently a cooking teacher at the same school where I studied and shared classrooms with the Roca brothers. I love my job, teaching young people a trade from my experience.

⇑ In this interview you can see two totally different points of view on hospitality and studies depending on the age at which they were carried out.
⇓ This flyer, edited by my brother Xavi, was a propaganda system that we used by mail for a few years. They were different times.

my personal achievements
several facets
Hospitality is a vocation to which you must dedicate many hours of your time and more, if you are a businesswoman.
the first restaurant-bar in Girona
Til·la was the first bar-restaurant in the city of Girona. It was in 1993, when the culture of vegetarianism was just beginning to emerge. The gastronomic offer was based entirely on vegetable ingredients: breakfast menu, sandwiches, homemade cakes, menu and gastronomic menu. It was a big change in the city and in my life as an owner and chef.
VEG VEGETARIAN COOKBOOK
The book contains the original recipes of the restaurant, dishes full of color and vitamins. It also includes the bases of vegetarian cooking, a balanced and sensory cuisine treated in an easy and organized way.
cooking teacher
My passion for teaching began more than fifteen years ago. This is my other profession. I love being in contact with the new generations of chefs and transferring knowledge from the experience of having run my own restaurant.
vegetarian cooking classes
For many years I have dedicated myself to teaching this cuisine in different spaces and levels of knowledge. I combined it with the restaurant and now with my work. From civic centers to cooks, I have tried to show this kitchen to improve your understanding from a health point of view.


One of the first restaurant menu of the restaurant, year 1996. The prices are in pesetas. Some of these dishes became essential on other menus, such as the celery root cannelloni that our customers loved and which are also in the Veg book.

The “1er Congres Català de Cuina” was a great act of celebrating Gastronomy where I was lucky enough to rub shoulders with the best of the province.
from another angle

“I don’t understand the cuisine without being very organized, orderly and curious.”
The best personal decision to help our planet is to consume less fish and meat. For this reason, you have to know how to eat vegetables.
I am a very active person. I love sports and I practice it 3-4 times a week. I go to work on foot, a journey of about 25 minutes, it helps me plan the day. I think that I have to set an example for others to follow.
I eat healthy everywhere, I make very light dinners and I always eat with a salad. My favorite daily dessert is fruit, but if I have to choose one, the warm apple tatin with custard is crazy for me. I like the soft tastes of the elaborations and notice each ingredient in a natural way. I can’t stand excesses in spices or spicy. Neither are oily preparations or meals without garnishes. I love the color on the plate and the sobriety in the presentations. I like both modernity and classicism. I take what I want from each kitchen. Everywhere there are good things.
I am not totally vegetarian because of my work. Two days a week I eat only vegetables to cleanse my body. I adore infusions and their medicinal properties. And I consume a minimum of 1.5 l daily in this way.
When I go on a trip, the first thing I visit are the markets and food stores. I am happy with a legume from somewhere else. And also, I love speaking other languages to communicate properly with the people of the country. In addition to my mother tongue, which is Catalan, I speak English, French and Portuguese. I consider myself a citizen of the world and it bothers me when they don’t take care of it.
OPINIONS

I found this a few years ago and really liked it.
I sincerely appreciate the opinion of this client in relation to my restaurant and way of doing things.