A unique place, a system failure, a glitch in the Matrix that feels hard to repeat elsewhere¹. In an era where tautologies such as ‘Brexit is Brexit’ or ‘lunch is lunch’ rule the political and the gastronomic world, there is a restaurant where food transcends the plate into the realm of conceptual art. That is Mugaritz, and we love it.

Only after reading their most philosophical books², going on a tour around the restaurant with head chef (and R&D director) Ramón Perisé and eating there, we can feel confident enough to give a good summary of what Mugaritz is. This is a rather long article, so feel free to jump ahead through our table of contents:

Among the world’s best restaurants for years, Mugaritz is only the 5th best restaurant on Tripadvisor in its village of 30,000 people. Reviews titled ‘the emperor has no clothes’, or ‘An Inside Joke?’ might hint why. Mugaritz is intentionally challenging, something that many customers paying over 200€ for a traditional Michelin-starred meal³ do not comprehend. ‘Does the food in a restaurant need to be tasty?’ ‘Perhaps not’. ‘Why?’ Mugaritz intentionally pushes itself into that abyss.

A different philosophy

Indeed, at Mugaritz, flavour is not the primary goal of the cuisine. The dishes are designed not only to fill your stomach or to entice your appetite, but also to stimulate your mind. Why else would you try a fetus? Or a mouldy brioche? To achieve this, the chefs break all the creative boundaries that limit their expression. They challenge the very concept of a restaurant to grant themselves more freedom in the creative process.

How do they do that? By surprising you with unexpected dishes that defy your expectations and conventions. For instance, there are no desserts and sweet dishes can appear at any moment during the meal. Another approach involves not informing diners about what they are about to eat. Moreover, cutlery may be absent to encourage a more tactile experience with the food. This sometimes means having to lick the plate to be able to eat.

During their experience, diners are frequently challenged, sometimes even doubting whether they should consume the dish presented. What’s the end goal of all this? To employ creativity to make people more creative. To help them rediscover things that they would have otherwise ignored.

But this was not always the case. Mugaritz’s head chefs and co-founders, Andoni Luis Aduriz and David de Jorge, opened the restaurant in 1998 in a rural village south-east of San Sebastián. Initially, no one showed up. The ample free time, financed by a few occasional banquets and receptions, led them to think out of the box. Not long before, Andoni had spent two years at elBulli, having joined shortly after Ferrán Adrià’s transformative visit to Michel Bras’ restaurant in 1990—a visit which would inspire El Sabor del Mediterráneo in 1993. Michel Bras’ ideas deeply impacted Adrià, but also Aduriz, who admits Bras naturalism did set the path to today’s prevalent styles in gastronomy.

Influences: botany, Bras and science

The Brassian concepts of a symbiotic relationship with nature, local seasonal produce, and foraging inspired the Mugaritz team to explore the surrounding hills, fields, and forests. In the beginning, when the restaurant was empty, the search for local edible plants became their side project. With the help of biochemist Unai Ugalde, numerous wild plants would be rediscovered in the professional kitchen. The project produced a reference textbook in naturalist gastronomy, Clorofilia, their first proper book in 2004⁴.

Over the years, research on leaves, herbs, and flowers continued. Perhaps the most impressive result would come in 2009, where some plants were rendered edible for the first time by employing heat and alkaloids to disable any harmful compounds. Almost 20 years after the restaurant’s opening, visitors can still observe the keen interest in herbs and flowers as they walk from the parking lot through the restaurant’s garden to the entrance. In the 2021 season of Mugaritz, certain aspects of the Brassian philosophy are still evident. Examples include drawing inspiration from nature and offering a menu that features local, seasonal dishes based on ingredient availability. In fact, customers on the same service might be served different dishes based on this availability. Moreover, in its early years, the aesthetics of the food at Mugaritz clearly resembled that of Bras. Clorofilia and Mugaritz’s own online Photo Gallery attest to this.

While botany remained an obsession, it was a project and not the defining idea for the restaurant. More important was the connection of the food development to the research of new techniques and science. This approach would prove to be very fruitful and a keystone in the evolution of the restaurant. In his last year at elBulli, 1994, Andoni had observed the shift from an evolutionary cuisine to a creative cuisine. In fact, this was the year when the first culinary airs and foams were mastered by Adrià’s team and presented to the public. Nowadays they are ubiquitous in fine dining. However, this type of creative cuisine, driven by innovative techniques, required a significant investment in R&D. A new restaurant like Mugaritz couldn’t easily afford this. Still, as the restaurant became more successful over the turn of the millennium – as early as 2002 – Mugaritz became the first to develop the veil, a soft sheet of gel used to cover elements of the dish and preserve their temperature. Suddenly, Mugaritz became an avant-garde establishment. Soon, innovations such as edible bubbles, edible clay, or the chemical treatment of ingredients with alkaloids would emerge.

