Josean is probably, at this time, the most important culinary minimalist in the world, or at least one of the top two or three. What speaks most for him is his intellectual and work capacity. Of course, we cannot forget that he was a prodigy child who, at the tender age of 23, had already found his way into the books of Lo Mejor de la Gastronomia, taking on a significant post. Amidst the adversity that he has faced, and continues to face on a day-to-day basis running the restaurant side of the Guggenheim business, he has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for confronting distress and overcoming tribulation, a trait without which no one makes it to number one. Serving cocktails, tapas and sandwiches, proposing daily tasting menus… working with simplicity he has managed to salvage his gastronomic offer, and he has accomplished this in a more solid, dedicated fashion, to the point where he has converted his practice into an exponent of materialized art. Few global cuisines today exhibit so much talent and consummation as that of this quiet, mature and superb young man.
An example is this essential cod dish, capable of marking a distinction, once again, on a substantial level: the selection of product, unsurpassable; the preparation and doneness, juicy, iridescent and seared, and the sauce, exquisitely rustic. No more, no less.

Quique Dacosta is one of the chefs with the finest taste, not only of the palate, but of the scene, that exist in the gastronomic universe. Lover of nature, architecture, painting… he has shaped his style most recently taking inspiration from landscapes. A product of all those passions is this architectural, landscape work–a symbiosis of two inspirations. First, in 2006, he created a dish entitled “La Opera de Calatrava”, which was born from the admiration he feels for the majestic work by Calatrava on the “Ciudad de las Ciencias y las Artes” building in Valencia, Spain. As an evolution of that first creation, he added a new vision, this time of a summer night… as if he had been under the influence of the “luna de Valencia” (the moon of Valencia), a new artistic expression surfaced: “The Other Moon of Valencia”, in black and white, like life itself. And with the elegance of those colors and the originality that characterizes his work, he captures this luminous, edible landmark. A stunning composition of the landscape, using nature itself as the protagonist: the squid and its ink. Later came the fantasy, technique, refined taste… in short, the art to strengthen the innate delicacy of the dish. Make that which is good, beautiful, and it will be all that more appetizing, or so the saying goes. Here is his “lunar” vision that exalts the squid to the heavens above… or the culinary fantasy that allows us to dip our spoon into the moon, the full moon, and taste it for ourselves.

Marcos Morán has hit a creative vein. He began to define a style distant from fashionable techniques in which he moves his vision towards the future, proposing personal and imaginative formulas that pay homage to exceptional products, offering immaculate dishes where the ingredients preserve their sapid and textural purity. Among many examples this year we highlight this dish, which perhaps captures the finest artistic treatment of small, or rock shrimp (quisquillas in Spain) that we have ever come across, a shellfish that up until now has not attracted the attention of the most famous chefs. Marcos dares… and manages a death defying feat from which he comes out victorious. The first challenge appears as he gently impregnates the small shrimp with the aromas from the embers, their tails naked over the flames while the heads, intact, enclose and protect their exquisite essences. The first of them come out almost raw and hot while the second round are more rustic thanks to the effect of remaining over the flames for a longer period of time. The intelligent process is magnified with two more twists: one of which is hard to say whether it is a sauce or an adornment: powdered paprika de la Vera, eggplant skin and bread placed under the main ingredient. The other, equally if not more spectacular, is planned as a garnish–one that enjoys independence from the small shrimp, before and after: a “picadillo” of roses, pistachios and spring onions. Needless to say it is bursting with color, in every aspect, bringing light and a vivacious chromatic feel to the delicacy, emphasizing its exquisiteness.

It is likely, if not absolutely certain, that this is the undisputed Dish of Year the world over; at the very least it is in our world, since we have tried nothing so worthy of the title or so impressive. However, such an awe-inspiring creation should not surprise anyone–after all, Quique Dacosta, with a 9.5 out of 10, finds himself at the summit of international gastronomy. We could go on: his cuisine is currently one of two or three with the most talent and art found anywhere. In this particular case he manages to join genius and virtuosity by capturing a stunning landscape, very much in keeping with the pattern he has had in recent times. This is a landscape in which nature explodes, not just chromatically, but with regard to aromas and flavors as well. The guest is lost amidst multiple sensations that evoke a walk through the forest; sunrise in a spring forest exuberant with wild fragrances and mineral motifs. The wild mushrooms dominate the dish, along with the Alba white truffle or the black truffle–it is a living image, variable, seasonal–as well as the herbs, thyme and rosemary, the wet forest floor…The woods in the nose, on the palate, in front of our eyes… the countryside itself spreads out before you, reaching its maximum gastronomic semblance in an ensemble of outstanding originality and design. It is a story; a fantasy made into reality.

Quique Dacosta - El Poblet
“The lively forest” (Natural landscapes 2007)

Suggestion is a tool and a way of interpreting cuisine. “The lively forest” represents the aromas, textures and products that we can find on a walk through one of our forests. Enter in.

This dish falls in the category of natural landscapes, a theme from which inspiration and expression found. From this line of work, in 2007, “The lively forest” was born as an icon of this movement in our cuisine. But the first landscape we created at El Poblet was “The Lichen”, in 2000.
It was the first landscape created without having contextualized the idea as such. My friend Santiago Orts, a biologist and someone with whom I continue to work, proposed the original plan for the dish. Working on a project concerning vegetables in their embryonic state (that gave birth in 2003), he proposed me to do a dish in homage to the first earthly vegetable: lichen. But it wasn’t until 2003 when, after much reflection and working along similar lines that we contextualized as a concept “landscapes as a path of inspiration and expression”.

What’s more, “The sands” are a further step made in the realm of edible paper. As it was, back then we used papers to strengthen the flavor of a dish or as a crispy seasoning, whereas in this case we have a semi-solid sauce.