Martín Berasategui (Spain)
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| Martín Berasategui is one of "The World's Most Influential, creative and important Chefs" |
Text: Rodrigo García Fernández /©ICEX
Translation: Jenny McDonald /©ICEX
Photographer: Spanish chef Martin Berasategui
Martín
Berasategui (Donostia-San Sebastián, 1960) is one of the
standard-bearers of Spanish avant-garde cuisine and, hardly
surprisingly, one of the six Spanish chefs with three Michelin stars –
for his restaurant in Lasarte, the hub of the Berasategui group.
As
a child, Berasategui learnt cooking from his mother Gabriela and his
aunt María in their traditional Basque restaurant, Bodegón Alejandro in
the old center of Donostia-San Sebastián. At fifteen, he enjoyed helping
prepare popular dishes such as meatballs, marmitako (tuna stew) and
squid in its own ink. He was one of four children but the only one
interested in taking up a career as a cook and, at 20, after the death
of his father, he took charge of the restaurant. On his few days off and
during the holidays, he studied - pastrymaking, charcuterie and ice
cream – in France, mostly in the region of Les Landes. Then back home,
he gradually introduced changes and new techniques, eventually receiving
his first Michelin star at Bodegón Alejandro.
He
continued to develop his own personal style and was eventually able to
open his own restaurant in 1993. Located in Lasarte-Oria, very close to
the city of Donostia-San Sebastián, the Martín Berasategui restaurant,
launched a review of traditional Basque cuisine and showed that
signature cuisine is possible in small and large establishments alike.
In 2001, his was the fourth Spanish restaurant to receive a third
Michelin star, after Arzak. El Racó de Can Fabes and elBulli.
When
he felt the need to show that he could do more than cook, he created
the Berasategui group. It manages not only the Lasarte-Orio restaurant
(three stars) but also advisory services for other restaurants in Spain.
The Group’s other business lines include publishing and an advisory
department for the food and hospitality sector which has collaborated,
amongst others, in the design of china for the Porcelanas Bidasoa
company under the Vajilla Quatrum brand, and the launch of the spuMb
line of disposable catering equipment.
Top priority, the products
There
are three specific features in Berasategui’s professional approach
which he has been defending for the last three decades – excellent food
products, skilled techniques and, above all, hard work. These factors
together with a clear influence from Basque cuisine result in cooking
that is sincere, reveals character and achieves harmony between the
products and the cooking styles used. Berasategui openly acknowledges
that he likes cooking to be straightforward, with a minimum of
distractions. It is flavor that should stand out, and that flavor should
be as natural as possible.
He
prefers local ingredients, especially if they can be grown close at
hand, reaching him with all their properties almost intact, and playing a
full role in the creative process. He often focuses on Spanish
products: olive oil, wine, garlic. This is his personal way of
remembering his childhood, when he used to accompany his mother or his
aunt to the Bretxa Market in San Sebastián to buy fruit and vegetables,
meat and fish, all at peak freshness. And mention must be made of the
careful service at the restaurant tables under the supervision of his
wife, Oneka Aguirre.
But
cooking for Berasategui does not end in the restaurant. He says that he
alone is allowed to cook at home because, if he cooks for his
customers, obviously he also has to cook for family and friends. His
favorite dishes include, for the home scene, potato omelet with salt cod
or hake cheeks, At home, he still uses an old, energy-saving,
coal-fired range, standing next to a simple, modern cooker.
His
zeal for professional perfection and discipline has not kept him from
developing a key aspect of gastronomy today, teamwork. Training has been
provided in his kitchens for some of the great young chefs who are
planning to keep the flag flying for Spanish gastronomy, guaranteeing a
future that is more than promising. By way of footnote, mention should
be made of a sign affixed at the entrance to his restaurant, announcing
in the Basque language to visitors and those working for Berasategui,
"Those who work shall eat".
Changes and new projects
At
the end of 2008, the Berasategui Group underwent a thorough
transformation. Andoni Luis Aduriz and Bixente Arrieta severed their
ties with Martín Berasategui and took over total responsibility for
Mugaritz, El Bodegón de Alejandro and the Guggenheim restaurant. Martín
Berasategui focused on his restaurant in Lasarte and his gastronomic
advisory services. A few months after this news, Aduriz and Arrieta
announced that as from 1 January 2010 they would also be taking charge
of the restaurant at the Kursaal, the Auditorium and Congress Centre in
Donostia-San Sebastián, formerly in the hands of Berasategui.
The
remodeling of the Berasategui Group gave Martín Berasategui the
opportunity to devise new projects. In mid-2009, he announced that he
was to open the Martín Shanghai restaurant in Shanghai in China. This
represents his first international venture and was opened officially in
September 2009 in a particularly attractive venue, a French-style
mansion dating from 1921, close to the well-known Xujiahui park. With
three floors and an outdoor terrace, the restaurant seats about 150.
Two
menus are on offer -one hot, one cold- and the dishes result from the
combination of signature creations at the Berasategui restaurant in
Lasarte (Basque Country) and the local Chinese ingredients.
Passion by Martín Berasategui
Sol
Meliá announced in December 2011 an alliance with Spanish Chef Martín
Berasategui to launch a brand-wide partnership through Passion by Martín
Berasategui, a new restaurant concept that will transform the hotel
chain’s Paradisus brand into the only all-inclusive hotels in the
Americas to boast cuisine by a Michelin-starred chef.
The
first Passion by Martín Berasategui debuts at Paradisus Playa del
Carmen La Perla, one of the two newest Mexican properties Sol Meliá has
launched in the prestigious Caribbean enclave of Riviera Maya. As part
of the agreement, the hotel chain will be able to train and develop its
kitchen and service staff at Lasarte, under the direct supervision of
Berasategui, something which has already happened for the launching of
this first hotel restaurant.
Berasategui’s
inspiration was to incorporate Caribbean flavors into his cuisine.
Local seafood will have a starring role in the menu of Passion by Martin
Berasategui, where special wine pairings have been developed from three
separate wine lists created exclusively for the restaurant. Passion by
Martin Berasategui will be an adults-only gastronomic experience,
serving dinner nightly and featuring indoor and outdoor seating. The
restaurant will also be accessible to local residents and visitors.
Paradisus
Resorts, the all-inclusive luxury brand of Spanish hotel chain Sol
Meliá, has expanded its collaboration with Spanish Chef Martín
Berasategui with the opening in April 2012 of Fuego Gastro Bar at the
Paradisus Punta Cana and Passion by Martín Berasategui at the Paradisus
Palma Real, both in the Dominican Republic.
