Sergio Bastard

 Credits Brambilla-Serrani

 Credits Brambilla-Serrani

Casona del Judío

Casona del Judío
calle Repuente, 20
Santander (Cantabria)
Spain
+34.670.953327

«This recipe tries to break with the establecido», and as he explains the dish his eyes light up, for at least three reasons: first, breaking the mould is one of the goals of his cuisine; second, he’s passionate about what he does; third, he loves communicating. After all, he doesn’t lack oratory, he was meant to be a lawyer – studied in Valladolid, though he’s Catalan, from Barcelona – but he’s now considered one of the promises in the cocina española.

Sergio Bastard, born 1979, is young yet no longer very young, at least for Iberian standards. So critics don’t waste time, and recognise him as one of the stars of the future, they fill him with awards, of which he’s proud. He was the “mejor cocinero revelación” in 2010 according to Madrid Fusión, the congress directed by José Carlos Capel, perhaps the most authoritative food and wine journalist over here, who places Bastard among los que no perder de vista, a chef to keep an eye on. Pepe Barrena ventures famous comparisons («His cuisine can be placed, as for philosophy, between those of Andoni Aduriz or Paco Morales», though in our opinion he also recalls Alija) and locates the turning point in his still short career in the even shorter “Navarra period”.

After lots of Pais Vasco where he learnt the job – among all the stars, the one of his time with Arzak shines the most – Bastard accepted to run the kitchen inside the Palacio Dos Olivos hotel, a building from the 15th century, lost in the Navarra countryside. Barrena writes: «Over there he managed to register his exuberant creativity, his admirable sensitivity, his capacity to create a harmony among the different components of a each dish. He found tranquillity, a thoroughly luxurious setting, close-by orchards and a garden from which he gets vegetables, flowers and edible leaves».

This is his area of research: Bastard is the forbearer of a naturaleza vegetal in which sea and earth vegetables meet with roots, leaves, flowers, and with the herbs from the Cantabria coast where he moved in 2013, to Santander, into a 19th century building that looks as though it came out of a painting by Hopper.

See also
Bastard talent

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