Toledo (EFE), to which are added three new ones with two stars and 29 which inaugurate the first.
The third “brightness” has not been awarded to two restaurants since the 2018 edition -Aponiente (El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz) and ABaC (Barcelona)- and it was Cenador de Amós (Villaverde de Pontones, Cantabria) , the last three- played in that of 2020.
The Michelin Guide Spain and Portugal 2023, presented this Tuesday in Toledo with a performance by Rozalén included, also includes the awarding of the second star to Deessa (Madrid), Pepe Vieira (Serpe, Pontevedra) and El Rincón de Juan Carlos (Adeje , Tenerife), and the first for 29 restaurants, many of which are run by young people who have taken risks with projects in their small towns.
Catalonia, thanks to Barcelona, is the community most recognized by Michelin, followed by Madrid, compared to the weak presence of the Basque Country or the zero presence of the Valencian Community, protagonists of previous editions.
TRISTAR
Atrio has long been many gourmets’ favorite third star, although it arrived today for another reason: the theft in 2021 of 45 exclusive bottles from its cellar worth 1.6 million euros. With the alleged perpetrators arrested and without recovering the wine, Toño Pérez (cook) and José Polo (sommelier) at least received the award of the highest distinction from the Michelin Guide.
Both opened Atrio in 1986, although their growth came in 2010 with their transfer to a building in the historic center of Cáceres where they combine cuisine with Iberian pork as the protagonist, one of the best vineyards in the world and a hotel with an important collection of contemporary art.
Known to the general public thanks to television, the brothers Javier and Sergio Torres built their “ship of dreams” in 800 square meters which they define as a “kitchen with tables”.
Cocina Hermanos Torres is, according to Michelin, a “magical space” where “the gastronomic experience, which travels from consistency through the best seasonal products, exceeds dinner expectations to become a great spectacle”.
With these two new additions, Spain has 13 three-star Michelin restaurants, joining Akelarre, Arzak, Quique Dacosta, DiverXO, ABaC, Martín Berasategui, El Celler de Can Roca, Lasarte, Azurmendi, Aponiente and Cenador de Amós.
TWO-STAR
With the second shard in Deessa, there are seven accumulated by the Extremadura by birth and the Valencian by adoption Quique Dacosta. In 2021 he signed as gastronomic director of the renovated Mandarin Oriental Ritz hotel in Madrid and in just 18 months he has made a career in the Michelin Guide with a cuisine that mixes his Mediterranean cuisine with the cuisine of the capital and which has Guillermo Chávez in the kitchen.
The inspectors went from luxury to a small village in Pontevedra to give the second star to the restaurant Pepe Vieira, where Xosé Cannas has created “a truly unique space in the middle of the countryside, with marked avant-garde lines”.
Completes the trio El Rincón de Juan Carlos, in which the brothers Juan Carlos and Jonathan Padrón “revise the Canarian recipe book from a creative point of view”.
A STAR
Spain continues to grow with 29 new entries in this category, in which the international director of the Michelin Guides, Gwendal Poullennec, highlighted the role of young chefs who “take the lead and embark on their own journeys, often flying the flag of regional cuisines or fusion reinterpreted”.
They start with a star Ababol (Albacete), Ajonegro (Logroño), Aleia (Barcelona), AlmaMater (Murcia), Alquimia-Laboratorio (Valladolid), Ancestral (Illescas, Toledo), ARREA! (Santa Cruz de Campezo, Álava), Ceibe (Ourense), Cobo Evolución (Burgos), Código de Barra (Cádiz), COME by Paco Méndez (Barcelona), Ferpel (Ortiguera, Asturias), Fusión19 (Muro, Majorca) and People Rare (Zaragoza).
Also Kaleja (Málaga), La Finca (Loja, Granada), Mont Bar (Barcelona), Monte (San Feliz, Asturias), Montia (San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid), Oba (Casas-Ibáñez, Albacete), O’ Pazo (Padrón, A Coruña), San-Hô (Adeje, Tenerife), Slow & Low (Barcelona), Tabaiba (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas), Ugo Chan (Madrid) and Zuara Sushi (Madrid).
In this category, it should be noted that Dabiz Muñoz, from the three-star DiverXO, triumphs with his new RavioXO in Madrid, while Albert Adrià returns to the front of the stage with Enigma (Barcelona) and Martín Berasategui, the chef with the record of 12 Michelin stars, compensates the loss due to the closure of eMe Be Garrote in San Sebastián for that carried out in Etxeko Ibiza (Es Canar, Ibiza).
PRIZES, GREEN STARS AND BIB GOURMAND
The Chef Mentor award goes to Joan Roca, who trained several chefs at El Celler de Can Roca (Girona) and promised to “continue to share his knowledge for many years”, and created the Toni Gerez award for room service , from Castell Peralada (Peralada, Girona), with which his “magnificent exercise” as room manager and sommelier is recognized.
Cristóbal Muñoz, originally from Almería, is recognized as a Young Chef. Aged 32, he offers “creative and innovative cuisine capable of moving people” in Ambivium (Peñafiel, Valladolid).
Thirteen new green stars for sustainability show “the growing and noticeable commitment to a more sustainable gastronomic approach” by Spanish chefs, according to Poullennec.
For this reason, Ambivium (Peñafiel), ARREA! (Santa Cruz de Campezo), Cancook (Zaragoza), Casa Nova (Sant Martí Sarroca, Barcelona), Casona del Judío (Santander), El Visco (Fuentespalda, Teruel), Casa Nova (Sant Martí Sarroca, Barcelona), Les Moles ( Ulldecona, Tarragona), Maskarada (Lekunberri, Navarra), Muxgo (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), Narbasu (Cereceda, Asturias), Oba (Casas-Ibáñez), Venta Moncalvillo (Daroca de Rioja, La Rioja) and Zelai Txiki (San Sebastian).
In addition, the Bib Gourmand selection which rewards the best value for money already has 243 proposals, bringing together 31 establishments.
STAR LOSS
They appear only in category one and correspond to Estany Clar, Cercs (Barcelona), Trivio (Cuenca), Mirador de Ulía (San Sebastián), Cebo (Madrid) and Kabuki (Madrid), to which are added due closures that of eMe Be Garrote (Donostial) and Auga e Sal (Santiago de Compostela).
In total, the Michelin Guide has in 2023 for Spain 13 restaurants with three stars, 34 with two, 203 with one, 39 with a green star, 243 Bib Gourmand and 736 establishments recommended for the quality of their cuisine.
By Pilar Salas