Repsol Guide 2023: Maralba and Corral de la Morería shine in the year of Spanish cuisine

The talent in Spanish kitchens has surpassed all expectations this year, and the Repsol Guide 2023 bears witness to this. New openings in towns and cities, dining rooms full of diners, with long waiting lists that were previously exclusive to the 3 Soles Repsol Guide and which have now become generalised.

An excellent moment for national gastronomy that is confirmed by the recognition of 101 new Soles Repsol Guide 2023. Under the slogan “Cooking fills us up”, the Alicante Provincial Council Auditorium (ADDA) brought together the country’s best chefs in an emotional and entertaining gala. Silvia Abril, host of the gala, set up a restaurant on the stage so that the award-winning chefs could change their roles for a day and become the customers.

With the new additions, a total of 712 restaurants make up the universe of Soles Repsol Guide 2023 (43 Three Suns, 164 Two Suns and 505 One Sun). By autonomous regions, Cataluña(105), Madrid (98), País Vasco (68), Andalucía (65), Valencia (58) and Castilla y León (58) are the regions with the most Soles.

A total of 712 restaurants make up the universe of the Repsol Suns Guide 2023.

The president of Repsol, Antonio Brufau, said during the gala that “the awarding of the new 101 Soles Repsol Guide confirms the excellent moment that national gastronomy is experiencing. The talent in Spanish kitchens has surpassed itself for yet another year. It is very good news that such an economically important sector has recovered and is more vigorous than ever. Few things make us as happy in our culture as sharing a good table. Spain is an internationally recognised gastronomic power with still much potential to discover to the world. Rest assured that at Guía Repsol our vocation is to support and encourage the national tourism and gastronomic sector to become stronger and better known.
stronger and better known”.

The President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, stressed that “gastronomy is a common good, which brings together the culture, customs and knowledge of a territory, and which enriches the entire catalogue of tourist products that the Valencian Community can offer to those who visit it”. Thus, “he is committed to disseminating the identifying features of Mediterranean gastronomy, based on landscape, sustainability, product quality and tradition”.

New 3 Soles Repsol Guide 2023

This year, the two new 3 Soles Repsol Guide 2023 distinguish ‘Maralba‘, in Almansa, and ‘Corral de la Morería‘, in Madrid. Both with a serene and emotional cuisine, which delves into tradition and encourages the discovery of the most pleasurable flavours.

Fran Martínez has been defending at ‘Maralba‘ for 20 years a cuisine that unites two apparently opposing territories: La Mancha and the Mediterranean. A proposal that plays with the roots of La Mancha and the freshness of fish from the Levante. At his side, Cristina Díaz, the best sommelier in Spain in 2022.

In ‘Corral de la Morería‘, the Basque chef David García prepares memorable dishes in which he weaves his own origins with those of this temple of flamenco that finds its best harmony in a wine cellar of more than 1,200 references from the Marco de Jerez treasured by Juanma del Rey. Two restaurants that are also endorsed by the success of their customers.

“There is no better news than calling a restaurant and being told that we are fully booked. It means that the cuisine fills us in many ways and that is why people are so eager to sit down to try dishes that provoke exclamations, to socialise and to give their recognition to those who give them satisfaction, both in cities and in charming villages”, said María Ritter, director of Guía Repsol.

New 2 Soles

The new 2 Soles Repsol Guide stand out for their solid proposals with a marked identity of their own and the search for excellence in the product: ‘Ambivium’ (Peñafiel), ‘Amelia’ (Donostia), ‘Bo. Tic’ (Corçà), ‘Castell Peralada’ (Peralada), ‘ConSentido’ (Salamanca), ‘Deessa’ (Madrid), ‘El Lago’ (Marbella), ‘Garena’ (Dima), ‘Hika’ (Villabona), ‘Mantúa’ (Jerez de la Frontera), Montia’ (San Lorenzo de El Escorial), ‘Nub’ (Costa Adeje), ‘O Camiño do Inglés’ (Ferrol), ‘Oba-‘ (Casas-Ibáñez), ‘O’Pazo’ (Padrón), ‘Rekondo’ (Donostia), ‘Umiko’ (Madrid) and ‘Voro’ (Capdepera).

Between the presentation of the 1 and 2 Soles from the hands of outstanding 3 Soles such as Joan Roca, Fina Puigdevall, Ricard Camarena, the Torres brothers, Andoni Luis Aduriz or Elena Arkaz, the president of the Diputación de Alicante, Carlos Mazón, indicated that “Alicante’s gastronomy, and that of the entire Valencian Community, is going through “a sweet moment, a moment of explosion of flavours, experiences and extraordinary sensations that the professionals of the hotel and catering industry transmit to us.

My most sincere thanks to all of them and my recognition of the talent that flows from every dish that comes out of their kitchens and that the professionals in the dining room take such great care of. Talent, effort and passion are the Soles that illuminate the Costa Blanca and have made gastronomy a key element in the tourist development of this land”.

New 1 Sol

Among the 81 new 1 Sol Repsol Guide restaurants, there are many who have decided to leave behind the urban maelstrom and opt for a return to the village to cook their dream. The fact that there are more and more diners willing to travel miles to sit at their tables is an incentive to undertake the adventure. This is the case of Jorge Asenjo, who swapped Donostia for a farmhouse in the Atxondo Valley (Bizkaia) to set up ‘Erro‘, or Carlos Oyarbide, the fourth generation of a saga of chefs who took ‘Zalacaín‘ to the top, and who has returned to San Adrián (Navarre) to open his own restaurant, ‘Carlos Oyarbide Bistronomiko’.

