Over the holiday weekend Michelin announced its 2013 stars for Spain and Portugal. The big news is that two restaurants, Quique Dacosta (Dénia) and Azurmendi (Larrabetzu), have been promoted to three stars. They join the ranks of restaurants Martin Berasategui, El Celler de Can Roca, Sant Pau, Arzak, and Akelare. In Barcelona, two restaurants have earned their second star: Moments, from Sant Pau chef Carme Ruscalleda, and Enoteca. Seventeen restaurants earned their first star.
This is an improvement from last year's selection, which most onlookers felt was a serious disappointment. Dacosta's eponymous restaurant, for instance, had been gunning for that upgrade for some time. Over the past two years, the chef has upped his press outreach (see his Eater interview) and made appearances at festivals around the world to get the word out on his small but very ambitious beachside restaurant. Today, Momofuku chef David Chang tweets, "big congrats to @QiqeDacosta for *** michelin stars! spain goes big this year."
Yet there are some notable omissions. Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz's Mugaritz, considered one of the world's avant-garde temples and ranked #3 on the World's 50 Best list, remains at two stars. Over in Barcelona, the two restaurants from Ferran and Albert Adrià, Tickets and 41 Degrees, did not receive any stars. Reacting to the Michelin news, journalist Lisa Abend tweeted a sobering observation: "The strange math of the Michelin guide. Total number of stars for Spain: 139. For Germany: 255."
Here's the press release and the full list:
Michelin Spain & Portugal 2013
· Michelin Guide Spain & Portugal [Bloomberg]
· All Michelin Coverage on Eater [-E-]
