Restaurants & Bars News London Restaurants & Bars Search UK Restaurants & Bars Search Offers

30 April 2012

Restaurant & Venue… Restaurants… Restaurant News Celebrity Interviews… Interview with Mugaritz’s Andoni Aduriz

Locationeg. Soho, Camden, W2

Search Available Offers

Up to 50% offSet menu offersDrinks offersOther offers

SEARCHSEARCH

Offer Finder

Book with us & collect pointsto spend on fantasticrewards. It is that simple.Learn more »

28°-50° (Fleet Street,St Paul's)Two flights of wine worth£15 at 28°-50° .Only 500 points

Find out more »

Square Meal Selections

TODAY'S TOP REWARDS

London SelectionSquare Meal 3 Stars

Square Meal 2 Stars

Square Meal 1 Star

Square Meal's HottestNew Openings

Latest Londonrestaurant & baropenings

Restaurants due toopen

BMW Square MealAwards

Best by Cuisine

Best Central Restaurants

Best City Restaurants

Best for...

Brunch & Lunch

Interview with Mugaritz’s Andoni AdurizMugaritz, in San Sebastián, is one of themost prestigious restaurants in the world– it has two Michelin stars and wasranked number three in the 2011 S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best awards. Withthe 2012 awards looming tonight, andNoma having topped the list for the pasttwo years, all eyes will be on the top threerestaurants – Noma, El Celler de CanRoca, and Mugaritz – to see whether thejudges will crown a new number one.Square Meal talked to Mugaritz’s AndoniAduriz (pictured) about the 50 Bestawards, his chances of winning, and hisnew book.

Why do you think Spanish restaurantsare so well represented on the 50 Best list?Objectively, I wouldn’t know how to explain it; it’s an ongoing debate. But there is a Spanish way of being that mightcontribute to it. We have a tendency to be more daring – we live with intensity and we don’t do anything by halves.

In Spain, we’re surrounded by an environment of culinary creativity and healthy competition. This pushes everyoneworking in this profession to aim for a higher standard. It’s the opposite of a downward spiral: our restaurantsgenerate a favourable climate in which talent can develop. For 30 years, the energy has been generated in onedirection [‘la nueva cocina Vasca’; new Basque cookery]. We’ve all been caught up in this dynamic.

So what are Spanish restaurants doing differently from British restaurants, then?At the end of the day, restaurants and kitchens are very good reflections of the society that they exist in – it’s all aboutcontext. Restaurants give a clear reflection of a society’s lifestyle. London is cosmopolitan, fast-paced, both formaland informal, sophisticated and rough-and-ready, with a mixture of cultures – all that is reflected in its restaurants.

What do you thinks of the list in general – is it a good thing?The awards only started 10 years ago and they have already become one of the most important reference points forfood lovers. They’ve also made London a gastronomic centre – every year, all eyes are on London as the list isannounced. I don’t think the founders knew what they were getting themselves into – and how big it was going to be.

The 50 Best has been a breath of fresh air for gastronomy that has changed the dynamic – the judges agree on themost influential restaurants in the world, and that has a huge impact on the sector. I’m very proud that Mugaritz hasfeatured in the list for seven years.

Could Mugaritz be number one this year?I honestly have no idea: there have been no clues; only rumours. And rumours are like opinion polls before anelection – they rarely reflect how people vote. I can only tell you for certain that el Bulli won’t be on the list!

Noma is a great choice for number one: it does authentic, avant-garde haute cuisine on a grand scale. El Celler deCan Roca also has all the potential to be number one, as do Alinea and Osteria Francescana – they’ll all benumber one one day. There are many restaurants that deserve to be at the top. And I won’t deny that I would love

Subscribe toour newsletter

Receive exclusivenews, offers &discounts right toyour inbox.

