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The culinary scene in SPAIN is known for its innovative chefs and rich tradition.
The Guardian Seven of the most talented chefs in the country and the restaurants that showcase their talent have been highlighted. Here’s your guide to these culinary locations:
1. Restaurante Simpar, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia
Axel Smyth’s partner Claudia Merchan offers sophisticated interpretations on Galicia’s local produce.
Diners can choose between the 14-course Simpar menu (€110) and the 11-course Conocer menu (€85), both commencing with inventive mushroom dishes and concluding with a deconstructed Santiago tart.
Highlights include the award-winning tripe soup with chickpeas, ham croquettes and chickpeas.
2. Restaurante Sise, Lleida, Catalunya
In the heart of Lleida, chef Xixo Castaño presents traditional dishes with creative twists.
El Celler de Can Roca protégé, he is heavily influenced by childhood memories of food, brought out through a menu rooted on local products from the Pyrenees Mountains, Aragon, and the Catalan Coast.
3. Restaurante Ausias, Pedreguer, Alicante
Chef Ausias Signes reinvents seafood dishes, while maintaining traditional flavours.
The restaurant offers a tasting menu (€84 for 12 courses or €62 for 10) that showcases dishes like cuttlefish with cauliflower and baked grouper with roast cabbage and pickled seaweed.
Enjoy a unique dining experience in a cozy, intimate atmosphere.
4. Restaurante Arsa, Logroño, La Rioja
In the heart of Logroño, Beatriz Fernandez and her husband Rodrigo run a quirky 22-table spot making waves with bold, flavour-packed dishes.
Highlights include wild boar stew with oloroso (€16), turbot with seaweed and black olives (€24), and vine-smoked wood pigeon with chestnuts and lemon (€26).
Desserts such as pumpkin cake with thyme ice cream (€8) shine, but the 12-course tasting menu (€70) is the star.
Try the golden-hued Riojan white, Eraso Azala (€25), for something different.
5. Restaurante Lur, Madrid
Lucia Gutierrez has been running Lur, a popular restaurant in Madrid’s Legazpi district for just 22 years.
The wood-filled, serene space, with only five tables, reflects her refined and seasonal cooking.
Her seven-course tasting menu (€87) highlights vegetables and blurs the line between savoury and sweet.
Ingredients are sourced from small producers, including from the Basque Country – a nod to Lucia’s roots and the restaurant’s name, Lur, meaning ‘land’ in Basque.
6. Restaurante Moral, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
In the heart of Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Restaurante Moral is a six-table gem run by Canarian couple Icíar and Juan Carlos Perez-Alcalde.
Set in a serene converted mansion, the menu celebrates island produce, from aubergine with eel and mushrooms (€19) to duck in orange and dried fruit sauce (€27).
A five-course tasting menu (€50) offers the full experience, topped off with a floral beetroot and passion fruit dessert (€7).
Pair it with a crisp Tenerife Listan white (€26).
7. Restaurante Learta, Sevilla
Learta is an intimate 12-seater restaurant where Manu Llanes and his wife Rita Llanes fuse Andalusian tastes with refined technique.
Their 10-dish tasting menu (€72) includes wild boar with burrata and chilled pumpkin broth with kaki fruit and sea urchin.
Sevilla is known for its artisanship. From hand-painted tiles, to custom-made furniture, the setting showcases this.
Drinks include house-made kombuchas (€6) and wines from up-and-coming Andalucian producers (€35–€147).
