The Córdoba Noor, by chef Paco Morales, and the Barcelona-based Diseño, by the chefs Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, Mateu Casañas, had to share the spotlight last night after Michelin proclaimed both restaurants as the new three stars in Spain at a gala held in Barcelona.
What do you eat in your respective restaurants to have achieved the highest Michelin distinction? What is your story? And the price of the tasting menu? Below we resolve all your doubts:
Noor opened its doors in 2016 led by chef Paco Morales, a chef who more than a decade ago was the great revelation of Spanish cuisine. After working in the kitchens of El Bulli, Mugaritz, the Hotel Hospes Madrid and taking charge of the Hotel Ferrero restaurant in Bocairent (Valencia), where he obtained a Michelin star, Morales decided to return to his native Córdoba to investigate Andalusian cuisine and reinterpret it in a new way. the hand of history experts. In his first season, he tried to revive what the Cordoban caliphs of Al-Andalus ate in the 10th century, in the key of haute cuisine; and the current season focuses on the 17th century.
This chef offers 3 tasting menu options in his Noor restaurant: the Mudejar menu, the simplest and most economical of all (145 euros, to which you have to add 70 more if you want wine pairings); the Morisco menu, which includes 15 passes and costs 170 euros (plus 90 for pairing); and the most complex of all, the Al-Jazeera (245 euros, 125 for wines).
With them, this season Morales wants to reflect the journey of the Andalusians and the Spanish golden century. He does it by breathing new life into ancestral techniques and flavors, from another time, which he makes completely contemporary. Among the dishes, creations such as durum wheat pasta, smoked butter, chicken stock and squid stand out, a reinterpretation of the “Abbasiya”, a recipe that in the 16th and 17th centuries was synonymous with luxury because it was cooked with birds such as hen; or oranges with orange blossom, fried almonds and extra virgin olive oil, a dessert with citrus aromas made with the Chinese frying technique with sugar.
A few weeks ago, Morales also made headlines after serving the menu at the gala dinner held on October 5 within the framework of the European Council meeting in the Alhambra in Granada.
Known internationally for their creativity and constant need for innovation – some of their techniques and preparations set the pace in avant-garde haute cuisine and will soon be applied in restaurants around the world – Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas opened Enjoy it in 2014, three years after El Bulli by Ferran Adrià, of which this trio of aces were head chefs, lowered the blinds. Since then, their projection has been unstoppable: in 2015 they got their first Michelin star, in 2017 they broke into number 55 on the extended list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, winning the On the watch award, and that same year the Red Guide also awarded them his second star. This year, they have also managed to place themselves in second place on the list of the best restaurants in the world.
At Enjoy they offer two tasting menus: the ‘Classic’, made up of creations that have become “classics” of the house; and the ‘Festival’, composed mainly of elaborations created during the current season, among which in 2023 the calçotada stands out, which contains extensive work around fermentations.
They have also been pioneers of semi-alcoholized pairings, a work that they have been carrying out for years with different wineries to achieve alcohol-free versions of different wines without losing the aroma or essence of the original. And they were also the first to create, last season, ‘golden eggs’, through multicolored spherification, among the excessive amount of new techniques that they have been accumulating since they opened Mejorar, 12 years ago.
In addition, last year they opened the Share restaurant in Barcelona, ??brother of the eponymous restaurant that they opened in Cadaqués in 2012, which was their first business together. In this case, they have added chef Nil Dulcet to the project as a partner, who was their disciple and head chef at Mejorar for years. Located just 10 minutes from its mother house (at number 225 Valencia Street), the Share proposal is much more affordable than the Enjoy one.