A devastating fire in 2010 left the restaurant paralysed for months, but this period underscored the importance of dedicating time to research and recipe development. Since then, the restaurant closes during the first four months of the year to prepare their ever-changing offering for the next season. Currently, their status as vanguardists and innovators in Spain has allowed for scientific and engineering collaborations. Working with universities and companies during these four months of R&D has become the norm. And these efforts certainly continue to pay off. Perhaps their most notable achievement in the last decade has been their thorough control of fungi and fermentations from 2014 and 2015.

The revolutionary approach and creative freedom championed by elBulli fostered a critical mindset. This perspective was willing to rethink what a restaurant is. Deconstructing the concept of a restaurant led to disruptive changes: in 2011, they replaced traditional tasting menus with personalised tastings for each table, and in 2017, they eliminated desserts. More importantly, it sparked a desire to infuse dishes with intellectual depth and meaning.

Mugaritz’s conceptual uniqueness

However, here we must clarify that putting so much weight on Adrià’s (or Bras’) influence on Mugaritz is unfair. This influence was a catalyst for the development of what Andoni Luis Aduriz calls his cocina de autor (cuisine d’auteur, akin to film d’auteur), but this cuisine is certainly not Adrià’s techno-emotional cuisine. Andoni’s intention was to transcend sensorial experiences to create something conceptual. He feels that food has the potential to shake the customer, inspire and trigger emotions. Is there an ulterior motive behind this? ‘We are still figuring it out⁵’, which explains the polymathic nature of their endeavours. Be it botany, naturalism, avant-garde techniques, fermentations… All is there just to push them into the void of the unknown, to discover what can be done with food.

Despite this reluctance to define an ulterior motive, we believe that the restaurant has settled into a mode that focuses on employing creativity to inspire people’s own creativity. As we described earlier, dishes serve as catalysts, enabling customers to rediscover sensations that they might otherwise overlook. In order to achieve this, they resort to surprise, various challenges, and brief moments of pleasure.

Dishes like live canelón, aim to surprise with unprecedented textures. Others employ their newest techniques or the beauty of botany to create awe. Conceptually, challenging dishes are more complex. Some are deceptive, catching you off guard. Their blood and pigeon macaron comes to mind here. Others involve philosophical questions or cultural references, like A heart that does not feel in 2018 playing with the concept of gluttony and obesity or First Kiss in 2021, yearning for human contact amidst a pandemic. In these cases, stories introduce a ‘sixth taste’ at Mugaritz. Without proper context and explanation from the service, the dishes might lose their intended impact. The final type of challenge that we have identified consists of exercises requiring disinhibition. For instance, the famous Noble rot from 2015 provided the chance to taste the velvety mould of a fermented apple inoculated with Penicillium roqueforti if one was up for it. Worry not, throughout the tasting, there will always be a couple of dishes that provide an oasis of old fashioned pleasure free from any discomfort.

When reading or listening to Andoni’s words, it is easy to notice that he has a strong poetic side and deep intellectual aspirations. We feel that he is the first chef to write haikus with food. From 2017 or 2018 onwards, the line between dishes and pieces of conceptual art began to blur. Nowadays, dishes are named more like artwork titles than their ingredients: Final stamp, Prejudice – Strain your brain, Sea – Lips of stone, Scratch – don’t look, find.

The cuisine: texture, insipidness and manias

Despite the conceptualisation of their cuisine and the constant search for the edge of the precipice to peer into the unknown, there are a few more discernible patterns in Mugaritz, perhaps as a signature to that cuisine d’auteur we referred to. Firstly, texture is often given a great importance. At times, even more than flavour. They argue that insipidness is intrinsic to Basque cuisine and that the primary emphasis is on texture, pointing to examples such as the delicate crunch of elvers or the gelatine present in hake and kokotxas. Even though produce is respected, like in any produce-driven restaurant, in the search for texture, there is no reluctance to heavily process ingredients if the idea is worth the cause. Oysters might be blended, squid might be whipped. In many cases flavour is toned down to make way for a texture to come to the foreground. In others, tears and sweat will be put into achieving precise temperatures and timings to let unimaginable textures shine for a fleeting moment.

