We all want what is difficult to obtain. Eight seats at the Bagà restaurant of Pedro Sanchez, a student of Martin Berasategui and Dani Garci, is booked every weekend until the end of April.
The restaurant
The unique record Pedro Sanchez holds: having the smallest starred restaurant in Europe. Bagà located in the San Ildefonso district of Jaen, Andalusia, just has eight seats and quickly fills up. So much so, that on the weekends there is no availability until the end of April the last bookable month online.
Born in 1977, Sanchez attended the La Laguna school in Baeza before entering the shark tank with names such as Martin Berasategui and Dani Garcia. Then, in 2017, he decided to return home to open something of his own, and within just a year, his efforts were rewarded with a Star. "It is a gift that makes us better and forces us to surpass ourselves. However, we cannot fall into the trap of cooking only for guides and critics. We cook what makes us happy and try to pass it on to the customer."
Sea nettle in hollandaise sauce
Sanchez calls his cooking "very direct": a small number of ingredients, often as few as two, usually vegetable or seafood, however seasonal and seemingly mundane, so that they can resonate with guests. We see this with the beet with rose vinegar or Île d'Oléron oyster with green chili. "We work a lot by intuition. Although aware of the important legacy of tradition, taste is more important than technique. We can't obsess about how things are made; I think it's more important to ask why." 
Dried cuttlefish and hoshigaki
"In restaurants, more and more value is placed on the product, as the chef must do, without equally appreciating the concept and imagination. In any craft or artistic pursuit, you recognize thought, but in the kitchen that takes a lot of work." Still, it is a world that moves more and more people, seeking the perfect gastronomic experience, and this produces an appreciable appeal in tourism and craftsmanship.
Chocolate and fat from Iberian ham
"We all eat; ranchers, farmers, potters…" Sanchez rants. Far from big cities, there is a danger of standardization. "We are running a risk similar to the textile industry 20 years ago when clothing boutiques disappeared off the map. Now there are only large franchises, and one capital is as good as another."
Source: Mujer Hoy
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Photo: @Bagà
