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José Manuel López, Michelin star chef: "Once you receive the invitation, you think it might happen, and the nerves begin"

18 December 2021 - 00: 43

Is the man of the moment. José Manuel López Iglesias has achieved for Dénia his fourth Michelin star at the head of the Peix i Brases stoves, which joined the Restaurant Quique Dacosta in the now list of establishments with the coveted gastronomic distinctive. The maximum, certainly, to which any chef and establishment aspires.

After a decade in the restaurant in the port of Dénia, as well as several years appearing recommended in the Guide and feeling the star, since this Tuesday the chef born in Plasencia already enjoys his jacket that accredits him as a Michelin star. For this reason, we went to Peix i Brases to chat with him about his cuisine and how he experienced this recognition.

QUESTION. First of all, congratulations. When do you know that you have been recognized with the Michelin star?

ANSWER. Thanks a lot. Well, I find out being at the same gala, to which we were invited. Once you receive the invitation, you think it might happen. So first everything begins with the joy of receiving the invitation and the nervousness and uncertainty about what may happen during that gala. Then when you receive the badge of the estrella MichelinYou feel great happiness, because for a cook and an establishment it is one of the things that are most valued today.

Q. So, although it could be suspected, it was a great joy.

R. We receive it with great enthusiasm. But above all sentí rest from all the nerves that you have been going through from those days since you receive the invitation until the gala passes. A lot of satisfaction, above all, because it continues to be an endorsement of all the work that we have been doing, with a lot of effort and energy, in the Peix i Brases so that everything works, especially in these recent turbulent times.

P. Something that arouses a lot of curiosity is the work of the Inspector of the Guide. How does it work? Does a man arrive and introduce himself as a Michelin critic or is it all on the sly?

R. No, we have not been able to recognize the inspectors. They don't show up. They come, they eat, they value and then I imagine they will deliberate. I certainly do not know what the procedure is like, but we have not recognized them. But even if it had been, the treatment would have been the same. We have an offer with which we try to give the best of ourselves for any client, without any kind of differentiation. That we knew it would not condition our way of working.

P. This critic highlights in the Michelin Guide the presentation of your dishes, above all. How important is the image when creating a proposal?

R. Inside our kitchen it is not the most important thing, but it is true that we try to take care of all the details. We understand that coming to eat at Peix i Brases is not just coming to eat, but we seek to offer an experience. That is, come and take a nice memory, that you have had a pleasant time and leave happy. This implies that not only must things be good, which is the main thing, but that you have to take care of everything you are offering.

When you receive a plate on the table, the first thing you grasp is the visual concept. You are seeing it. From there you perceive the smell and then you get ready to eat it, take it and taste it, which is when the taste comes to you. But everything is part of the plate and all those things we try to take into account.

Q. And at the taste level, how would you define your menu?

R. We are very puritanical when it comes to the product. El Peix i Brases is a restaurant with seasonal produce. But not only that: it is a creative seasonal product restaurant. We try to apply a well-understood creativity in which all the flavors of the product stand out and make combinations that are based on the product that we sell on the plate.

If I had to name the flavors we handle, it would be "purity." We want them to be pure flavors and that what you are eating is recognizable.

Q. You talk about products from the area, the famous kilometer 0, but lately a little critical speeches are coming out, claiming that if we close ourselves to using only what is from here we cannot pretend that outsiders buy our products.

R. I don't think you have to run in any radical way. We bet on elements of the area because we want to make an offer of territory. We want to give an experience of the area, so we use products from the area, agriculture from the Marina Alta. But we must not close down and ask that they consume only what is ours and then want to sell what is ours outside, because they will tell us the same thing.

But we want to offer quality products, working with small farmers in the area and products from the fish market, which is what we sell. Because, in the end, I'm a cook, and I don't want to sell any kind of speech, or be dogmatic in that regard. I can talk about what I do and what I like to do. From there, each one of them does what they see fit.

Q. In the Guide the critic also highlighted the landscape and the views a lot. Would you say that part of the award is due to space and Dénia?

R. There are restaurants with a Michelin star in any setting. You can also find beautiful and very well located restaurants that do not have a Michelin star, as well as establishments with this recognition being in remote and inaccessible places. But of course it has a lot to do, so much Dénia like the Marina Alta. Not only because of the views that we can have from the restaurant, but because of the culture and identity that it imprints on what we do.

Q. You are born in Plasencia and then you come to Dénia. What is the difference between the gastronomy of Extremadura and that of here?

R. I studied cooking already there. For me it is something vocational, since I was little. I was interested not only in cooking, but in what you can do with the kitchen in front of others. What you can make feel or imply, as a form of expression. The differences? In the end, each site has its idiosyncrasies. You cannot compare an inland area with a sea area. It is completely different, even the orchards. Each area has its special things to offer and its differences. Therein lies the beauty of this country, that you can travel through it and get to know totally different cultures depending on where you go.

P. Why did you decide to come to Dénia?

R. I spent some time training and working in different places in the north, because I understand that at the beginning a chef has to visit different houses and get to know kitchens more rooted in traditions to learn and, from there, develop. While in these places he called me Quique [Dacosta] to work on what was the Poblet 20 years ago. He offered to come and I was delighted.

Q. You have been at Peix i Brases for more than a decade and in recent years you have already been listed in the Michelin Guide as a recommended establishment. Although that jump was missing.

R. Yes, that little step of the star was missing. We were recommended as Michelin plate that, although I do not know the operation very well, it is a bit like the prelude. Or at least it tells you that it is a place where you eat well. Every year we evolve the restaurant. Every year we try to do self-criticism, seeing how we do it and seeing if we can do better. Not to please any guide or any critic or anyone, but to please the customer and to be able to offer them the best possible experience. In the end we live in a world in which we must be competitive, because we are a business and our offer must work in the market, so that customers come and leave happy.

Q. Now with the star, what is going to change? Have you noticed more interest?

R. It has been a pretty good year. Within what they have allowed us to work, we have worked very well. We have a very good growth rate. In fact, for a week we have practically full for these holidays. I think we will notice it more in the face of the Christmas.

P. The next thing, in addition to satisfying the client, to keep the star or for the second?

R. We are going to follow the normal rhythm that we have been working on. As I have told you, every year we give it one more twist and this year is not going to be different. In February the whole team will sit down, Tomas Arribas, Jose Ignacio (the room manager) and I, and we will see what can be improved and we will analyze it, but as we do systematically every year.

1 Comment
  1. Beatrice Watt says:

    Congratulations. Well deserved.


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