Behind the stoves at Barcelona’s Disfrutar, the World's Best Restaurant

"And the World's Best Restaurant is… Disfrutar." During a ceremony in Las Vegas, one of Barcelona's most inventive culinary sensations reached the summit of its Olympus after opening just 10 years ago at number 163 of Carrer de Villarroel.

"For us, it was a dream," Eduard Xatruch, one of the three main chefs behind Disfrutar's stoves, told Catalan News while standing in the middle of their large dining area with views to an open kitchen and a small, peaceful patio in the city center.

After many hours of expectation, the countdown of the World's Best Restaurant ranking reached its last name to announce. It was the early hours of June 6, and Eduard Xatruch, Oriol Castro, and Mateu Casañas were sitting in the audience.

"During the last year, we were thinking about becoming number one because last year we were number two," Xatruch told this media outlet. The restaurant opened in December 2014 and received its first Michelin star one year later. In November 2023, they won a third Michelin star. Meanwhile, in 2022, the restaurant ranked third in the World's Best Restaurant, second in 2023, and won in the 2024 edition.

However, their philosophy remains the same. "We will continue to work, to try to make new things, to be creative as this is the goal of Disfrutar and to be here in the restaurant with our guests and to try to make it so every guest that comes to the restaurant has a magical experience," Xatruch said.

In the beginning, the three cooks "did not think at all of having three Michelin stars or of being the number one restaurant on the World's 50 best restaurants."

Behind their success, there is honesty and hard work, as they are focused on their service.

"We do not work to have these achievements [such as the three Michelin stars or the World's Best Restaurant award]. We try to do our best for the guests and us. Many of them repeat several times per year and come with high expectations.”

The three chefs also have a second restaurant in Barcelona, Compartir, which opened in 2022, and their first restaurant, also called Compartir, in Cadaqués, in the Costa Brava, which opened in 2012 and is still active.

Disfrutar is a Spanish word very commonly used in Catalan meaning 'to enjoy.' In Catalan, it should be 'gaudir.' 'Compartir' means 'to share.'

El Bulli philosophy

Disfrutar is led by three chefs who met more than 25 years ago at the iconic El Bulli restaurant, one of the best restaurants in the world for many years led by Ferran Adrià, one of the most recognized cooks in contemporary cuisine.

Years later, Xatruch, Casañas, and Castro have a different style but are heavily influenced by their past.

"For us, El Bulli is our past; we were there so many years, and we learned a lot there, but since we opened Disfrutar, it has its own style," Xatruch said.

"What we try to do here at Disfrutar is to try to make new things and look for new concepts and new techniques that can express our own style and give new experiences to the guests because when someone eats a new texture for the first time, or experiences a new gastronomic sensation, it's so special and that's what we try to do here in the restaurant," he added.