28th March 2024
Sustainable building
Basque Country Food & Drink Spotlight

The 13 Spanish restaurants ranked in the World’s Best 120: ‘Azurmendi’ (No.14)

Following on from our first article about The World’s 50 Best, an organisation that ranks restaurants around the world, we now focus on Azurmendi in the Basque Country.

Seven restaurants in Spain made it into the World’s 50 Best – and a further six Spanish restaurants ranked between 51-120. Out of the total 13 restaurants, seven are located in the Basque Country, three in Catalonia, with Madrid, Dénia (Alicante) and El Puerto de Santa María (Andalusia) the other three.

Sustainable building
The sustainable building of Azurmendi restaurant. (Photo courtesy of Azurmendi)

Here’s Azurmendi in Larrabetzu (Basque Country), ranked No.14

Style of food overall: Modern Basque cuisine

Why visit: Azurmendi is more than one of the most beautiful restaurants in Spain. It is more than a business committed to sustainability, more than just striking architecture in the building designed by Naia Eguino, and even more than the way it relates to food. Azurmendi is, above all, the home of Eneko Atxa – a chef who seeks gastronomic excellence through hospitality.

What’s the concept: To visit Azurmendi in the Basque Country is to feel that you are entering Eneko Atxa’s home. The Spanish chef and his team take you by the hand to discover each corner of the marvellous space. At the same time, you enjoy a gastronomic experience in which the flavour and the beauty of each preparation are always linked to the landscape and the culture that shaped it.

A few words on the chef: Eneko Atxa is one of the most beloved figures in Spanish gastronomy and a chef charged with sensitivity and commitment to his environment, his team, the small producers he works with and to the landscape he loves, respects and wants to honour through his cuisine.

A quote by Atxa: ‘Touch the roots to dream, travel, discover, feel the territory and fly to reach the same starting point.’ This is how the chef himself describes the objective of welcoming the diner with open arms.

Bonus point: Azurmendi won the Sustainable Restaurant Award twice, in 2014 and 2018.

Stand-out dish: Shrimp, vegetable juice and frozen ‘old’ tomato.

Azurmendi, Corredor del Txorierri Salida 25, Larrabetzu, Bizkaia. Tel: (+34) 944 558 866

ALSO READ: The 13 Spanish restaurants ranked in the World’s Best 120: ‘Asador Etxebarri’ (No.3)

ALSO READ: The 13 Spanish restaurants ranked in the World’s Best 120: ‘Mugaritz’ (No.7)

ALSO READ: The 13 Spanish restaurants ranked in the World’s Best 120: ‘Disfutar’ (No.9)

The seven Spanish restaurants in the Top 50 are:

No.3Asador Etxebarri in Axpe.

No.7Mugaritz in Errenteria (near San Sebastian)

No.9Disfrutar in Barcelona

No.14Azurmendi in Larrabetzu

No.20 – Tickets in Barcelona

No.30 – Elkano in Getaria

No.32 – Nerua in Bilbao

Listed between 51-120, there are another six Spanish restaurants ranked as follows:

No.53 – Arzak in San Sebastian

No.75 – Diverxo in Madrid

No.81 – Quique Dacosta in Denia

No.82 – Enigma in Barcelona

No.87 – Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria

No.94 – Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María

Further reviews of all restaurants listed above to follow.

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