Second, since 2007 or 2008 there has been a clear shift of aesthetics from a Bras inspired naturalism to an elegant minimalism⁶. Andoni and Ramón describe this aesthetic as a natural progression of their vision. ‘Adding is easier than removing’. Having very few ingredients per dish forces everything on the plate to be perfect. In our opinion, this minimalism is inherent to their conceptual take of food. To convey a message, the writing must be clear. When the message is encoded through food, fewer components on the plate mean less noise. And the more likely that it will be interpreted appropriately. Thus, the dishes become haikus full of meaning. Moreover, when executed well, minimalism can inspire the same awe that Mugaritz strives for in their dishes.

The consequence of walking next to the abyss

Considering the layers of complexity that this restaurant has built over the years, it’s no wonder that some less prepared or poorly informed customers may have a tough time here. Neither Andoni nor Ramón make this easier, often providing long and obscure explanations. Their most philosophical book, Mugaritz. Vanishing points, primarily employs examples, poems, dialogues and songs to get its point across. Sometimes, their comparisons or metaphors are incredibly self-referential, confusing the uninitiated more than elucidating. Perhaps this is intentional, to create mystery. If this is the case, it works. Or perhaps it’s a natural consequence of their constant re-invention.

A tour of Mugaritz

We were incredibly lucky to get a tour of the restaurant prior to service with the R&D Director, Ramón Perisé. Conversing with him is captivating and we quickly lost track of time, half an hour turned into an hour and if it hadn’t been for manager Joserra, we might have missed our dinner!

Our conversation covered the restaurant’s humble origins, its initial focus on botany, its newest creations, and recent research developments. We got to walk around the dining room during the daily ritual of filling the room with smoke from vine shoots embers to produce a warm and comforting sensation for the guests as they enter the restaurant.

There we also got a chance to play with the reproductions of the 1956/8 Studies of the ‘Par Móvil’ from Jorge Oteiza, the pieces that serve as the sole decoration on the restaurant tables. With minimal surfaces, Oteiza developed a shape with an asymmetric moment of inertia that helps its roll.

Moving on to the kitchen, cleanliness and order are the greatest obsessions here. This relentless rigour and maniacal order is seen as the basis for logistics/operations and success. On every spotless counter, neatly folded yellow kitchen towels were laid out, ready to wipe any potential spill. Even years after departing from Mugaritz, Andoni’s disciples still fold their kitchen towels and napkins in the same neurotic manner (e.g. Santiago Lastra, Dani Lasa, James Syhabout or Leandro Carreira). 

Behind the pass, in a separate room, we saw how Mugaritz has been able to tame Penicillium roqueforti, achieving absolute control in their fermentations (see dish below). We also saw their newest invention, a peculiar squid foam, being violently whipped by a KitchenAid stand mixer. Downstairs, the smell of tomato sauce for the family meal of the 35 to 40 members of staff lingered in the air.

Upstairs, in the R&D lab we were shown how their ideas transition from concept to reality. Incomplete projects or past ideas being revised ranged from masks or multisensorial musical experiences for the whole dining room to cases made from game bird feathers. On the same floor, we browsed Andoni’s library in his office – an eclectic collection of books in art, gastronomy and literature. As we have mentioned in the past, a chef’s library is a window to their creative soul.

Eating at Mugaritz

Located 15 minutes from San Sebastián, the restaurant is situated in a baserri or a Basque caserío near a relatively remote and green village. Visitors can park near their garden and step down to a beautifully trimmed patio, shaded by a large oak (haritza in Basque) before heading inside. The caserío maintains its soul thanks to the rustic dark woods and beams in the dining room, but it’s modernised by the minimalist decoration, the grey tiles on the floor, the elegant chairs and the clean look of the draped white tablecloths. Apart from the Oteiza sculptures, a large mmmmmmmmmmm decorates the walls in a self-referential connection between mugaritz and that primal indulgent onomatopoeia. This theme of self-reference extends to an illuminated line on the ceiling. It demarcates the boundaries, or ‘muga’ in Basque, of the two lands that traverse the restaurant.

For the first time in a restaurant of this calibre, there is no wine list as we usually know it. Wine pairings are personalised to the menu provided to each table. One can ask for bottles based on one’s preferences, but expect no list. Fortunately, they have good taste and an outstanding cellar. This is one of the best wine pairings we have tried, with wines that were outstanding and did (for once⁷) pair well to the aromatic profile of the food and its texture. Wines were diverse and of a remarkable high quality, many from cult producers: from Sandhi or Chartogne-Taillet, to Suertes del Marqués, Bodegas Tradición and Vega Sicilia. We will reference each wine alongside its paired dish in our review of the tasting menu.

