Following on from our first article about The World’s 50 Best, an organisation that ranks restaurants around the world, we now focus on Mugaritz in the Basque Country.
Seven restaurants in Spain made it into the World’s 50 Best – and a further six Spanish restaurants ranked between 51-120. Out of the total 13 restaurants, seven are located in the Basque Country, three in Catalonia, with Madrid, Dénia (Alicante) and El Puerto de Santa María (Andalusia) the other three.
Mugaritz, Errenteria, Guipúzcoa (ranked No.7 in World’s Best)
What’s it all about? Mugaritz is playful, avant garde and highly innovative. It’s a creative dining experience developed by Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz aimed to open minds. Aduriz freely admits that not all of his plates are designed to be enjoyed by diners. Dishes on the 20-30-course menu – which change throughout its eight-month season – bear emotive names such as How Long a Kiss Lasts or Depends On How I Look At It.
What’s the vibe? Juxtaposing. A 20-minute drive from San Sebastián to Errenteria, enjoy your first snacks in the garden before moving into this traditional Basque Country house, complete with wooden beams and walls, to sample a mind-blowing array of aromas, flavours, textures, temperatures and even sounds.
Typical dishes: Expect the unexpected: Mugaritz is not for the faint-hearted. Drawing from a rich tapestry of Basque ingredients, Aduriz turns them on their head to serve crab upon a frozen tongue, raw pork heart or bellota ham plated on musical dishware that’s perfectly timed so all diners eat and orchestrate together.
Other ventures: Andoni published Mugaritz Puntos de Fuga (Planeta Gastro, 2019), overhauling the classic recipe book format to prove that creativity is his finest ingredient.
Worth noting: Before the Mugaritz season kicks off every April, Andoni holds a lottery to invite 10 diners to go behind the scenes of the latest menu.
Mugaritz, Aldura Aldea, 20, 20100 Errenteria, Guipúzcoa. Tel: +34 943 522 455
ALSO READ: The 13 Spanish restaurants ranked in the World’s Best 120: ‘Asador Etxebarri’ (No.3)
ALSO READ: The 13 Spanish restaurants ranked in the World’s Best 120: ‘Disfutar’ (No.9)
ALSO READ: The 13 Spanish restaurants ranked in the World’s Best 120: ‘Azurmendi’ (No.14)
The seven Spanish restaurants in the Top 50 are:
No.3 – Asador Etxebarri in Axpe.
No.7 – Mugaritz in Errenteria (near San Sebastian)
No.9 – Disfrutar in Barcelona
No.14 – Azurmendi in Larrabetzu
No.20 – Tickets in Barcelona
No.30 – Elkano in Getaria
No.32 – Nerua in Bilbao
Listed between 51-120, there are another six Spanish restaurants ranked as follows:
No.53 – Arzak in San Sebastian
No.75 – Diverxo in Madrid
No.81 – Quique Dacosta in Denia
No.82 – Enigma in Barcelona
No.87 – Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria
No.94 – Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María
Further reviews of all restaurants listed above to follow.
