Numbering the stars: Michelin 2020's new Spanish entries
Sunday, November 24, 2019 @ 7:44 PM
THE EAGERLY-AWAITED Michelin Guide 2020 for Spain and Portugal is now in circulation after the awards ceremony on Wednesday night, which gave one restaurant in Spain its third star, six eateries their second, and made another 23 starred restaurants for the first time.
This means Spain now has 11 restaurants with three Michelin stars, although several chefs who own eateries of lower categories have this many to their names.
They include Quique Dacosta, whose eponymous restaurant in Dénia (Alicante province) has a waiting list of up to six months, although his El Poblet premises in Valencia, which has just won its second star, comes in at about a third of the price.
The only female chef with three stars is the Basque Country's Elena Arzak, and of the 25 new stars given to chefs, only two went to women – Begoña Rodrigo of La Salita, in Valencia, and María Gómez from Magoga, in Cartagena (Murcia).
Portugal did not gain any three-starred restaurants, but its newest two-star premises is Casa de Chá da Boa Nova, in Leça da Palmeira, near Oporto.
Most mere mortals, when they hear the words 'Michelin-starred' to describe a restaurant, immediately strike it off their lists unless they have a big birthday or wedding anniversary on the horizon and are prepared to empty their savings accounts. But this is where Spain does it differently: Even its three-starred joints can come in at around €150 to €200 a head, and it is perfectly possible to find meals in one- and two-starred restaurants for a two-figure sum.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com