michelin guide

Catalan capital is Spanish city with highest number of Michelin stars

Territory awarded 69 stars in the 2023 edition of the prestigious gastronomic guide

ABaC, Lasarte and Celler de Can Roca continue in gastronomy elite, as eight more establishments maintain their two stars

Catalonia boasts 64 Michelin stars in 49 different restaurants in the 2022 edition of the guide 

55 restaurants hold the prized distinction in the 2021 edition of the guide

Three more dining establishments earn their first star, while the guide introduces new sustainability distinction

Catalan gastronomy got reinforced and gained even more prestige in the presentation of the Spain and Portugal Michelin Guide 2017, one of the most important events on the world’s gastronomic calendar. There are now 67 restaurants awarded with a Michelin star in Catalonia. The most important ‘star’ went to ‘Lasarte’ Barcelona, which joins the select group of those outlets which have three ‘macarons’ in Catalonia, together with ‘El Celler de Can Roca’, which was named best restaurant in the world in 2013 and 2015, and ‘Sant Pau’, by Carme Ruscalleda. Moreover, ‘Lasarte’, led by Italian chef Paolo Casagrande, who was a disciple of renowned Basque chef Martín Berasategui, is not only the first three-Michelin star restaurant located in the Catalan capital but the only restaurant on the Iberian Peninsula which this year obtained its third ‘star’. 

The Spain and Portugal Michelin Guide 2016 added four Catalan restaurants to their prestigious list and awarded them their first Michelin Star. Two of them, Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch’s Disfrutar and Albert Adrià and Paco Méndez’s Hoja Santa are disciples of Ferran Adriá’s El Bulli, which was five times awarded best restaurant in the world. Besides these two restaurants from Barcelona, the Hotel Restaurant Emporium located in Castelló d’Empúries, in the north of Catalonia, and Tresmacarrons, in the coastal village of Masnou, also received the prestigious award for the first time. Mallorca restaurant Zaranda, which is led by Fernando Pérez Arellano (who previously worked in the three-Michelin-star-holding Catalan restaurant Can Fabes and the Coque restaurant in Madrid), adds its second star to its record. There are currently 50 restaurants which have been awarded by Michelin Guides, 22 of which are located in Barcelona.

The Province of Girona, in the north eastern part of Catalonia, contains 13 restaurants which among them have 17 Michelin stars, thus making it home to some of the best restaurants in the world. In fact, Girona is the area with the highest Michelin star to population ratio (one star for every 44,000 inhabitants), in the world, ahead of Paris, Rome or London. On top of this, Girona hosts what was awarded Best Restaurant in the world in 2013 by the English magazine 'Restaurant Magazine' and it has been among the top 3 for the last decade: El Celler de Can Roca. In an attempt to raise awareness of its culinary success, all establishments in Girona have united under the brand "Girona Territori d'Estrelles" (Girona Land of Stars).

The Drawing Centre in New York will host an exhibition focused on the creative mind of internationally famous Chef Ferran Adrià, who used to run El Bulli, deemed the world’s best restaurant on five occasions. Adrià’s cuisine is characterised by taking a molecular approach towards cooking. Called both genius and insanity, the Catalan Chef’s goal was to push the boundaries of modern gastronomy, by embracing innovation and tantalising the senses in a spectacle of scientifically precise yet artistically creative food. This new exhibition entitled Ferran Adrià: Notes on Creativity will reveal such a creative process. The exhibition will run in New York from the 25^th of January to the 28^th of February before moving to Cleveland in September.

Catalan ‘El Celler de Can Roca’, the ‘best restaurant in the world’ according to Restaurant magazine, will temporarily close its doors in August 2014 to take a tour in Mexico, Colombia and Peru. The Roca brothers – Joan (Main Chef), Josep (Sommelier) and Jordi (Dessert Chef) - have decided to take this ‘Roca & Roll World Tour 2014’ to “renew” the “illusion” and give “new impetus” to the “creative work” of everyone involved in the iconic three-Michelin-stars restaurant, located in Girona (North-eastern Catalonia). Thanks to this unique “adventure”, named ‘Haute cuisine with values’, Catalan cuisine reasserts its position in the highest culinary ranks at international level. This announcement occurred only a few weeks after Michelin stated that all the awarded restaurants in Catalonia had successfully retained their stars.

Catalan cuisine continues to grow in the highest culinary ranks with 5 new restaurants winning their ever-first star and no establishment losing any already awarded star, with the only exception of Can Fabes, which shut down business. This way, the total number of Michelin stars spread across Catalan restaurants reaches 63. The newly acclaimed establishments are ‘41º’ and ‘Tickets’ in Barcelona, run by Albert Adrià, brother of world famous Chef Ferran Adrià, as well as ‘Malena’ (Gimenells, Western Catalonia), ‘L'O’ (Sant Fruitós de Bages, Central Catalonia) and ‘Les Moles’ (Ulldecona, Ebro Delta). However none of the already-starred restaurants of Catalonia received a second or even a third Michelin star, but all have successfully maintained theirs, notably ‘Best restaurant’ in the world ‘El Celler de Can Roca’. The evening was not a perfect one as Jordi Cruz’s ‘Àbac’ failed to receive the third star it was aspiring to.

After 32 years of success in the world of haute cuisine, this internationally renowned restaurant will cease its operations due to financial reasons. The restaurant located in Sant Celoni, 50km north of Barcelona, was decorated with 3 Michelin stars for 18 consecutive years, being the first restaurant in Catalonia to receive such a distinction. Can Fabes became famous under the leadership of Catalan chef Santi Santamaria, who passed away in February 2011. Santamaria was the first Spanish chef to be awarded with 7 Michelin stars, with restaurants in Catalonia, Madrid, Toledo and Singapore. Following his death the group of restaurants was directed by his daughter Regina Santamaria. “We tried to keep fighting for Can Fabes, but it was not possible as the restaurant was no longer economically viable” she told the CNA.