The 2021 tasting menu: ‘The first times’

Statistics: The tasting menu consisted of 24 courses, of which 15 were meant to be eaten without any cutlery. These servings were accompanied by 13 different wines. A notebook containing Mugaritz’s gastronomic lexicon was provided, along with a pencil, allowing guests to complete any definitions that remained undefined.

When we visited in September 2021, COVID was still in the air, both physically and metaphorically, lingering as a trauma. The tasting menu started with a reference to the trauma and a cathartic dish to highlight the importance of human relationships with something we were forced to forget, a kiss.

FIRST KISS Natura was a ceramic mask, modelled after one of their chefs, over which a citrus gel (perhaps grapefruit) was spread and a combination of herbs and flowers available from the garden had been carefully placed on top. Given neither cutlery nor any indications, it became self evident that in order to eat, one must kiss and lick the mask. Black mint, lovage, lemon and bergamot entangled each other with intense flavours and more complexity or dynamism than a real first kiss.

Sipping through our citric pairing of Txakoli Urkizahar, a dish called WHITE Milk and tears arrived to our table. Served in a white, tear-shaped bowl, this monochromatic composition featured curdled sheep’s milk. A few peeled green almonds and garnished carrot flowers floated on top. The purity of the mild sheep’s milk and fresh almonds was set in opposition with the strong flavour of the carrot flowers, creating an unexpected punch of flavour. Yet, it wasn’t the flavours that played the principal role, but the textures. The crunchy texture of fresh almonds was contrasted with the slightly curdled and creamy milk whereas the flowers were rather fibrous.

The dish in essence was a dichotomy of simplicity and complexity. On the surface, it appeared straightforward and unassuming, with minimal ingredients and a straightforward presentation. However, conceptually, there is much more complexity than it is initially apparent. We found ourselves thinking that if Malevich’s White on White was designed for human consumption, WHITE would be like eating a suprematist pleonasm.

Then came a quick snack, STATE Wild asparagus, showcasing wild asparagus in their germ stage. The green fresh crunch, lightly salted, was indeed a perfect bar snack when paired with an aromatic Bidassoa Rye IPA.

STUBBORNESS Three thrilled tripes, comes from Mugaritz’s obsession with hake. Their stubbornness, i.e. ever rethinking the possibilities of what can be done with this fish, is acknowledged in its title. This stubbornness is used as a tool, as a way of inducing creativity by focusing on a certain ingredient as a theme. In the past, this same obstinacy even took them to write a mono-thematic book on foie gras⁸. 

In September, hake seemed to be the obsession, and as such we were presented with three different preparations of hake. They all focused on normally discarded pieces. First, on the left, the terrine made with offcuts was lusciously tender, with a very unique texture that edged between gelatinous and buttery. The more powerful flavours of these offcuts were balanced by some pickled mustards seeds, revealing the seed’s sweeter side and some acidity. The serving on the right featured a piece of scratchings made from the skin of the hake’s neck. Its crunchy texture and light, roasted fish flavour was perfectly balanced by the refreshing pops of citrus from the lemon segments and the aromatic touch of the oregano flowers. Meanwhile, on the centre lay the most indulgent serving of the three elaborations. A croquette sprinkled with smoked pimentón that encased the most delicious gelatinous filling imaginable. The gelatine had been rendered and concentrated to give a warm bite that oozed out in the most obscene way possible. The breading was light crisp and thin – exactly how it should be.

What could pair with all this so perfectly? Easy, a glass of Chartogne Taillet – Blanc de Noirs Les Orizeaux. Such a superb Champagne, on the night it showed concentrated, fruity, and with the most beautiful mousse and acidity. Those brioche aromas were intoxicatingly seductive against the sumptuous textures of hake.

The following serving, TRAVEL From here and there, was inspired by the Spanish classic ventresca. It was presented as a tomato salad with shaved ice and an anchovy garum. A racy Mencía from Sílice was intelligently served as a pairing. This course really encapsulated many of the core concepts of the Mugartiz’s philosophy: minimalism, seasonality and technique. The tomatoes were impressive, clearly at the height of their season, with the most tender texture. Moreover, the use of ice shavings (similar to raspados in Mexico, a technique they have used for savoury dishes since 2013) created unique ethereal texture on which to place the garum. The garum seemed more ‘from there’ (garum from southern Spain was considered the best of the Roman Empire) than the ‘from here’ of the locally sourced tomato.

