Arzak is an institution in the gastronomy of the Basque Country and by extension of all of Spain; the restaurant that the chef Juan Mari Arzak took to the highest peaks of the kitchen is now run by his daughter Elena, who has managed to maintain it in excellence
Elena Arzak (San Sebastian, 1969) is the only woman in charge of a restaurant with three Michelin stars in Spain. Trained in Switzerland and in leading European restaurants, including El Bulli de Ferran Adrià in Roses (Girona), in 2012 it was proclaimed better Chef feminine of the world Little by little, he has taken over the reins of the family restaurant, with three stars in the Michelin Guide since 1989, although his father, the emblematic Juan Mari Arzak, continues with 80 years at the foot of the canyon, by his side. This summer, Elena Arzak participated in the event “Food that welcomes”, which was organized at Mas Marroch in Vilablareix by the Basque Culinary Center and El Celler de Can Roca.
How do you manage to stay at the top for so long?First of all with passion, and I’m not saying it just to say it, but you need total dedication, and that you like it. This to start. Then know how to surround yourself with very valid people, because the human factor that works with you is increasingly important. And then respect for what you do, conviction in what you do and the permanent search for excellence. A restaurant like Arzak is scrutinized by all the eyes of the world, every day must be excellent… That’s why I say that every day is special, and this is one of the things that I have always liked. And not just me, my father always told me, and he tells me, “Elena, the team is very important & rdquor ;. They themselves also say “let’s see how it is raised today & rdquor ;, they say it a lot. In what sense do they say it, as if every day were a special day? Sure, because not all clients are the same, nor do they come at the same time, and perhaps there are those who do not like something, or someone who wants to repeat a dish … Since we work with diners, which I like more than clients, you realize that we are all different, and then all the services are different, and that seems like a challenge to me. It’s like in the theater, right? Each function is unique and unrepeatable.…But it is very gratifying, to see how people come and trust what you are going to give them, trust the service, trust so many things that you think “how good& rdquor;I imagine that the cooks of This level must be made of a special paste, because they must withstand a lot of pressure every day… You learn to handle pressure, if you become obsessed, it blocks you. My father, and I’m talking about him because I’ve been with him for 25 years, and I’m still with him, and he’s taught me a lot, he always tells me: “Look, Elena, you can do as well as you can, what you can’t to do is go crazy & rdquor ;. This does not mean that there is neglect… But perhaps it is not necessary to go further in things that are already well known… Investigating is always good, what you have to try is not to give up, neglect and monotony are very dangerous in our profession. I suppose the pressure will be not only to manage the day to day, but because the expectation of the level of the restaurant grows. How do you always raise the level? If we didn’t have pressure we would relax. We are very proud of the Michelin stars, and they are an honor, but I always say that if there wasn’t that pressure we would all relax. And we also need the diner who finds a bug. Surely you have someone who reads your texts and finds defects…Yes, it happens…The same thing happens to us. There are people who have more sensitivity and people who have less. But we do detect that we have become a celebratory restaurant: people come to celebrate their personal issues, a retirement, a birthday, the concept of “Gift Arzak” has greatly increased, especially local and national people, it is impressive. And we also have, of course, gourmets who come from all over. This generates a mix of local people and people from outside, and everyone eats the same thing. And each table comes for a different objective and they must all be attended to equally well. Surely they will also value different things… Yes, but they are all important. We have always been very excited when they tell us “we have made a piggy bank to come” or “the people at work gave it to me because I have turned 40″… We are excited, it means that they have noticed Arzak, and it seems to them a gift that has value. And we also like people to let themselves be advised, to ask us what we recommend, it’s very gratifying, and to see how happy people are… Logically, as with everything, it doesn’t always rain to everyone’s liking, and I respect that . You must know how to listen and reach your own conclusions. How does a restaurant like Arzak, with such a long history, continue to create? What new paths can you explore? Generally one believes that creativity has limits, but human beings have always needed to express themselves. We are all very creative, creativity is necessary. It happens that when I see dishes from twenty years ago, which were the latest trend, now they seem old. And they were the newest! For me creativity has no bottom, themes will always come up. Now we are very much with nature, sustainability, the oceans, etc. And sometimes strange things happen. For example, yesterday we had dinner at the Celler de Can Roca, a kind of rain, and we had made a hail (he laughs), because hail often falls there. How diverse is creativity, and also the person. I don’t think there is a problem with