#News • 16 December 2021

This is how we spent the MICHELIN Gala 2022

The most prominent and renowned guide in the gastronomic world, Michelin Guide Spain & Portugal, has celebrated the new gala 2022 where 4 new restaurants have achieved two MICHELIN Stars and 33 won their first MICHELIN Star, 5 of them from Portugal and 1 from Andorra. 8 new restaurants have received a MICHELIN Green Star for their commitment to sustainability. And for the first time this year, two special new prizes have been awarded to celebrate talent and the transmission of gastronomic knowledge. Balfegó attended the event as a Michelin partner.

The venue chosen this year for the gala was the impressive City of Arts and Sciences of the city of Valencia designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela.

The red color of the guide flooded the impressive auditorium of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía de València to welcome chefs, journalists and other guests.

After speeches from Michelin executives and institutional officials, the handing out of the long-awaited stars began.

Four restaurants achieved the sought-after two stars in Spain:

• Amelia by Paulo Airaudo (Donostia / San Sebastián)
• Voro (Canyamel/Mallorca)
• Smoked Room (Madrid)
• Iván Cerdeño (Toledo)

The MICHELIN Guide Spain & Portugal 2022 has 40 restaurants with two stars, 33 of which are in Spain and 7 in Portugal.

In Spain 27 restaurants have their first Star.

• Alejandro Serrano(Miranda de Ebro). It is a source of pride for Balfegó that the winner of the 2019 edition of Chef Balfegó was the first candidate, in alphabetical order, this year to receive the star for his great work.
• Arrels (Sagunt),
• Atalaya(Alcossebre),
• Atempo (Barcelona),
• Auga e Sal (Santiago de Compostela)
• Ayalga (Ribadesella)
• Cañabota (Seville)
• Casona del Judío (Santander)
• Coto de Quevedo (Torre de Juan Abad)
• Deessa (Madrid)
• El Rincón de Juan Carlos (Adeje – Tenerife)
• El Serbal (Santander)
• Fierro (Valencia)
• Garena (Dima)
• Kaido Sushi Bar (Valencia)
• La Gaia (Eivissa/Ibiza)
• Lera (Castroverde de Campos)
• Lienzo (Valencia)
• Ment by Óscar Calleja (Salamanca)
• Nintai (Marbella)
• Nub (Adeje – Tenerife)
• Nublo (Haro)
• Peix & Brases (Dénia)
• Poemas de Hermanos Padrón (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – Gran Canaria)
• Quimbaya (Madrid)
• Versátil (Zarza de Granadilla)
• Zaranda (Palma – Mallorca)

Portugal brings to our beloved neighboring country 5 new restaurants awarded with a MICHELIN Star: Al Sud (Lagos), A Ver Tavira (Tavira), CURA (Lisbon), Esporão (Reguengos de Monsaraz) and Vila Foz (Porto).

The Principality of Andorra gains a new star, the Ibaya restaurant (in Soldeu).

The stage was bathed in green for the awarding of MICHELIN Green Stars to eight restaurants whose outstanding commitment to sustainable gastronomy, combined with a strong culinary identity, creates especially inspiring dining experiences for their customers. In Spain the winners were:

• Cenador de Amós (Villaverde de Pontones)
• Coque (Madrid)
• El Celler de Can Roca (Girona)
• Finca Alfoliz (Aljaraque)
• Lera (Castroverde de Campos)
• Maca de Castro (Puerto de Alcúdia – Mallorca).

For the first time in Portugal, two restaurants were awarded the MICHELIN Green star:

• Esporão in Reguengos de Monsaraz
• Il Gallo d´Oro in Funchal, Madeira.

Particularly moving was the moment when last year’s first-time star winners, who were unable to receive it due to the global pandemic, took to the stage:

Ambivium (Peñafiel, Valladolid), tops this list in alphabetical order, its chef Cristóbal Muñoz was the winner of the third prize for Chef Balfegó 2021.

They were followed by Amelia (Donostia / San Sebastián), Atempo (Sant Julià de Ramis, Girona), Baeza & Rufete (Alacant), Béns d’Avall (Sóller / Mallorca), Callizo (Aínsa, Huesca), DINS Santi Taura (Palma / Mallorca), Eirado (Pontevedra), En la Parra (Salamanca), Espacio N (Esquedas, Huesca), L’Aliança 1919 d’Anglès (Anglès, Girona), La Salita (València), Miguel González (Pereiro de Aguiar, Ourense ), Mu•na (Ponferrada, León), Odiseo (Murcia), Quatre Molins (Cornudella de Montsant-Tarragona) which was a double source of pride in this edition since its Chef Rafel Muria was the winner of Chef Balfegó 2018, following Raíces-Carlos Maldonado (Talavera de la Reina, Toledo), Saddle (Madrid) and Silabario (Vigo). In Portugal, 100 Maneiras and Eneko Lisboa (both located in Lisbon) received a Michelin Star last year.

In the three-star category, the 11 Spanish restaurants from last year remain:

Abac (Jordi Cruz, Barcelona)

Akelarre (Pedro Subijana, San Sebastián)

Aponiente (Ángel León, Puerto de Santa María – Cádiz)

Arzak (Elena Arzak, San Sebastián)

Azurmendi (Eneko Atxa, Larrabetxu, Guipúzcoa)

Cenador de Amós (Jesús Sánchez, Villaverde de Pontones – Asturias)

Diverxo (Daviz Muñoz, Madrid)

El Celler de Can Roca (Joan Roca, Gerona)

Martín Berasategui (Martín Berasategui, Lasarte – Guipúzcoa)

Lasarte (Marín Berasategui and Paolo Casagrande, Barcelona)

Quique Dacosta (Quique Dacosta, Denia – Alicante)

In this edition two new awards were created:

The MICHELIN Award for Young Chefs, which goes to Mario Cachinero from the Skina restaurant (Marbella).

The MICHELIN Chef Mentor Award was awarded to Martín Berasategui, gastronomic ambassador in the world of Balfegó.

Once the awarding of the stars was over, guests headed to the Museum of the City of Arts and Sciences.

The dinner location, with views of the city of Valencia, welcomed guests to areas dedicated to various Michelin-starred restaurants in the city and the Michelin Guide’s partners in this edition. Balfegó was one of the most visited areas throughout the night until it closed at 02:00am which put an end to the event. The Tunateca gastronomic kitchen (Barcelona) with its chef Ekaitz Apraiz showcased some of its raw bluefin tuna dishes, temakis, nigiris, rolls, makis, uramakis …

On behalf of Balfegó we want to congratulate all the winners of this new edition and send hope and support to those who have not been able to achieve their star, and who will surely do so sooner and later.

The complete and updated selection is available on the MICHELIN Guide website (https://guide.michelin.com/es/es) and on the App, also accessible for free for both iOS and Android.