There are only three ingredients, pointing at that minimalism that the restaurant has embraced, but also three techniques: seasonality, ice shavings and fermentation. It is this constraint that allowed the dish to shine. With these few ingredients, there is nowhere to hide for the kitchen. Everything must be perfect. We have encountered in other restaurants an intention to create layers of complexity that often only obscure the end result, losing its intended meaning. In Mugaritz this doesn’t happen.

The theme of threes continued with three courses, each focused on a particular culinary concept, composition, technique and transmission. Although not specified by the service, when presented all at the same time on the wooden plates from Carpintería Fraca⁹, it was suggestive of the pieces of a puzzle. As though the steps in the creation of a dish had been deconstructed into their most basic elements, for us and them to piece out.

From right to left, COMPOSITION Apricot and caviar played with textures, colours and flavour contrasts. Despite the contrasts, the salt and umami of the caviar accentuate the sweetness and fragrance of the ripe apricot. TECHNIQUE Milk sponge showcases their skill in creating an ethereal solid foam from milk, likely using a form of gelatinised starch. The structure of alveoli vaguely reminded us of crumpets. A touch of fennel leaves finished off the bite. Finally, TRANSMISSION Corn with vanilla is a confit baby corn with vanilla butter. The corn was merely a medium for the intense perfume of the vanilla to flow, an aroma that discharges its elegant power in every bite. Some of the corn cobs were tender, but others were quite fibrous, with their core borderline inedible. Their flavour was mild, if not absent.

Next came a dish which we had seen being prepared in our tour. COUNTERBALANCE Mellow foam is one of those Mugaritz dishes that are served mostly to show a new technique they have developed. By this we mean that sometimes the drive for novelty beats the restraint to bring something unpolished to the world. The team had managed to whip up a foam from squid, yielding a texture we had never experienced before. It could be simplified to a cappuccino foam with a more gelatinous texture that made it somewhat gluey, though soft and light. The texture was indeed very original, but we found that the aeration of the squid intensifies some of the more off-putting briny and fish odours of the animal. When mixed with a glace of onion, green pepper and Txakoli, this only made matter worse by accentuating those pungent aromas.

Alongside the mellow foam, we were served a pincho. Interestingly, the PINTXO Green pepper and hake played with the same flavours as the squid foam, but in a more elegant and subdued manner. Inspired by Basque flavours, this breadless pincho took the classic grilled Padrón pepper and bathed it in a hake emulsion.The mellow aromas of the hake danced with the intense green pepper flavours. As a pairing for both dishes, Haemin Song selected a Syrah and Tempranillo blend capable of taking these roasted green and brine – Huellas del Tiétar, Efímero.

Following the marine theme, the next dish came as another reference to the Basque region. CATCH Albacore and sea coast herbs was a plate dedicated to tuna. In fact, it was all about tuna and its habitat. A piece of tuna belly was covered by bitter greens with cubes of jellified white tuna broth. The quality of the tuna really shined with that perfect marbling that melts in the mouth. This purity of subtle flavours contrasted with the deep salinity of the coastal herbs making it a rather easy-going dish that anyone could enjoy.

The wine pairing for this dish, a 2007 Ribolla Gialla from Josko Gravner, one of our favorite producers, exceeded expectations. This wine displayed the signature honeyed and spiced nose that we have come to expect from Gravner’s Ribolla Giallas (see our tasting notes from the past), but with a more concentrated and oxidized palate. The herbal salinity of the dish was beautifully complemented by the umami and light astringency of this orange wine.

Even though all the dishes in Mugaritz have a title, these are not revealed until the end of the meal when you are given a printed list of the menu. One is always kept guessing between astonishment, confusion and delight. We had just had some of that delight in the previous dish, so naturally this had to be continued with a suggestive confusion.

On the left, a gel that looked as if it had fallen from the ceiling, covered with a brunoise of black trumpet mushrooms and two quarters of a hazelnut. We were invited to stretch the vertices of the gel and wrap them around to form a dumpling. Touching its bizarre elastic and malleable texture evoked a memory of playing with clay or plasticine. No wonder, we would later discover that it had been titled GAME Springy black trump. Disregarding the allusion to a black Donald Trump, and focusing on the flavours of our deconstructed raviolo, the intrinsically nutty mushrooms and the hazelnut was an excellent combination that transcended the playfulness of the gel. The latter had a gummy bear texture and a mild flavour which aimed the attention to its filling, like any dumpling wrapper should do. Texturally, the balance was brought by the crunch of the hazelnut, giving some contrast to the gumminess.

On the right, three cacao beans and small dices of dried figs were placed on a ridiculously heavy metal bowl designed by artist Manu Muniategiandikoetxea. While mesmerised by the play of scarcity on such ponderous container, the service poured a 20-year-old Pedro Ximénez from Bodegas Tradición, for the beans to swim. Figs, PX and chocolate is not a surprising flavour pairing, but finding all together in a bowl is. The name, LITERALISM Beans.

