Diego Guerrero

Diego Guerrero has an interesting personality. He’s based in Madrid but was born in Vitoria, País Vasco, in 1975. He now lives in Madrid but was born in Vitoria, País Vasco, in 1975. He’s a chef partly by chance, partly because of his rebel spirit. . As he told us a while ago, «I didn’t think I’d take this career. Or better: I had and have many other interests, like music, art, communication... When I turned 18, I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do, so I started to think: firstly, I wanted to become a journalist, and a painter. Becoming a cook was another option, the third and last: after all, they were all ways of expressing myself. I discussed this with my parents, and what they said, more or less, was: “Do whatever you want, but don’t become a cook". 

Excellent choice. His DSTAgE, opened on July 1st 2014 in the Spanish capital, conquered the second star in 2017 Michelin Guide. It’s a successful project to which the patron-chef arrived after a career that saw him work at Martín Berasategui in Lasarte and at Goizeko Kabi in Bilbao and Madrid; he’s been working in the capital for 15 years now. And here he had already conquered two stars at El Club Allard, which he left in October 2013 for this new project.

Guerrero’s stylistic choices are never banal. He mixes Spain with constant inspirations that can come from anywhere, from South America to Asia. His cuisine is cosmopolitan and very technical. He said: «Cooking is a universal language and it all boils down to the same bricks, which are basically proteins, fat, water. They are the same pieces that shape food, and give it texture and flavour. Think of collagen [a protein] which preserves the flavour of an ingredient. Fat is also an excellent vessel for aromas.».

His dishes are the creative result of these principles. His constant innovation leads Guerrero to experiment. As Julia Pérez says ("the excess of rules is inversely proportional to creativity: this is why he breaks all the rules and dares to apply new ones to fine dining".