In the kitchens of haute cuisine, where the chef often overshadows the dish, Martín Berasategui resolutely chooses the opposite path. With twelve Michelin stars earned over a career spanning more than fifty years and eight restaurants under his leadership in Spain and Dubai, he is the most awarded chef in the Iberian Peninsula. Yet his culinary philosophy remains deeply grounded, based on absolute respect for ingredients and almost surgical precision.
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“The best-written cookbook in the world wasn’t written by a chef, but by nature,” the Basque chef likes to say, according to recent statements he made to La Vanguardia, noting that true mastery lies in bringing out the best in what the land and the sea have to offer. In an industry crowded with spotlights and delusions of grandeur, Berasategui sees boundless pride as an obstacle to true talent. “I don’t understand ego; there’s so much of it in the world of gastronomy, and it’s the most serious affliction of any profession,” he observes frankly. To keep his feet firmly planted on the ground, he uses a simple image: the more fruit a tree bears, the deeper its roots must sink into the soil; otherwise, a mere breath of wind is enough to sweep everything away.
At 66, he still considers himself an apprentice, convinced that listening is infinitely more fruitful than speaking. It’s a discipline that also draws from sports and rowing—his great passion from his youth—a discipline in which the individual sets aside his own ego to propel the boat in the same direction. His culinary identity has its roots in old San Sebastián, among the tables at Bodegón Alejandro, the family tavern located near the market. It was there that his mother and aunt instilled in him a work ethic rooted in sacrifice and a sensitivity to fresh ingredients. When, at the age of twenty, he took over the business and later opened his famous restaurant in Lasarte—earning three stars in record time—heinsisted that the logo feature his father’s exact signature, the only one who had never been able to witness his successes. The concept of “garrote” animates all his cooking—a word that, for him, encompasses a whole world: “Garrote is nothing more than attitude, courage, desire, strength, passion, determination, nonconformity… always adding and never subtracting.”
Today, Berasategui continues to work with the same tireless energy he had in his early days, with no intention whatsoever of retiring or slowing down. He looks upon the new generations of chefs with deep admiration, appreciating their technical skill, sensitivity, and ability to tackle modern challenges. For the Basque master, cooking remains a generous act, a noble craft built on rigor, health, and a vocation that has remained unchanged over time: “All my life I’ve been a chef at heart, a purveyor of happiness”