The wine for this course was an incredible Marqués del Riscal from 1982. The fruit was still present, but with a raisined character that worked well with the cacao bean dish. Moreover, time had given this fine vintage Rioja a delicate structure and a long finish of mushrooms and leather. All notes that went along perfectly with our mushroom raviolo.

Next came another duo, this time focused on seafood. From perplexity we passed to joy again. Both dishes clearly concentrated on fresh delicate flavours with soft and tender textures, but FLAVOUR Striped soldier shrimp obviously had to provide the biggest pleasure. Normally known in Spain as quisquillas, these coveted shrimp were paired with a spicy and umami broth that evidently had a Thai inspiration (notes of lemongrass, ginger, lime leaves). Perhaps a rendition of a tom yum that attempted to highlight the delicate aromas of the broth, the sweetness of the shrimp and the soft silky texture of their flesh. We suspect the quisquillas were lightly cooked or simply brought to temperature with the broth. The end result was a pure display of elegance and produce.

The next dish, titled SEA Lips of Stone, perfectly captured the essence of the sea. This tender clam, served on a wet stone, was a minimalistic representation of the sea’s flavour. The mineral, concentrated, umami flavour of the clam was complemented by the experience of licking the salty, wet, cold stone, evoking the feeling of kissing a stone in the sea. One could mention again the excellence of the produce, but in this case the experience itself played the forefront role.

Yet, the true climax of pleasure unfolded with PRODUCT Caress of sea bream, a continuation of the seafood theme. Evidently, this was the most canonical dish – i.e. what most people would expect from a normal restaurant: something truly delicious. As Philippe Regol describes perfectly, this is when the conceptual art is given a break to go back to its figurative origins. The cuisson of red sea bream was simply impeccable, one of the best examples we’ve encountered. On the other hand, the pil pil had this sticky creamy texture that in Spain is usually named meloso, like honey. The modern touch to this classic Basque serving was added through a crackling of the bream’s skin to give crunch and more of that intense depth of flavour.

All these seafood courses were accompanied by a wine product of a collaboration with our favourite producer in the Canary Islands, Suertes del Marqués¹⁰. Although we haven’t been able to find any more information about it online, it seems that Mugaritz, Suertes del Marqués and Eduardo Torres Acosta (a Etna producer of Canarian origin) have teamed up to create a wine from Listán Blanco inspired by Eduardo’s acclaimed cuvée, Versante Nord. The result, Versante Norte, was delicious, citric and racy, with that volcanic minerality that pairs so well with all produce from the sea.

The final seafood course, OXYMORON, was a seemingly simple dish consisting of only an oyster and honeycomb. However, the combination of these two ingredients was a true revelation for our palates. At first, we were surprised and even a little confused by the unusual oxymoronic pairing (we didn’t know that was the title of the dish), but as we tasted the dish, we were struck by the flavors and textures that revealed themselves as complex as a 50 ingredient jollof rice in Ikoyi. The only remark from the evening in our notes is telling – ‘Amazing’. On the one hand, there was the saline and mineral side of the oyster with its distinct savouriness (akin to seaweed or cucurbits) and on the other hand, the floral, yet woody notes of honey with its intense sweetness (a dark type of honey, perhaps from the forest). Not only the flavours reasserted themselves, but the textures of the obscenely tender oyster and the chewy honeycomb with its bursting cells of honey contributed to the layers of complexity. Moreover, both ingredients are intense on their own, so the mouthfeel was long lasting as well. They not only coexist, but they complement each other. This is the kind of dish that embodies the idea less is more very well, which is central to the philosophy of Mugaritz.

When CONVENTION Biting memories dish arrived to our table, it looked like nothing conventional. In fact, it became a mystery what it could be like after so many surprises so far. It looked like a small, white-cookie-looking bite served on a green leaf. In hindsight, after the first bite, it became clear what ‘biting memories’ meant. It was like a serving from a cheese board with some cheese, quince and walnut, and all that encased in a brioche. The brioche was inoculated with mould of which flavour resembled a sharp blue cheese. The layer of mould was very thin and funnily enough the whole bite was as delicate as mochi. Perhaps if the intensity of the mould flavour was not so high, it would have been a pretty delicious bite. Nevertheless, a milder bite would have not delivered the same concept effectively.

