From Savona to the court of Eneko

My experience at Azurmendi began in January 2013. The process was the usual one: it all started with the classic two-month internship. My goal was to finally experience in person what happens in the Basque Country. It was my first time in Spain. As Italians, we’re fascinated by it; besides, this is a very peculiar area (in fact they feel it is a nation): the Basque Country is the heart of gastronomy, just think of some names and your imagination will fly high: Martin Berasategui, Juan Mari Arzak, Hilario Arbelaitz, Pedro Subijana, Josean Alija… Eneko Atxa of course! And a thousand more “celebrities” who rotate around an incredible reality. What’s astonishing is that they are all connected to each other by a unique thread, that is to say Basque culture, which drives them to act as a team, to move close together. Euskal Herria above all: they are united by the idea of preserving flavours, traditions, memories... However, besides this they also express an incredible desire not to stop in the past, not to freeze, but to project a heritage that is very dear to them into the future; in other words, they want to innovate, to amaze the world, to show that they are one step ahead, always. They want to be fresh, modern.

It is not by chance that, as soon as I arrived, for sure what struck me enormously was the average age of those working at Azur (as we usually call it), and not only in the kitchen but in all the departments, from the shop to the winery, to the marketing office, to the dining room up to the guys who are in charge of the gardens, the vineyards and the vegetable garden. In other words: when living here you realise how much they really want to invest in the future, in practice, not just in theory.

I remember my first days at Larrabetzu, the village where Azur is located. I arrived here wanting to do well, I was eager to put myself to the test. Nobody knew me, nobody knew anything about my arrival. You don’t need to know anyone or to have any backing, they are willing to put you to the test, without beating about the bush and without any useless promise. I got to this huge building and saw the kitchen... It’s unbelievable! It’s like a Ferrari: immense, fascinating. I got to work. They gave me the opportunity to prove my worth, to feel the roar of that Ferrari, to as a part of this almost perfect car.

Two years have passed and I’m still here. Little over one year ago, after two months of internship and five as chef de partie plus countless fantastic services (for me they were like the finals in the Champions League) they handed me the very keys to this Ferrari! The question was always the same one, just like in the beginning: «Would you like to try?». This time, however, they offered me to become Eneko’s sous chef… I have never hanged back, and I didn’t do it this time either.

Today, if I think of when I arrived from Savona with my knives and my suitcase, I realise how many steps I’ve made and the thing that I find most stimulating is that Azur is growing together with me and all those who are a part of it. Eneko is a chef who gets you involved and makes you a central part of his dream. He never stops, I like to define him as a sort of human search engine. Beside him, you can feel the strength of this country. Should I describe in one word what is happening at Azurmendi these years, I’d certainly choose “revolution”. Of course it is a managed revolution, it is controlled by Eneko’s genius, as in seven years he has built all that this restaurant is today. We’re undergoing a continuous change, each month spent here has the intensity of a year, every day we are committed in developing three goals: research, the foundation for everything; tradition, our strongpoint; and finally the environment, another flagship of ours. This is very likely to be what Azurmendi is today.

The road we still have to take is certainly very long, but the dream is becoming real; and it doesn’t belong to a single person but to all of us. Us, the Azurmendi family.