Others, such as Carlos Fernández of ‘Kàran Bistró’ (Pozoblanco, Córdoba), Pedro Aguilera of ‘Mesón Sabor Andaluz’ (Alcalá del Valle, Cádiz), Manu Franco with ‘La Casa de Manolo Franco’ (Valdemorillo, Madrid), Aurora Torres (‘Lula by Aurora Torres’, Los Montesinos, Alicante), Dámaso Navajos (‘La Posada del Laurel’, Préjano, La Rioja), José Antonio Medina (‘El Coto de Quevedo’, Torre de Juan Abad, Ciudad Real), or the Hernández Talaván brothers (‘Versátil’, Zarza de Granadilla, Cáceres) have reached every corner of Spain with their personal proposals.

Suns of Honour

During the Gala, two Soles of Honour were awarded: Hilario Arbelaitz of ‘Zuberoa’ (3 Soles Repsol Guide), and Abraham García of ‘Viridiana’ (2 Soles Repsol Guide). Both are gastronomic references and throughout their careers they have brought modernity with respect and have left their mark on several generations of chefs.

Arbelaitz, from his restaurant in Gipuzkoa, has defended the essence of traditional Basque cuisine, updating traditional recipes. With a modern and open view of the world, Abraham García in Madrid was the first to put fusion cuisine into practice at the end of the 70s, when the term had not even been invented yet.

Sustainable Sun Awards

On stage, the Sustainable Sun Awards #AlimentosdEspaña 2023 have collected the award from the Director General of the Food Industry of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, José Miguel Herrero, the Director General of Customer Repsol, Valero Marín and the Director of Communication and Brand Repsol, Marcos Fraga. The restaurants ‘Culler de Pau’ (3 Repsol Guide Suns, O Grove), ‘La Finca’ (2 Repsol Guide Suns, Elche), ‘Molino de Alcuneza’ (1 Repsol Guide Sun, Sigüenza) and ‘Finca Alfoliz’ (Recommended, Aljaraque), were the four restaurants that in this 2023 edition have stood out for their fight against climate change and responsible use of produce.

Couples in the kitchen

Love between kitchens, with couples combining the dining room and the kitchen as a perfect tandem, is another of the trends that the new list of Soles reveals. Couples who combine the personal and the professional with affection, respect and a great deal of complicity.

This is the case with Mary Fernández and Mon López of ‘El Mesón El Centro’ (1 Sol), located in the Plaza de Cupido in the Asturian village of Puerto de Vega, or with Marco Antonio Iniesta and María Egea, of ‘Frases‘ (1 Sol), who opened their restaurant on 14 February in the centre of Murcia. Albert Sastregener and Cristina Torrent, from ‘Bo. Tic’ (2 Suns, Corçà, Girona), Carito Lourenço and Germán Carrizo, from ‘Fierro’ (1 Sun, Valencia), Fernanda Fuentes and Andrea Bernardi from ‘Nub’ (1 Sun, Tenerife), Daniel Malavia and Roseta Félix from ‘Fraula’ (1 Sun, Valencia), Mario Sánchez and Charlotte Finkel from ‘Comparte Bistró’ (1 Sun, Madrid), Jorge Lara and Jasone San Martín of ‘Goralai’ (1 Sol, Zaragoza) or Fran Martínez and Cristina Díaz at ‘Maralba’ (3 Soles, Almansa, Albacete), among others, prove that it is possible to keep the passion burning between the cookers.

The use of the embers

The grill and the use of embers are present in the kitchens of a handful of new Soles. An ancestral technique linked to the exaltation of a high quality product touched by fire and flavoured by smoke, and for which knowledge and sensitivity are required. O’Pazo’ in A Coruña and ‘Hika Gastronomiko by Roberto Ruiz’ in Gipuzkoa, both with Two Suns, or ‘La Milla Marbella’ (Málaga), ‘El Secreto de Chimiche’ (Tenerife), ‘Essentia‘ (Cuenca), Pur‘ (Barcelona), ‘Lana‘ (Madrid), ‘Tavella‘ (Valencia), ‘Laia Erretegia‘ (Gipuzkoa), ‘Mandukar‘ (Badajoz) and ‘Hamarratz‘ (Gipuzkoa), all with 1 Sun, pamper their products over the flames.

As an end to the party, Guía Repsol has brought together the cooks with Soles from the Valencia Region to prepare the menu after the Gala. This region stands out for having the largest concentration of women with Repsol Guide Soles in Spain. It is the first time that a menu prepared entirely by successful female chefs has been served at a gastronomic awards gala. 22 mouthfuls that have made the gastronomic world present gasp. A dozen female winemakers from Alicante accompanied the menu with their Alicante DOP wines.

The Mayor of Alicante, Luis Barcala, highlighted “the honour of hosting the Repsol Suns Guide awards ceremony and welcoming the best chefs in Spain to the city. Gastronomy is culture, it is wealth, it is effort and it is passion, so we could not feel prouder to become the stage where all these attributes reach their maximum expression. This gala places us in the nerve centre of the gastronomic world, which recognises the work and the search for excellence of our professionals and the quality of local produce”.