For these bites that played with the sweetness of quince and honey but remained savoury, the pairing proposed by the sommelier team was excellent, a 2009 Clos de Bourg by Domaine Huet. The off-dry character lived up to the sugar present in these dishes, while those honeyed tones, which become more prominent with age, enhanced the flavors of the oyster. The lanolin notes typical of Chenin Blanc were prominent in the wine, but the combination with the briny flavors of the oyster and sharp tones of the cheese created a harmonious balance.

Having experienced surprise, confusion and pleasure, we were bound to be served a challenging course. And sure enough, it came in as another set of two dishes.

Previewed as a sneak peek while in our tour, UTOPIA Roqueforti and meat was a conspicuous display of their mastery of fermentation. Being aware of their pedigree, from a mouldy brioche to a velvety (i.e. also mouldy) apple, it is not so shocking to find a nigiri inoculated with Penicillium roqueforti. Or is it? Technically, the control of the growth of the mould is astonishing. To produce such a perfect even layer encasing it all is a prowess, even more considering that the rice holds well to the process and still felt relatively fresh.

To be fair, we must admit that this is only challenging to the most squeamish diners… The texture of the rice was great, with its flavour put in the background to support the role of the Penicillium, toning it down to a level that the slice of the raw veal on top could take. This certainly works, but many questions arise. Why choose veal instead of another type of meat? Could the idea be to evoke a connection to the flavours of the mould and those of dry ageing? And why title the dish utopia? We might never know, but certainly this use of mould breaks the conventions of our current reality.

PREJUDICE Strain your brain was the second part of these more daring servings. Whereas up until now the main ingredients composing the dishes were always listed in their titles¹¹ and were overtly presented to us by the service, here they almost apologetically inform us that the components will be revealed after we have tried them. The most naive customers might assume that the service is struggling to cope with the night, but here everything is intentional. Slightly confused, we stare at an amorphous white mass sprinkled with nutmeg. Béchamel, cinnamon and nutmeg nappe something whose texture resembles a rice pudding. But around the table we spot a couple of grimaces that suggest that we are wrong. Our waiter returns and reveals that we are in fact eating veal brains.

Deceitful and clever, the brains acquire a texture that, when its true nature is hidden and influenced by the aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg, our own brain reads it as a rice pudding. In our notes for PREJUDICE my partner wrote a simple ‘too much’. You guessed right, I was the only one among four people to finish it. I loved it. And what a title. This is clearly a dish designed to disarm prejudice in a way that would make Voltaire smile.

Having had our brain strained, figuratively and literally, the pairing of these servings, Gonzalez Byass 1998 Oloroso in Magnum, served as a small intellectual refuge of calmness. Elegant and intensely flavoured, it dealt perfectly with the Penicillium and the veal.

After the ‘Utopia’ dish, some of our fellow diners felt discouraged to try the next serving that the waiters just brought to our table. TEXTURA Gnoqui with Idiazabal sauce seemed fairly ordinary – a few gnocchi with some cheese sauce (a Basque sheep’s milk cheese) and a small bunch of sage. It was just as though gnocchi al burro e salvia had met the Basque country. While the cheese sauce was rich and creamy, the gnocchi (although delicious) seemed to have gelatinous texture and meaty flavour. To our surprise, we were told that the ‘gnocchi’ were actually beef tendons, thoughtfully cooked to achieve a texture reminiscent of traditional gnocchi. The tendons were likely cooked for a very long time (perhaps in a sous vide bath) to achieve the slightly chewy but melting texture.

We later found out that TEXTURA was at least Mugaritz’s second attempt to recreate the concept of gnocchi. The first one was in 2003 when Andoni made Idiazabal gnocchi using the Idiazabal cheese water and kuzu to mimic the texture of gnocchi. Those gnocchi were served with a ham broth. Although TEXTURA is a revised version of the older recipe, it is not simply a new version of the same concept with minor changes (an philosophy that we have noticed, for example, in El Celler de Can Roca). Instead of using modernist techniques, the chef here chose to display a new texture from an existing product. Simply, until now no one had realised that the beef tendon cooked in a particular way could deliver a similar experience to that of potato gnocchi (at least to our knowledge). This change of approach exemplifies the evolution of Mugaritz as a modernist gastronomic restaurant in the gastronomic context of the 2020s, where the use of technique is concealed in an attempt to make everything more natural, seamless and organic.

Returning to our meal, the pairing here was a Reina de los Deseos 2016, by Comando G. The light Garnacha, with tangy acid and red fruit that the granite terroirs of Madrid give was a perfect counterbalance to any pasta dish (be it avantgarde or not). Even better to a Barbera, since Garnacha’s herbal typicity matches perfectly with the sage.

