DISFRUTAR, situated within the coronary heart of Barcelona’s thriving Eixample district, was not too long ago topped the World’s Greatest Restaurant.
And with a trio of eating places within the World’s High 5, it’s truthful to say that Spain remains to be main the best way within the kitchen following final 12 months’s triple whammy of high 5 entries..
In reality, on this 12 months’s ‘The World’s 50 Greatest Eating places’ ceremony held in Las Vegas, Spain did even higher than in 2023 – with Disfrutar scooping high spot following final 12 months’s runner up place.
Asador Etxebarri, primarily based within the Basque village of Atxondo, jumped two locations to second whereas Diverxo, the Madrid-based restaurant owned by reigning Greatest Chef within the World Dabiz Muñoz (in keeping with The Greatest Chef web site) slipped one spot to fourth.
READ MORE: These are the ten finest eating places in Spain – in keeping with Tripadvisor
Judges praised Disfrutar for ‘imaginative dishes which can be executed with distinctive technical abilities and served in essentially the most playful manner doable’ which be sure that clients ‘have the eating expertise of a lifetime’.
They added: “Two parallel menus of 30 programs are on provide: The Basic and The Competition. The previous options dishes comparable to Thai-style cuttlefish with coconut multi-spherical, and squab with kombu spaghetti, almond and grape, whereas the famously indulgent caviar-filled Panchino doughnut and good frozen gazpacho sandwich may be discovered within the Basic choice”.
Disfrutar’s three founding cooks, Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas – who met once they labored at legendary El Bulli – had been visibly emotional as they collected their award.
Xatruch devoted the award to everybody who ‘has labored and continues to work on a regular basis to make this career fantastic’, while Castro mentioned he was ‘stunned and honoured’ to win the ‘magical’ award, including that he wished ‘to thank and congratulate our colleagues who’re on the listing and who’ve every contributed to constructing a terrific gastronomy’.
Elsewhere, Quique Dacosta on the Costa Blanca got here 14th, up from twentieth, while Elkano, one other Basque restaurant celebrating the area’s well-known gastronomy, dropped six locations to twenty eighth place.
Disfrutar, which acquired its third Michelin star final 12 months, is celebrating its tenth anniversary in December.
Nevertheless, if you wish to pattern a few of the world’s finest meals, there’s a hitch – the restaurant is booked up years upfront with, on the time of writing, no availability.
If you happen to’re fortunate sufficient to get your arms on a reservation, the Basic or Competition tasting menu will set you again €290, with the specifically crafted wine pairing costing an additional €160 per particular person.
Alternatively, the trio of acclaimed cooks do personal two sister eating places – each are known as Compartir, with one opened in Barcelona in 2022, and one primarily based within the fashionable Costa Brava seaside city of Cadaques since 2012.
1.Disfrutar, Barcelona
Fashionable strategies and private skills come collectively in Disfrutar’s gastronomic expertise. Arrange by the trio of cooks, Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch, it sits behind a typical tapas joint, unfolding right into a cavernous house behind. That is the primary of ‘many surprises’ in what the judges describe as a few of the ‘world’s most modish dishes’. Punters expertise the basic tasting menu, which takes 4 hours, with its wine pairing choices. Taking part in with shapes, textures, and flavours, Disfrutar’s experimental type has earned it thee Michelin stars and its place because the World’s Greatest Restaurant.
2. Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo
Within the small village of Axpe within the Basque area, the asador is a complete distinction to its rivals on the listing, favouring simplicity over experimentation. However that doesn’t imply there isn’t magic and it has change into a real vacation spot restaurant noteworthy for its grill strategies. Chef Victor Arguinzoniz’s greater than 30 years of expertise with ‘hearth cooking’ contributes to his conventional method and meticulous type – each dish that exits the kitchen is given his signature contact. The restaurant thrives off native produce and elevating elements by highlighting their pure flavours.
4. Diverxo, Madrid
The daring, rule-breaking flavours by chef Dabiz Muñoz are a part of a better, extra marvellous story. Immersed in a fantasy-world of outlandish decor, employees wearing punky uniforms serve a spread of beautiful, artistic dishes. For foodies, the DiverXO expertise makes goals really feel tame. Passing by means of the arms of 5 – 6 cooks earlier than plating, the gastronomy follows Muñoz’s love for avant-garde artwork from conception to completion – he describes the expertise as ‘one thing just like the Cirque du Soleil’.
14. Quique Dacosta, Denia
Simply two years after he started his profession as a chef in 1986, at simply 16 years of age, Quique Dacosta started working at a restaurant that might later share his identify. His meals takes a creative method to the geographies and cuisines of the Mediterranean and close by Montgo Pure Park. Placing Valencian delicacies very a lot on the map, his respect for nature — the roots of the restaurant — comes forth in each chew.
28. Elkano, Getaria
At this extremely picturesque spot, Aitor Arregi makes use of his methodology of whole-grilling fish over a wooden hearth as the inspiration of his flavour. Taking part in off Getaria’s gastronomic heritage, this methodology of cooking has change into an integral a part of the city’s delicacies and a practice for Arregi, whose father, Pedro, opened the primary Elkano again in 1964. There’s a distinct emphasis on sustainability and the native connection is mirrored inside the dishes and maritime decor.
Three extra Spanish eating places made it on to the highest 100 listing:
59. Enigma, Barcelona
Underneath the helm of chef Chef Albert Adria – brother of legendary El Bulli chef Ferran Adria – Enigma makes use of seasonal elements in its month-to-month menus and gives completely different wine experiences. The ending touches on the meals are added proper on the desk so friends can witness the ever altering strategies.
72. Aponiente, Cadiz
Chef Ángel León is recognised as “The Chef of the Sea” for utilising elements from the Mediterranean and Atlantic sea in his evolving menus. The present rendition, primarily based on the infinite sea, commits to sustainability and new strategies. Even within the dessert part, the restaurant blends collectively conventional sweets with seafood.
81. Mugaritz, San Sebastian
At Mugaritz, presentation is anthropomorphic in essentially the most intimate and wondrous methods. Take the dish ‘coronary heart that doesn’t really feel’ which is a flat, virtually 2D slice of meat with ribbons of fats representing the aorta. Mugaritz has lengthy taken a philosophical method to meals because of its mental chef Andoni Luis Aduriz. He had been within the 50 Greatest listing for properly over a decade earlier than slipping out this 12 months.