Email address

SIGN UPSIGN UP

Related Features

Starter for 10:interview with OllieDabbous

Let's Do Lunch -award-winningyachtswoman EllenMacArthur

Let's Do Lunch -BBC's Adrian Chiles

Let's Do Lunch -Gardener’s WorldPresenter Monty Don

Francis Ford CoppolaOn Films & Wine

Food for Thought -The MayoralCandidates Speak Out

Let's Do Lunch - ex-Blur bassist AlexJames

Let's Do Lunch -Michael Parkinson

Let's Do Lunch -Jeffrey Archer

Let's Do Lunch -James May

Let's Do Lunch - MaryPortas

Kitchen Confidential -Giorgio Locatelli

Let’s do lunch - CherieBlair

Tony Conigliaro -Master of Invention

Housewives Choice -Klye MacLachlan

Guest Review: RonniAncona

Guest Review:Dermot O’Leary

Guest Review: GabyRoslin

Guest Review: DaveSpikey

Name, postcode, landmark, rail/tube station... GO More search options

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

Private Rooms

Best Bars & Pubs

Mugaritz to be there one day, too.

Do you think the list influences where most people go out to eat? Or is it just aspecialist interest for certain people?The list has an extraordinary media profile and I think it serves a purpose as a guide for normal people, not just forprofessionals. For example, I don’t have any idea about architecture, but when I hear about the winner of the PritzkerPrize, I take it as a given that the judges know what they’re doing and that the winner deserves the award. For aperson who’s removed from the gastronomic world, the restaurant choices can all appear very exotic – but to me,the Oscars are exotic! The list also stimulates the restaurant industry and gives it the impetus to move forwardconstantly.

The best restaurants in Spain, according to the 50 Best, are not in the capital, but inSan Sebastián. Why is San Sebastian such a gastronomic city?I can’t answer that. Thirty years ago, we created a space for gastronomic development, and a context for it, andsince we did that it has been an area of great activity – a pole of attraction for like-minded people. From the point ofview of tourism and gastronomy, San Sebastián is now one of the most important destinations in the world. But Idon’t know how to explain the origin of this.

How has the economic downturn affected the Spanish restaurant industry?There has been a trend towards ‘gastro-bars’ lately. All over Spain, chefs with impeccable training have put theirtalent into serving extraordinary dishes at reasonable prices in an informal atmosphere. Gastro-bars are more thantapas bars – the dishes they offer improve on tradition, or look at traditional dishes from a different point of view. Idon’t know whether the economy necessarily provoked the evolution of these bars, but they fit in very well with thecurrent climate, which has reinforced their success.

Which do you value most – Mugaritz’s two Michelin stars or ranking number three onthe World’s 50 Best list?The two things are aimed at different publics and they have different objectives. The 50 Best list shows restaurantsin terms of how influential they are in the industry. The restaurants can be a bistro, a steakhouse, or whatever, andcan still be considered special enough to make the list. Michelin stars define a certain style of restaurant – a know-how and a protocol linked by quality. But I couldn’t measure which brings me more customers – it’s very complex.It’s incredible how much media impact both awards make.

What’s your earliest childhoodmemory?As a child, I remember going to restaurants with myparents and my mother would show me the food interms of its aroma and texture. She’d say, ‘look atthis, we eat it at home but see how different it ishere.’ My mother taught me a lot. I went to eat atArzak [three Michelin stars, currently world number8] when I was about 11 or 12. I remember eating aplate of vegetables that were perfectly cut – theywere beautiful – and a transparent soup that waslike a lake, with herbs in it [to look like weeds]. I hadnever seen anything like it. To me it was as excitingto look at as to taste. But my memory of it has gotbetter with time – it’s become legendary in mymind.

What’s the easiest recipe in your book– something for entry-level chefs?I would say that the recipe for baby green peppersand honey dust is the simplest. This dish is not

about technical skill; it’s more about the eating experience – the peppers are all different sizes, which changes theircharacteristics. And the honey dust is actually really simple. The book [pictured, left] tries to show the reality of theMugaritz experience – the aim is to give people techniques to integrate into their cooking. And, of course, to inspirethem.

Mugaritz: A Natural Science of Cooking, is published by Phaidon and costs £35. It is out tomorrow.

This interview was published on 30 April 2012.« Celebrity Interviews & Profiles

Spikey

Guest Review:Richard Arnold

ADVERTISEMENT

Restaurants & BarsNewsOffersLondon SearchUK SearchDiary Dates

Venues & EventsNewsHelplineLondon SearchUK SearchHospitality

Christmas PartiesNewsHelplineAdvanced SearchMajor Party OrganisersParty Bars

Follow Square MealTwitter (Restaurants & Bars)Twitter (Venues & Events)Facebook (Restaurants & Bars)Facebook (Venues & Events)News Feeds

converted by Web2PDFConvert.com