Serving creativity on a plate in Disfrutar, the World's Best Restaurant

Two restaurants, two different styles. Eduard Xatruch, Oriol Castro, and Mateu Casañas are the three chefs behind Compartir and Disfrutar, the latter of which was recognized recently as the best restaurant in the world by the World's 50 Best ranking.

'Compartir' translates as 'to share,' and 'Disfrutar,' translates as 'to enjoy,' and despite being a Spanish word, it is more commonly used in Catalan than the word in the city: 'gaudir.'

Both restaurants, despite having unique names and unique chefs behind their stoves, have different philosophies.

"Compartir is focused on modern gastronomy. In a way of thinking to share the food in the middle of the table," Xatruch told Catalan News during an interview in their restaurant Disfrutar.

Meanwhile, at Disfrutar, the three cooks try “to be creative."

"We try to create and use new techniques and new concepts and try to make a magical experience through the tasting menu," Xatruch said in an interview available on our Filling the Sink podcast.

There are two main menus and a special one that is only open to up to six people per sitting.

'Menu Disfrutar Classic' has been designed and composed of the creations that have become the 'classics' of the restaurant, and "it is the best option for those guests who come to Disfrutar for the first time."

'Menu Disfrutar Festival' is a menu "with new dishes elaborated during the season as here there are a lot of guests that repeat a lot," Xatruch said. Some can come up to four times per year, "and what we try is that every time, those guests have a new experience."

The goal to surprise their guests is what pushes Castro, Casañas, and Xatruch, but also the creative team in the restaurant "to not stop working on creativity to try to make these new dishes, as if they are a creative restaurant, we need to make new things," Xatruch told this media outlet.

And their creative or R&D room is also a place where guests can eat. While the entry takes you to a large dining room area next to an open kitchen, downstairs, the restaurant hides a cellar and a secret room that you need to access through the cellar itself.

In there, the Creative Team pushes their limits every day to create, at the end of the year, around 80 new plates. Let's remember, a year has 52 weeks.

In the same room, there is a large white table surrounded by six chairs with many small covers that hide part of the 'Table M#01, The Living Table' menu.

This project gives life to the table and invites the guests to participate in the gastronomic experience.

"What we try to do is make guests feel special, and for us, the best thing is when we see that guests get emotional," Xatruch said.

Emotions, in fact, are what move the restaurant's relationship with its customers. When guests arrive, they receive a list with 50 words that describe the experience that chefs think they will have, including words such as creativity, gastronomy, family, history, and tradition… "It is all around the gastronomic experience that we can build a lot of emotions."

Some bites can "make you remember when you were a child, and many people may cry out of their past memories," Xatruch added.

Bookings open 365 days in advance at midnight, and the menus range per person from €290 for the classic and festival options to €390 for the 'Living table' one. There is also a wine pairing menu that costs €160 per person.