Martin Berasategui

What made you want to become a chef?

There are two factors that have greatly influenced this decision. Having been born into a family fully dedicated to making others happy through food in the most popular Bodegón in the Old Town of San Sebastián and having been born in the most gastronomic city in the world, where things of eating have been of paramount importance for many years.

What is your favorite kitchen utensil?

This question is the typical trick question that you were asked as a child at school, like, who do you love more, your father or your mother? And it has a very difficult answer, but we have come to compete and I will say that a good knife. I have an enormous weakness for knives and I keep many of them, very dear ones, from different origins and for various uses.

What satisfies you in your day-to-day work?

The ultimate goal of my work is that the customer leaves my restaurants happy and that is what I strive for with my family and my team. Think today more than yesterday at the forefront in the kitchen and tomorrow more than today. And for it to happen, I try to get my people to work enthusiastically, motivated and feel they are protagonists of what they do. I am now a grandfather and something that motivates me a lot is having my granddaughter Jara near the stove and escaping from time to time to see her and recharge batteries. I usually go out to the room to greet customers, seeing their happy and enjoying faces fills me.

If you only had 5 ingredients, what would they be and what would you do with them?

Garlic, chilli, extra virgin olive oil, parsley and hake kokotxas to make them pilpil, in green sauce. It is one of the most amazing dishes I know.

What do you look for in your kitchen tools…

That they become essential, I consider their durability to be very important and that they correctly fulfill their mission. If that happens, I love them so much...