The Cantabrian Restaurant Amo’s arbor, by Jesús Sánchez, receives the new and only three stars of the 2020 Michelin Guide for Spain and Portugal, presented this Wednesday in Seville. For the chef, “this finally puts Cantabria on the map as a gastronomic tourism destination. The amazing chefs and the wonderful products they have are becoming better known.” Noor (Córdoba), Bardal (Ronda), Skina (Marbella), El Poblet (Valencia) and Angle (Barcelona) rise to two stars and open 19 restaurants a. The red guide, which celebrates its 110th anniversary with this edition, shows a regional range with particularly creative colors in Andalusia, the Valencian Community, the Canary and Balearic Islands. Also noteworthy is his assessment of hotel restaurants, which are strategically based on gastronomic bets. Mayte Carreño, Commercial Director of Michelin Spain, stressed at the gala: “15% of the 100 million tourists who come to Spain and Portugal every year come from the gastronomy sector.”
Located in a beautiful house in Villaverde de Pontones Amo’s arbor It has now been active for 26 years and has grown tremendously in recent years. It received its first star in 1995 and its second in 2016. Jesús Sánchez, a native of Azagra (Navarre) but a Cantabrian place and heart, runs with his wife Marián Martínez, manager of the room, a family project of haute cuisine deeply rooted in the flavors of the region tierruca and has its own bread workshop. Anchovies from Santoña, butter from Pasiega, tomatoes from Galizano, Tudanca beef are some of the ingredients that, as the Michelin inspectors point out, “are fully expressed in every dish”. The argument for the three stars is “his tireless search for emotions and all the unique details that characterize a culinary experience”. The chef, who is delighted with the Michelin recognition, praises the restaurant team “with people who are very dedicated, to do a very strong job” and his region’s efforts to position itself in the focus of gastronomic attention. “Our project has progressed a lot, seeing the satisfied faces of the customers encourages us every day,” adds Marián Martínez, who is involved in various culinary projects such as Amo’s picnic and the restaurant the pierat the Botín Center in Santander.
In addition to the municipality’s first three-star restaurant, Cantabria has five other starred restaurants. Luce dos Annúa (San Vicente de la Barquera), the risky and seductive proposal for the Mexican-Cantabrian fusion of Óscar Calleja. They have a star El Serbal (Santander), Solana (Ampuero), El Nuevo Molino (Puente Arce) and La Bicicleta (Hoznayo). Aside from the Cenador, there are no new stars for 2020, but there is a Bib Gourmand, La Cartería, in Cartes. For Michelin Director Gwendal Poullennec, “renewing the three stars means winning them again,” he assured at the gala.
In addition to the red stars embroidered on white jackets, Michelin also presented its sustainability prize for the first time. It fell to Ángel León “for his constant defense of the sea”. The chef of Aponiente (now the only Andalusian restaurant with three stars after the closure of Dani García) thanked the guide for finally realizing the value of the South. “We’ve spent a lifetime looking north and we no doubt continue to look north, but it already seems like we’re looking a little south,” the excited chef admitted to EL PAÍS. “It’s nice because in less than six, seven years there’s been a flood of chefs that have been there, but the ice is already broken. Dani García, an Andalusian who went north to talk about what was being done in the south.” .
In addition, it was León who directed the gala dinner (led by journalist Nuria Roca) of the Red Leader at the Lope de Vega Theater in Seville. As a brigade, starred Andalusian chefs: Paco Morales (Noor, Córdoba), José Carlos García (JCG, Málaga), Pedro Sánchez (Bagá, Jaén), Juanlu Fernández (Lu Cocina y Alma, Jerez), Xanty Elías (Acanthum, Huelva ), Julio Fernández (Abantal, Seville) and José Álvarez (La Costa, El Ejido).
Andalucia has done its share of spreading Michelin-style highlights: two stars for Noor, the avant-garde temple of Andalusian cuisine by the ‘wonderful’ Cordovan chef Paco Morales; Bardal in Ronda, where Benito Gómez is committed to “a creative cuisine with recognizable flavors enhanced by successful contrasts” and Skina in Marbella, with “the traditional Andalusian recipe book creatively revisited” by Mario Cachinero. In Jaén, a star falls on Dama Juana by chef Juan Aceituno and in Jerez de la Frontera another on Mantúa by Israel Ramos.
Restaurants born around famous personalities also achieved two stars, such as Angle in Barcelona, where Alberto Durá follows the lines of “haute cuisine for everyday consumption” set out by Jordi Cruz, and El Poblet in Valencia, where Luis Valls has created his own style in the universe of Quique Dacosta.
In Portugal it receives its second star Boa Nova Teahousein Leça da Palmeira, near Porto, for the unique Atlantic cuisine of chef Rui Paula.
Among the female firsts of a star is the restaurant The climbfrom the Valencian Begoña Rodrigo; magogin Cartagena (Murcia), directed by the chef María Gómez, and Tula (Xábia, Alicante), with Clara Puig and Borja Susilla in the kitchen, winners of the Madrid Fusión 2019 Revelation Chef Award.
Two restaurants in Madrid, one with Japanese cuisine by Spaniard David Arauz, 99 KŌ Sushi Bar, and another with intense Canarian flavors, Gofio by Cicero Canary, by Safe Cruz, receive their first star. And other island chefs join the group of newcomers Unistars: Voro in Canyamel (Mallorca); Es Tragón in Sant Antoni de Portmany (Ibiza), La Aquarela in Arguineguín and Los Guayres in Mogán, both restaurants in Gran Canaria.
Aürt and Cinc Sentits shine in Barcelona. In Salou (Tarragona), Deliranto. In Pamplona, The Library. In Quintanilla de Onesimo (Valladolid), workshop, at the Arzuaga Winery Hotel. In Toledo, Iván Cerdeño, and in Torrenueva (Ciudad Real), Retama, by Javier Aranda.
As a classic fact, Basque chef Martín Berasategui expands his collection of Michelin stars every year. He has already accumulated 12 with the recognition of one for his establishment in the Hotel Tayko de Billbao, Ola Martín Berasategui, and another in Lisbon by Fifty Seconds, the panoramic restaurant that he manages in the Vasco de Gama Tower.
In the brightness calculation of the Spain and Portugal guide 2020, the total of 11 Spanish three-star restaurants from last year remain with the new three stars. Dani García’s loss of closure is offset by the relief of the Cenador de Amós. And Portugal continues without the maximum star level. The Iberian Peninsula brings together six new two-star restaurants (36 in total) and 23 one-star premieres (194 in total).
In addition to restaurants, the guide also selects and rewards 105 Spanish tapas bars. The not insignificant category of Bib Gourmand, restaurants recommended by Michelin for their value for money, has 302 restaurants in this guide (56 new additions for 2020).
