WHEN Peter and Elaine Kinsella gave up their steady careers in health and education to start a Catalunyan deli and restaurant, there must have been one or two eyebrows raised among those dour veterans of the hospitality game.
It was 2008, it was Liverpool, a brand new, untested concept before the word concept became a thing, Lunya, even the name had to be explained, sat in a brand new shopping centre, Liverpool One. And to do it, the household, with three teenagers to feed and clothe, was mortgaged up to the hilt - and more.
The Kinsellas had taken their love of Spain, their love of its food, drink and its way of life to the max.
Peter KInsella has a folder of 600 Catalan recipes which are slowly being bestowed on an unsuspecting public at LunyaBut this was no ordinary holidaying family. Instead of hauling sombreros home, Peter was busy importing ideas and amassing hundreds of recipes from every sort of cafe, restaurant and bar.
One day, he vowed, he would recreate and serve every one of them, in his dream restaurant, for the people of Liverpool.
Back home, an army of staff were hired. Meat ordered from Edge's, fish from Ward's. What could possibly go wrong?
2016 and Lunya has defied the perceived wisdom of the cynics and last year branched out to Manchester.
Twice Liverpool has been declared the North West’s best restaurant by the Good Food Guide. On the floor and in the kitchen, staff show no sign of deserting the Kinsellas or the College Lane venue, racking up years of service.
They include the talented head chef, Dave Upson, who came in as a commis in 2011. the formidible task of going through those recipes in the folder which gets bigger with every (frequent) trip to Iberia designed to push the boundaries more.
There are 600 - and counting - and this week numbers 250-260 are seeing the light of day for food lovers to try.
“Some of them,” says Peter, “are staples you will find in any roadside Spanish cafe. Catalan food has a tradition of combining food from the land and the sea, so we’ve got a whole section of dishes reflecting that - mari muntana - including canelons, a Catelan take on canneloni filled with turkey, chicken livers for earthiness and squid for sweetness.
“That didn’t make it onto the original menu in 2008 as there were too many dishes already.”
He added: “We’ve also included gambas (shell-on king prawns) because they gather the senses. They might be trickier to eat than a bogstandard prawn, but you can’t beat fresh Mediterranean seafood.”
“Food is for picking up, so we’ve introduced lamb, slow roasted and shredded, inside Hirata buns with mint, pomegranate and Piquilo pepper.”
Here’s what Confidential sampled yesterday, all the dishes, priced between £3.50 and £8 were as refreshingly different as they were subtle and well executed by the kitchen people.
With 350 dishes yet to be unleashed, one suspects we ain’t seen nothing yet in Lunya’s ever more interesting evolution.
In a sea of chains and concepts, Liverpool One is fortunate to have it.
Count me in for the long haul.
Lunya: 18 College Lane, Liverpool L1 3DS. Telephone: 0151 706 9770. Website
Estofado, Catalan ox-cheek stew infused with orange and cinnamon and served with a celeriac puree
Merluza - pan fried hake on a bed of samfaina with a crispy, smoked Iberico rasher
Datillas: dates stuffed with blue cheese and served with - or without - more of that crispy Iberica bacon
Cuttlefish over a bed of fiduela noodles in a rich squid ink and seafood sauce 
Gambas a la plancha dressed with chilli, garlic and pimento infused olive oil
Edge's sweet lamb, slow roasted and shredded, inside Hirata buns with mint, pomegranate and Piquilo pepper.”
