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World’s 50 best 4th 2009 |
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San Sebastian is renowned as a gastronomic wonderland, with more Michelin stars per capita than any other city on earth. As fine dining explorers, it is inevitable to make a journey to this world’s hottest culinary destination. Using molecular gastronomic techniques, yet able to capture flavours of natural ingredients, Mugaritz definitely sets itself apart from the rest.
Andoni Luis Aduriz, at the age of just 35, became one of the most recognised Spanish chefs. He has apprenticed at El Bulli, Arzak, and Martin Berasategui. He used to pass Arzak on the school bus everyday and wondered if he’d ever go inside. Considered as the future of Spanish cooking, he now runs a team of 25 with an average age of 28.
Aduriz takes a scientific approach to cooking. He likes to get to the root of things by understanding what is behind the raw material and tracing it back to its very origin. He had even spent two years at a liver research clinic to study the function and composition of this organ. He later applied his research findings to foie gras and has been consequently crowned as the “foie gras king”.
Going beyond the Basque tradition, this culinary wizard’s cuisine is best described as molecular gastronomy with an ingredient-driven cuisine, capturing both flavours and lightness. Each dish he creates has a refined and pure sensibility to it, just like a poem.
About the Restaurant
This farmhouse, located 13km from San Sebastian, mesmerised me more than any other restaurants we have been too. The setting is rural yet contemporary; it gives you an illusion of simplicity, yet you can notice original touches everywhere; it offers you a comfortable and serene feeling, yet you don’t know what to expect next; it is not as splendid as some other Michelin star restaurants such as Le Louis XV, yet its elegance fascinates me more.
Hanging on the wood-beam wall, there is a row of letter “m” to denote both “Mugaritz” and the “mmmmmm”, a sense of something delicious. On each table, there is an iron pendulum made of a spoon and a fork, as well as two greeting cards for each diner to choose at the end of the meal -- “150 min of suffering!” and “150 min of contemplation!” You can immediately feel that an extraordinary dining experience is about to begin…
