The fact that one of the big stars in today’s gastronomy was appearing became clear by just seeing the auditorium of the Kursaal full in the presentation which closed the first day of San Sebastián Gastronomika – Euskadi Basque Country. Eneko Atxa appeared among a barrage of applause to offer a lecture in which he explained the exciting project he is engaged in at his restaurant in Larrabetzu: Azurmendi.

The three-star Michelin establishment, has opened its doors wide open to the nature that surrounds it and, based on this concept, the Basque chef has prepared four dishes he has on offer this season. But beforehand he wanted to explain the reasons which have led him to fuse his restaurant with nature through a series of strokes displayed with the help of a video: “We coexist with nature, in a town of 1,000 inhabitants surrounded by nature. Our eye-catching glass building goes almost unseen and we don’t mind because we feel the embrace of what surrounds us, from the trees”.

This is the result of an idea which emerged when the restaurant opened, in 2012 and forms part of the long-term project. “We started designing a space with all the sustainable concepts that existed in 2010. And we wanted nature to surround us and meddle in our day-to-day, for it to be latent in the experience of our customers”.

And based on that idea, they have created a space which makes them the “interlocutors between nature and human beings”. This concept has also been transposed into his proposal because they work using “leaves, branches, scents from the fields, nectars, flowers…” Eneko Atxa has outlined that “I am obsessed by moments. The harvest, the things that happen before we work in the restaurant” and, through his preparations, he tries to show all of this despite “these moments at times are difficult to bring onto the table”. But it is with this ambition they have attempted to convey this to the diners of this world.

Four spectacular preparations

Eneko Atxa finished by winning over the attendees, showing four preparations in the shape of snacks in Azurmendi. He has shown the attendees the preparation process of a flower and cauliflower junket which, as he has described, is a snack “which falls short of being creamy, and is neither gelatinous”.
With the help of Flavia, he demonstrated the preparation of the branch of basil leaf from dough achieved “as almost pizza, crunchy, to which we adhere basil leaf flowers to achieve a branch of basil leaf, with crunchy textures, almost resinous and very floral”. 

He also explained how he prepares crunchy leaves through which “we mimic the moment of the harvest”. A flower powder ice-cream ended by surrendering the auditorium of the Kursaal to his feet. The Basque chef has topped off his presentation with a few words of gratitude to Ferrán Adriá, who was present in the auditorium: “It’s an honour to be here. I remember how I looked forward to come here 25 years ago to see you, Ferrán. Thank you. It’s an honour to have been able to get to know you, learn about your work and admire you so much. Thank you, Legend”.