Miguel de la Cruz

crediti: Brambilla - Serrani

crediti: Brambilla - Serrani

La Botica de Matapozuelos

Plaza Mayor, 2
Matapozuelos - Valladolid
t: +34.983.832942
laboticareservas@gmail.com 

There are no super-awarded restaurants in his cv (he worked at Mesón El Jamón Ibérico in Valladolid, Sunwing Resort Puerto de Alcudia in Palma de Mallorca, Parador Nacional, Hostería Ayala Berganza and La Oficina, all in Segovia…), but one could also say that Miguel Ángel de la Cruz never had the need for those: professionally he’s the son of his territory and – both professionally and legally – of his father Teodoro, a man who for 40 years has been cooking whole quarters of lamb in his wood oven. A great asador, in other words. And Miguel is his deserving son. But with a completely different approach: vegetal cuisine, mostly.

The list of awards, lessons and congresses in which he participated is endless. Because even though he’s no longer that young – he was born in 1976 – he’s considered one of Spain’s emerging, in fact already emerged, chefs, praised most of all because he adds to the cooking techniques he commands the uniqueness of a style rooted in the depths of Castile, where his (and Teodoro’s) La Botica de Matapozuelos is located, inside the homonymous village in the province of Valladolid, 10 thousand people at over 700 metres above the sea level.

We’re in the middle of the Iberian meseta: a classic barren landscape, though at the edge of Matapozuelos, on the road to Segovia, the steppe’s landscape leaves way to large forests, which are the hunting terrain for de la Cruz. Not that – as we mentioned – the chef is a meat fanatic: in fact his cuisine has a strong vegetarian profile. His signature ingredients are mushrooms, aromatic herbs and pinecones.

«He’s a chef of great talent, he has technique and instinct. In his dishes contrasts and interesting colours converge; there are no fats, and he never mistakes the cooking time», wrote José Carlos Capel. All true, his creations impress thanks to their harmony, modernity and elegance, it’s almost a generational confrontation with the rustic asada meat made by his father. Everything is beautiful, everything is good, even the wines selected by Alberto, Miguel’s youngest brother.

Has participated in

Identità Milano


by

Carlo Passera

journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief