Michelin 2009

[pedro]

Another sour harvest this year:

- New 2 star from the scratch --sort of, after leaving La Broche to open his own restaurant with his wife: Sergi Arola Gastro. A well deserved recognition to Sergi and Sara, good for them!

- La Broche loses its 2 stars.

New 1 star:

MANAIRÓ. Barcelona.

CINQ SENTITS. Barcelona

ELS TINARS.(Marc Gascón) Llagostera

L’ALIANÇA. Anglés

L’ANGLE.(Jordi Cruz). Sant Fruitós de Bages.

VALDEPALACIOS Hotel Gourmand.(Santi Santamaría) Oropesa

ABANTAL.Sevilla

BAL D’ONSERA. Zaragoza

RIFF (Bernd Knöller)Valencia

VERTICAL. Valencia

EL NUEVO MOLINO.Puente Arce

BOROA. Amorebieta

SKINA . Marbella

ALBOROQUE.(Andrés Madrigal). Madrid

PEPE VIEIRA.(Hermanos Cañas).Poio, Pontevedra.

Possible 1 star next year --absurd category: The same they were last year

Coure(Barcelona)

Alejandro (Roquetas)

Losing 1 star:

Zuberoa (from two to one).

Caelis (construction work).

L’Alezna (Pedro Martino planned to open a new restaurant and leave this one but somehow the project failed and it was too late to give him the star back).

Mesón de Doña Filo

Fagollaga

Cuina de Can Pipes (closing)

Playa Club

L’Esguard (closing, but beware, NY).

Toñi Vicente

Hostal de Sant Salvador.(after some serious health issue, the chef gave his star back to have a more relaxed live)

Can Roca and Mugaritz will have to wait at least another year.

[Lenski]

Very happy about "Manairó" (my last meal there was exceptional) and not surprised at all about "L'ANGLE" and "Cinc Sentits."

Fantastic news and Congratulations to ALL.

Edited November 19, 2008 by Lenski (log)

[rohandaft]

Another sour harvest this year:

- New 2 star from the scratch --sort of, after leaving La Broche to open his own restaurant with his wife: Sergi Arola Gastro. A well deserved recognition to Sergi and Sara, good for them!

- La Broche loses its 2 stars.

New 1 star:

MANAIRÓ. Barcelona.

CINQ SENTITS. Barcelona

ELS TINARS.(Marc Gascón) Llagostera

L’ALIANÇA. Anglés

L’ANGLE.(Jordi Cruz). Sant Fruitós de Bages.

VALDEPALACIOS Hotel Gourmand.(Santi Santamaría) Oropesa

ABANTAL.Sevilla

BAL D’ONSERA. Zaragoza

RIFF (Bernd Knöller)Valencia

VERTICAL. Valencia

EL NUEVO MOLINO.Puente Arce

BOROA. Amorebieta

SKINA . Marbella

ALBOROQUE.(Andrés Madrigal). Madrid

PEPE VIEIRA.(Hermanos Cañas).Poio, Pontevedra.

Possible 1 star next year --absurd category: The same they were last year

Coure(Barcelona)

Alejandro (Roquetas)

Losing 1 star:

Zuberoa (from two to one).

Caelis (construction work).

L’Alezna (Pedro Martino planned to open a new restaurant and leave this one but somehow the project failed and it was too late to give him the star back).

Mesón de Doña Filo

Fagollaga

Cuina de Can Pipes (closing)

Playa Club

L’Esguard (closing, but beware, NY).

Toñi Vicente

Hostal de Sant Salvador.(after some serious health issue, the chef gave his star back to have a more relaxed live)

Can Roca and Mugaritz will have to wait at least another year.

←

I think Coure deserves a star.

[marc at fraiche]

fantastic for jordi at cinq im really pleased for him and the team, but please whats is going on for roca?????????????? so deserved this year after eating a stunning meal there last month i thought it must happen for them this time around. everythings going for it now

[docsconz]

Looks like I have quite a bit of catching up to do. Nice to see Jordi get the recognition. I remain amazed that Spain still doesn't have even more M stars.

