What made you want to become a chef?

There are two factors that have greatly influenced that decision. Being born into a family fully dedicated to making others happy through food at the most popular bodegón in the Old Town of San Sebastián, and being born in the most gastronomic city in the world, where food-related things have been of paramount importance for many years.

What is your favorite kitchen utensil?

This is the typical trick question they asked you as a kid in school, like, 'Who do you love more, your father or your mother? ' It has an extremely difficult answer, but since I’m here competing, I’ll say a good knife. I have a huge weakness for knives and keep many that I love very much, from different origins and for various uses.

What fulfills you in your daily work?

The ultimate goal of my work is for the customer to leave my restaurants happy, and that’s what I strive for with my family and my team. To think today more than yesterday about being ahead of the curve in the kitchen, and tomorrow more than today. To make that happen, I ensure my people work with enthusiasm, motivation, and feel like the main characters in what they do. I’m already a grandfather, and something that motivates me a lot is having my granddaughter Jara near the kitchen, and sneaking off to see her and recharge my batteries. I often go out to the dining room to greet customers; seeing their happy, satisfied faces fills me up.

If you only had 5 ingredients, what would they be and what would you make with them?

Garlic, guindilla, extra virgin olive oil, parsley, and hake cheeks to make them pil-pil style, in green sauce. It’s one of the most amazing dishes I know.

What do you look for in your kitchen tools…

That they become essentials. I consider their durability very important, and that they carry out their task correctly. If that’s the case, I grow very fond of them…