The PRODUCT Squared and SHARE Pine nut cake were the last course. Put simply, it was a pork rib (lágrima de cerdo) for everyone and a pine nut tart to share. The lágrima couldn’t have been better described by anything other than the ‘PRODUCT Squared’ – excellence of the product powered to the square. The rib itself was the best one we had ever had, although it is easy to compete with home-made ribs or those from our visits to average American BBQ sheds. It was masterfully cooked to the maximum tenderness, with a touch of smoke and plenty of caramelisation. Yet, the flavour of the pork was the highlight. We are not sure what kind of breed it was, but there was a compelling similarity with the Pirenean Noir de Bigorre pigs. It was a true delight.

Is there a better way to finish a wine pairing with a climax than a glass of Vega Sicilia Único 2005? Vega Sicilia is always memorable, and this one will certainly be remembered for a long time, but not for what we expected…

The pine nut tart, served as a ‘side’, looked particularly appealing. The thin tart was made from lightly toasted pine nuts that were held by a caramelised pine nut milk resembling a traditional Spanish sweet guirlache. After taking an eager bite, we felt as if we might never taste anything again. The intensity of pine nut flavour was indescribable, akin to a punch in the face. The texture was quite hard, and the pine nut caramel was extremely sticky, which might explain why no cutlery was provided. Secondly, the flavour of pine nuts was deeply overwhelming, making it difficult to appreciate.

It seems to be that the pine nuts from the Pine nut cake came from the pine trees surrounding the vineyards of Vega Sicilia, so what better pairing than a pairing of terroirs? Upon a small first sip of the wine just before having a bite of the pine nut wafer, we discerned a great structure and notes of dark chocolate, vanilla and ripe cassis. However, after trying the pine nuts, our palate was overwhelmed by their flavour to a point where we could not taste wine properly any longer. This was our first instance of a destructive wine pairing. What we might never know is if it was intentional…

After the flavour and emotional roller coaster, finding a way to end the evening on a high note is tough. Mugaritz’s solution for the past few years is to indulge in a copious amount of chocolate. A substantial board of chocolate was served to our table as Mugaritz’s RITUAL. These chocolates were made with a ‘bean-to-bar’ approach by Pol Contreras, a Basque expert in chocolate. There were two types: one from Madagascar (85%) and the other from Venezuela (75%).

Conclusions

At the end of our experience we come out with the certainty that in Mugaritz having a deep understanding and knowledge of food is not important, but having a natural sensitivity for your surroundings definitely makes the experience a transcendental one. ‘Eating well is not a privilege of the rich, but of the intelligent’ – says Andoni. Like Horacio Oliveira in Cortazar’s Hopscotch, Mugaritz is in the search for the other, and for a few hours that night, we felt like we were on that same journey with them.

Even then, the conceptual work is always interspersed in the menu with academicist work (e.g. the pil pil, the lágrima) that looks for simple and more visceral indulgence. Another pattern we have found is how pivotal textures and temperatures are to this restaurant. Dishes like the gnocchi, the lips of stone, the black trumpet strechy raviolo or the hake would be devoid of any meaning without these two meticulously-considered concepts.

Restaurants like this, where the whole menu is overhauled each season are certainly worth coming back for every year. We look forward to sharing the journey into the unknown with them in the coming years. The rumour is out that Mugaritz will be becoming less challenging and friendlier in the next years. We hope that this is not an attempt of becoming more approachable for the masses, but another step towards that nebulous other from Hopscotch.

Footnotes

1. Maybe Alchemist in Copenhagen is the closest comparable restaurant.
2. Mugaritz. A natural science of cooking and Mugaritz. Vanishing points
3. For a laugh, search on the Tripadvisor reviews the keyword ‘Michelin’ to find the negative reviews that try to refer to the customer’s extensive curriculum in visiting Michelin-starred establishments.
4. This book would have a profound influence on Argentine-turned-Provençal chef Mauro Colagreco, one of the current leaders in this naturalist gastronomy.
5. Mugaritz. Vanishing Points
6. Mugaritz’ own online Photo Gallery again provides wonderful evidence of this.
7. It is incredible how rarely this happens.
8. Foie gras, Andoni Luis Aduriz, 2002
9. Also used in the 2020 season.
10. Update from Autumn 2022: Mugaritz is now expanding these collaborations designing a whole line, Vis a Vis. The intention is to have a selection of wines for the wine pairing with bottles that can only be tasted in Mugaritz exclusively. Here you have a better explanation (in Spanish) from Aduriz himself.
11. Well, here too, but covertly.