Ricard Camarena

crediti: Brambilla - Serrani

crediti: Brambilla - Serrani

Ricard Camarena Restaurant

Bomba Gens Centre d’Art
avenida de Burjassot, 54
Valencia
Spain
T. +34.963.355418

Ricard Camarena was born and raised in Barx, a small mountain village an hour’s drive from Valencia, the city that was to offer him glory. Yet, as he told us himself, one needs to wait for 2009 for him to settle in the lively and laid-back seaside town. First, he stood out with Arrop in Gandia, new entry in 2006 for those at Madrid Fusión.

«His soundness as a chef, his commitment, his coherence, his talent are well known to those who were lucky enough to follow Camarena’s trajectory from the start», wrote on our pages Spanish critic Josè Carlos Capel, «when he began to innovate the popular Valencian recipe selection. Because there are few chefs in the world who are capable of creating a culinary world of their own, with different flavours, supported by their own rules and style, with dishes that don’t look like those of anyone else». A Michelin star immediately rests on Arrop in Valencia.

Yet it’s time to think big: in 2012 the young man closes Arrop and in July opens Ricard Camarena in the Ruzafa neighbourhood (on June 2017 he moved to the Bomba Gens Centre d’Art). Three months later there’s already a star, once again, it’s basically a record. «It’s from this point onwards», again we quote Capel, «that the young man rises to the role of defender of the new Spanish avantgarde, together with David Muñoz, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Ángel León, Josean Alija, Paco Morales and few others. All interpreters of the new culinary paradigm, far away from El Bulli’s path».

«Camarena’s cuisine is, without appearing so, extremely technical. It is based on a repertoire with a complex background which, translated into creams, broths, infusions, marinades or seasonings, becomes the common link between the ingredients. All these dishes are formed by a maximum of 10-12 elaborations, but at the same time appear simple». He multiplies these models behind numerous other establishments: Canalla Bistro (the eclectic offer); Central Bar in the Mercado Central in Valencia (a bar with local products), Ricard Camarena Colón (a space for events); Habitual (Mediterranean comfort food) and Ricard Camarena Lab, (a centre for culinary experiments and training).

Has participated in

Identità Milano


by

Gabriele Zanatta

born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. 
twitter @gabrielezanatt
instagram @gabrielezanatt