[Aidan Brooks]

Couldn't agree more with earlier comments. I was really expecting the Rocas to gain their third star and hoping that Alex would gain a second at Lasarte. But delighted at the news for Jordi, Amèlia & Roser Artal - especially so as I ate there on Tuesday night just hours before the announcement!

[AlexForbes]

I get the feeling they've been waiting for the relocation to the new and much improved restaurant at Can Sunyer, 46, to finally give the Roca brothers their third star... And the move was not made in time for inspectors to check out the new space.

I think the third star will FINALLY come in the Michelin 2010. The new Celler, by the way, has an incredible wine cellar where you can literally feel certain wines (a crazy and fun sensorial experience). Josep Roca erected altars in the cellar in homage of his five favourite wines, where guests are encouraged to "experience" them by sight and touch. While images of vineyards play on a flatscreen monitor, they can dip hands in a tub of tiny steel balls that evoke the cool and popping bubbles of Champagne. Burgundies are represented by velvet pouches, while a rough piece of limestone evokes the parched terroir that yields Jerez (sherry).

Edited November 30, 2008 by AlexForbes (log)

[pedro]

I get the feeling they've been waiting for the relocation to the new and much improved restaurant at Can Sunyer, 46, to finally give the Roca brothers their third star... And the move was not made in time for inspectors to check out the new space.

....

The move was completed by Dec 2007, so plenty of time for the inspectors to check out the new space. I managed to visit them three times in the new space and I'm not paid for it.

[vserna]

And they didn't rate Diverxo because they couldn't get a reservation... These people are amazingly unprofessional. Of course, within Spain their unfluence has waned. They only sell a very few thousand copies of the Spain-Portugal guide worldwide, but their influence remains notable amid foreign travelers - not among locals.

[rohandaft]

Looks like I have quite a bit of catching up to do. Nice to see Jordi get the recognition. I remain amazed that Spain still doesn't have even more M stars.

←

I put it down to sloppy - and sometimes just plain bad - service.

[vserna]

sloppy - and sometimes just plain bad - service.

←

What a boring, tired cliché this 'service in Spain' thing is becoming... Of course bad service is a present-day bane - but all over the place, France included, not just in Spain! And - can any complaints be made about the service at Diverxo, Senzone, Kabuki Wellington, Etxebarri, and so many other restaurants that should have a Michelin star (or more) if the same standards were applied to Spain as to, say, Tokyo or Las Vegas? Certainly not!

[rohandaft]

sloppy - and sometimes just plain bad - service.

←

What a boring, tired cliché this 'service in Spain' thing is becoming... Of course bad service is a present-day bane - but all over the place, France included, not just in Spain! And - can any complaints be made about the service at Diverxo, Senzone, Kabuki Wellington, Etxebarri, and so many other restaurants that should have a Michelin star (or more) if the same standards were applied to Spain as to, say, Tokyo or Las Vegas? Certainly not!

←

I wish it was just a cliché. And I'm not the only person who does. I've been on the receiving end of shockingly bad service in two one starred places in Spain in the last year. (I should also add that I've received some excellent service in other starred and non starred restaurants.) Michelin awards its first star pretty much for food. With the second and the third, decor, placement, service etc come into play much more. There would be an awful lot more Michelin stars in Spain if the service was as good - half as good, even - as the food. .

[vserna]

I've been on the receiving end of shockingly bad service in two one starred places in Spain in the last year. (I should also add that I've received some excellent service in other starred and non starred restaurants.)    .

←

1. Name names, please. "Two one starred places"? Anonymous accusations carry little weight.

2. So, bad service in two places and good service in more places - do you think this vague reference proves any point whatsoever about the overall quality of service in Spain? Please be a little more serious. This is so frivolous!

[Yquem]

Does anyone have a link that lists all currently Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain? I couldn't find one with obvious keywords in Google. Am particularly interested in those in the Basque and Catalan region for a trip in May.

[Rogelio]

You can do a search on http://www.viamichelin.es

[Yquem]

Maybe it's me, but I've never had a good experience tracking Michelin starred restaurants on the Michelin site. For example, when I go to Spain and type Bilbao and ask for starred restaurants, it gives me only six 1 stars- there must be more?

Isn't there some Spanish equivalent of Andy Hayler's excellent website, which gives a comprehensive listing of all past and present Michelin starred restaurants in the UK?