Disfrutar celebrates third Michelin star: 'We could not have dreamt it better' 

Barcelona restaurant Disfrutar opened its doors on Wednesday with a brand-new shiny Michelin star, its third, after its success at the guide's gala ceremony on Tuesday night. 

"It was a total surprise, an explosion of joy and magic," said Mateu Casañas, one of the chefs at Disfrutar. 

Entering into the select group of restaurants with three Michelin stars "in the best place," Barcelona, made it even more special, he said. 

"If we had dreamt of it in some way, we could not have imagined it any better."  

Casañas is one of three head chefs at Disfrutar, along with Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch. 

"The three of us were here, which never happens, and everything was so perfect that it seemed impossible," Casañas said. 

Stellar year 

The recognition from Michelin will not change anything fundamental about the restaurant and how it operates, Casañas explained, but it does reaffirm internationally "the significance" of Catalan cuisine. 

Disfrutar becomes the fifth restaurant in Catalonia to currently hold three Michelin stars, and the latest award comes less than six months after it was named the second-best restaurant in the world by the British magazine 'Restaurant' it its 'The World's 50 Best Restaurants' ranking.   

The achivements, according to Casañas, do not change things too much. "They give us visibility and consolidate our project, but we are neither better nor worse than yesterday. We want to be the same and work in the same way," insisted the chef. 

The three chefs, who previously worked at the world famous El Bulli, opened Compartir, a restaurant in Cadaqués on the Costa Brava, in April 2012. 

After success there, they expanded their horizons with Disfrutar, located in the heart of Barcelona's Eixample neighborhood, which now has a team of 65 people and a waiting list of at least a year. 

The chefs, who have been working together for more than twenty-five years, opened another Compartir in Barcelona a year and a half ago. 

No more pressure

The third star also does not add, Casañas said, any more pressure, but they do "put pressure on ourselves every day, with a tireless search for excellence," he clarified. 

"We make menus starting from a base of recognizable flavors, with good dishes, and that people can 'enjoy,' as the name of the restaurant says." 'Disfrutar' is the Spanish word for enjoy and is also used extensively in Catalan. 

Catalan cuisine in rude health 

Casañas celebrated the fact that awards such as the third Michelin star for Disfrutar "consolidate Catalan cuisine," which is, he said, "in rude health." 

"Recognitions reaffirm the importance of a region at an international level and it is a flag that must be waved vigorously, so that people identify us as a place worth visiting," he said.