creativity. I think that now it is not simpler but more summarized, the flavors take precedence, and they are more intense… There is a tendency to return to the natural, to the product, to kilometer zero. Yes, but in fact I think that in the Basque Country and in Catalonia there has always been a very good connection with kilometer zero, and in many parts of Spain. Talk to the producers, get joint ideas. We have, for example, a supplier of cabbage, who called me one day to ask me if I minded if the leaves had little holes, because there was a bug that was not harmful, and that he preferred not to add anything at all, so as not to affect the flavor. I told him that I didn’t care, that we were making a purée, and then I thought that even if it hadn’t been for that purée I wouldn’t have cared either, the little holes… This relationship with the producer of a lifetime is very beneficial… You have to listen to him. For example, now that the oceans are very popular, I call our fishmongers a lot to ask about the seasons of the products, because they change more and more, and they start a month before, or a month after, and the fishing quotas, which is extremely important for the species. We must be aware of this, but we also want to continue being innovative and fun. When someone goes to a restaurant like Arzak, it is what they expect, not just any menu… Exactly, they want to see things. There is also a lot of contact with the dining room… In recent times, work in the dining room has been given more value, which had been somewhat cornered by the prominence of the chefs… Well, now it is extremely important, because the dining room transmits, and the The client can ask you questions, and the whole subject of wines is very interesting and you have to know how to get it right. What is good, and what is bad, if there is anything, of having a father like Juan Mari Arzak? In summer, when we were little , we went with my sister Marta to the restaurant, because my mother, my grandmother, two aunts and aita (the father). We spent a couple of hours there every day, and I was fascinated, I’ll never be bored here, he thought. But my parents told me that it was one thing to go have a good time and another to dedicate yourself to it body and soul. My sister studied art history and contemporary art and she understands so much that she has now become our advisor on art and gastronomy. She works at the Guggenheim in Bilbao but is passionate about cooking. And I said that she was going to continue in the restaurant, and until today. At first I was a bit self-conscious, but I was out for seven years, and that helped me a lot. And when I returned, although I highly respected what my father and his team were doing, who were very enterprising and had a system that worked very well without me, from the beginning they encouraged me to introduce changes, and that’s not why I left. . On the one hand, I had the fame of my father, and on the other, logically I was aware that they would compare me with him, because this is universal. But he told me “Elena, if you show people that you are constant, that you like cooking and that you are not here joking, they will end up accepting you.” And he was very right. The truth is that in the end they even gave me awards…Elena Arzak is today a well-known cook. Yes, I have had awards, and the truth is that everyone in the restaurant was happier than me, because they had seen me grow. Today I feel very grateful, and I do have a father who has helped me a lot, because he has opened many doors for me to do an internship in restaurants, but I chose myself, and that is why it was important to go abroad, to places that I decided following my own criteria. Do you think the role of women in haute cuisine is sufficiently recognized? Things are improving. When my father attended the catering school there were three women, when I went there were 40%, and now, for example, at the Basque Culinary Center or any other school it is equal. What happens is that until thirty years ago, the profession of women was very connected with the domestic environment, until they went out and socialized their profession. And we have run, but there is still a way to go. I have many women, at Arzak, the head chef is a woman, Cynthia Yaber, a wonderful Mexican, and we have six chefs who are women, almost 80% of the staff at Arzak are women. In other places they may need more time. But there are new generations that are making a name for themselves, like Martina Puigvert (head chef at Les Cols d’Olot), who is very prepared. In Les Cols the new generation is made up of three women… Yes, we need many Martinas and that will change. I am convinced. I spoke before about the importance of teams. Among the main complaints in catering in general are poor working conditions. Is progress being made in this field? Progress is being made, work is being done with the teams and they are contributing ideas. Because we want well-being both for them and for us as well as for the diners. My parents have always cared a lot about the team because they spend many hours together. And you have to talk with them, and have them contribute ideas, because they have them. Will that make haute cuisine more expensive? I think not much, if it’s done well, but we need time, it’s not easy. You need tests, you have to adapt… In any case, haute cuisine will always be expensive because behind it there is an expensive infrastructure. And although we try to adjust prices, all of us, as far as possible, behind it there is a very high cost to run the restaurants and also in raw materials.