Chef Ricard Camarena: cutting-edge cuisine of Valencia
- 2 stars & 3 Repsol Suns
- “best chef” by the Royal Academy of Gastronomy
- 5 restaurants from comfort food to gastronomy
More 2 stars chefs here. Other Spanish chefs here.
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When you talk about cutting-edge cuisine in the Valencian Community region, the same name inevitably crops up in the conversation, that of Ricard Camarena. Since he opened his first restaurant, Arrop in the coastal town of Gandía, this chef has always championed a work philosophy based on the search for the most authentic flavors of locally sourced food, with a special emphasis on fish and vegetables
A restless and passionate chef, Ricard Camarena gave up one of his early obsessions—music and his trumpet—to dedicate himself fully to cooking. He traded in scores for recipes, musical compositions for gastronomic ones, playing in a band for cooking in a team.
When he opted for the stove full time, taste was something that was not up for discussion. Ricard Camarena was equally uncompromising on other aspects like, for instance, total respect for seasonal produce. And another of his top priorities is to ensure that his customers always feel welcome and at home.
This successful combination of taste, freshly sourced produce and excellence in service won him a Michelin Star three times (Arrop, Arrop Valencia and Ricard Camarena Restaurant) and three Repsol Suns for his ‘Ricard Camarena Restaurant‘. And he was recognized as the National Gastronomy Award as “best chef” by the Spanish Royal Academy of Gastronomy.
Besides his flagship restaurant, Camarena is also behind Canalla Bistro and its changing eclectic and cosmopolitan menu; Central Bar, which exclusively uses ‘kilometre zero’ products from Valencia’s rightly famous Central Market where it is located; Ricard Camarena Colón, a special space for private events in Mercado Colón, a refurbished art nouveau market building; and Ricard Camarena Lab, a mix of a R&D laboratory and cookery classroom, also in Mercado Colón.
