Pablo Cabezali, a gastronomic influencer known for his culinary reviews on his YouTube channel “Dinning with Pablo”, decided to delve into the kitchen of Arzak, one of the most awarded restaurants in San Sebastián, which has three Michelin stars.
However, as he has confessed in Little is spoken! The podcast, the experience was not all that good. For this reason, Cabezali has not hesitated to assure that his visit to Arzak has been one of his greatest disappointments, especially taking into account what is expected from a restaurant of this caliber.
Despite the fame of the restaurant, led by renowned chef Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena, the influencer felt dissatisfied with the gastronomic offer presented. “The food did not excite me. I left hungry. With this type of concept, you are not going to leave bent, but neither are you going to stay as you found,” he complained.
On the other hand, the service was not to their liking. According to his testimony, two waitresses came to his table and explained the dishes at the same time, one to him and the other to his companion: “The place is nothing out of this world and the service had quite a few errors. Two waitresses came to us and talked to us at once”. So they didn’t really know what they were eating despite paying around 260 euros.
Cabezali’s criticism of the restaurant has caused numerous followers of the Basque chef to take to the year-old YouTube vlog to express their discontent with the influencer’s opinion.
In this way, some users have questioned the basis of his criticism. “What knowledge does this man have about gastronomy and room service to give his opinion on restaurants that experts have already rated?” one asked. “What do you understand, redneck?” said another.
Additionally, some have suggested that Cabezali’s discontent could be due to less objective reasons, such as the fact that his meal was not an invitation from the establishment. “You probably didn’t like it so much because they didn’t pay you, otherwise you’d say it was shit,” someone else has theorized.
Other Arzak supporters have come to his defense, highlighting the restaurant’s historical importance and its contribution to gastronomic culture. Thus, a passionate defender of Juan Mari Arzak’s legacy has made it clear: “Without Juan Mari… many of those Michelin Stars that you go to would not exist. Please delete it.”
Among the great multitude of criticisms that Cabezali has received, there are also those who believe that he is right. And they have shared their experience: “Well, what can I say, for a three-star Michelin restaurant the dishes are at the level of one star. And the worst of all is that it is not the first three-star restaurant to lower the level and I think the maintained by the name and by the years… because if not, I really don’t understand it.
