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Francisco Roque, 75, a chef and restaurateur refuses retirement. The doctor had twice told him that he only had a few months left to live. However, Francisco Roque, the 75-year-old chef and restaurateur, refused to retire.
To the doctors astonishment, he now has the ‘all-clear’ and is convinced that the secret to a long life is loving what you do. Roque is the chef and owner of the popular El Jinete restaurant, where he’s been working for the past 12 years. Prior to this, Roque was head chef at Shakespeare in Fuengirola, the largest restaurant at the time, for 23-years with business partner John Kelly.
Roque: ‘I work a lot of hours in the kitchen because it’s not hard for me. I love to cook. I don’t find it difficult to work. Karen, my spouse, wanted to see me retire. I’m a positive person. When I stop working I feel sick.’ Two years ago, the doctors gave him six months to live after they discovered a tumour behind his left eye. He survived. He was diagnosed with lymphoma last year and given between 3 to 8 months of life. He was able to beat it once again. How? Working. “The doctor said that she would only give me one day of treatment, because I am a fighter. I fight for my life. She said that it was me who was fighting a mental war. He flatly refused to take the treatment for one day. After a few months, the lymphoma vanished on its own, and the doctor gave him the all-clear.
Roque will not give up
“The doctor called and asked what noise I heard in the background. I told him it was my kitchen. She said, “Don’t tell me that you are working.” Of course I’m working. I’m alive. Roque says, “I do not take any kind of medication.
EWN: What’s your secret?
Roque: The secret to living is passion. The passion for fighting. This restaurant is always flooded with tips from its customers. The passion that you put into the dish. We were created to live. Born to fight for our lives. Doctors told me that I would die in old age but not like this. I will never retire because my job gives me life.”
The energy and passion Roque radiates is what keeps the restaurant full every night. Most of the food is meat that’s cooked over charcoal. Black Angus and suckling pig are popular choices, along with chateaubriands, suckling pig confit and a great deal of dry aged beef. The prices are lower than other restaurants near the coast.
El Jinete is located in Calle de La Cala Golf Km. 4.5, Mijas.
