Perhaps not everyone knows that the Basque chef Martín Berasategui is one of the chefs with the most Michelin stars in the world. In fact, the chef from San Sebastian is in the top five of chefs with the most Michelin stars, although the account has a certain trick.
Not because it doesn’t deserve them, but because Michelin stars are received by restaurants —not chefs—, but the truth is that among its different formats, the Various restaurants from the Martín Berasategui group are on the Michelin Olympus.
Distributed throughout the Basque Country, but also throughout Barcelona, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, the chef of the ‘garrote’ It sports no less than 12 Michelin starsspread over various points of the Spanish geography.
Although it is far from the top three, dominated by French chefs and by a British man —the popular and television star Gordon Ramsay—, the dozen of macarons de Berasategui are an authentic culinary milestone.
Unattainable are the 31 stars worn by the Robuchon group —whose chef, Joël Robuchon, died in 2018, but his group’s legacy lives on. The 21 stars of Alain Ducasse or the 17 of Gordon Ramsay also seem unaffordable. Nearby, in fourth place, are the 14 stars that Pierre Gagnaire’s restaurants display, which is a star shot from the chef from San Sebastián.
Distributed in two restaurants with three Michelin stars; a restaurant with two stars and finishing with four more restaurants with one star, Berasategui is the authentic King Midas of Spanish cuisinebut let’s see how much it costs to eat in their restaurants and where they are.
Martin Berasategui
It is the mother house of Berasategui and where he is daily. Located in the municipality of Lasarte, just 20 kilometers from Donostia, it is the restaurant that first achieved three Michelin stars and whose imprint has marked the future of other restaurants.
The price of the menu, closed and with only one option, are 345 euros without pairing. In the case of choosing pairing, the menu adds a total of 540 euros.
Martin Berasategui. Loidi Kalea, 4 – 20160 Lasarte-Oria (Gipuzkoa).
lasarte
Although it shares its name with the town where the first restaurant is located, the reality is that we are going to Barcelona here, specifically to the Monumental hotel. Also with three Michelin stars, Lasarte is run by one of Berasategui’s right-hand men, Argentine chef Paolo Casagrande.
He got the three Michelin stars in 2017 and offers three gastronomic proposals: a la carte (with an average ticket of around 140 euros), a tasting menu (305 euros per person without pairing) and a lunch menu (205 euros).
Monument Hotel. Passeig de Gracia, 75 08008 – Barcelona.
MB Abama
Was the Martín Berasategui’s first adventure outside the peninsula and is awarded two Michelin stars. Located inside The Ritz-Carlton Abama hotel, MB Abama is run by another of Berasategui’s strong men, the Basque chef Erlantz Gorostiza.
It consists of three proposals, more affordable than previous restaurantswith a Tasting Menu (195 euros), a Great Classics Menu (165 euros) and a la carte (with an average ticket of around 120 euros).
The Ritz-Carlton Abama. Ctra. General TF47 km 9 38687 – Guía de Isora, Tenerife.
Oría (Barcelona)
We return to Barcelona and also to the Monumental hotel, where Berasategui also runs this more informal and accessible concept, awarded with a Michelin star and where the day-to-day management is managed by chef Xabier Goikoetxea. Here the type of cuisine, despite its Basque roots, does have many influences and recipes from Catalan cuisine.
It consists of three closed menus such as the Oria Formula (the most affordable, for 85 euros), the Tradició Menu (120 euros) and the Mother Gaia Menu (165 euros).
Monument Hotel. Passeig de Gràcia, 75 08008 – Barcelona.
Hello Martin Berasategui
We return to the Basque Country and to a hotel, but in this case we must go to the Hotel Tayko, in the historic center of Bilbao, where it serves two closed menu options. The most expensive is the Tasting Menu, for 150 euros, while the Tradition and Taste Menu is somewhat more affordable, for 120 euros. In this case, the head chef is Raúl Cabrera Durán from Extremadura.
Hotel Tayko Bilbao. Ribera, 13 48005 Bilbao – Vizcaya.
Fifty Seconds Martin Berasategui
Fifty Seconds is to date the only Michelin star from Martín Berasategui outside our borders. Located in the Myriad hotel, in the iconic Vasco da Gama tower, which also justifies the name of the restaurant, since they are fifty the seconds it takes to take an elevator up to 120 meters high in which the premises are located.
Here you have three options. Two tasting menus (one for 235 euros and another for 205 euros) and the à la carte alternative, which is around 170 euros. To date, it has only one Michelin star, achieved in 2019, barely a year after opening.
Hotel Myriad by Sana. Cais das Naus, Lot 2.21.01. Parque das Nações – Lisbon 1990-173.
The 1150 definitive recipes (Author kitchen)
Etxeko Ibiza
The Michelin closure —although not to the restaurants in Berasategui— is placed in Ibiza, where got the last of its Michelin stars in 2022. Located in the Bless Hotel Ibiza, the kitchen is run on a day-to-day basis by Paco Budía from Córdoba, who blends Balearic produce here with the most classic recipes of Martín Berasategui at Etxeko Ibiza.
Offers two tasting menus (one for 130 euros and another for 100 euros) and the à la carte option, with an average ticket of 85 euros.
Bless Hotel Ibiza. Av. Cala Nova – Es Canar 07849 – Balearic Islands.
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