DiscoverEAT: The New Gastronomic Luxury Travels Off the Beaten Path

Can a vineyard or an olive grove spark the same interest as a cathedral? This question was posed by chefs, producers, tourism agents, and expert gastronomic communicators gathered this week in Castilla-La Mancha to participate in DiscoverEAT. The congress brought together figures like Virgilio Martínez, Nacho Manzano, Pedro Sánchez, Nacho Solana, and David Yárnoz to explore the connections between identity, territory, and cuisine. A clear conclusion emerged: luxury is changing its form. It no longer requires exclusive products or a spectacular setting; it smells of the countryside, tastes of aged cheese, and resonates with the silence of a centuries-old winery.

Gastronomy is no longer seen as a travel complement; it has become its driving force. Eight out of ten people choose their destination based on food, according to the Pangea agency. In this choice, rural areas are gaining ground. There is an audience that flees from the masses, seeking not the same photo repeated a million times, but an unrepeatable experience. Chef Pedro Sánchez, from the Bagá restaurant in Jaén, expressed it bluntly at the inaugural session: "Is La Boquería gastronomic tourism or terrorism against gastronomy?" His establishment, opened in 2017 with just a dozen seats, is now one of the most valued gastronomic destinations in Europe. "In Jaén, we don't have the Mezquita or the Alhambra, and perhaps that has helped us. The hospitality that springs up around major monuments does not always respect the visitor."

This respect for the tourist—and for oneself—means not betraying the territory. Chefs like Nacho Manzano and David Yárnoz know this well, having bet on gastronomic creativity in remote villages, turning them into destinations. Yárnoz took a risk by opening a contemporary space within his family restaurant in Navarra, "it wasn't easy, there was a difficult period when we thought about moving to a city, but we persevered. Perseverance is key to achieving goals." Today he has two stars and has replicated his model in Taiwan. Manzano, for his part, recalled his trip to Las Pedroñeras to visit Las Rejas back in the 90s. "It was revealing. You could do auteur cuisine in the middle of nowhere." His career has been recognized this year with a third Michelin star, "it's an honor to wear it in the house where I was born."

Both projects, like many others discussed at DiscoverEAT, share a common denominator: family. Restaurants built with the clan as the nucleus, without artifice, have ended up creating a small economy around them. In the Cantabrian valley of Alto Asón, chefs like Nacho Solana and David Pérez are raising the bar. The livestock wealth provides them with meats, cheeses, or butters, complemented by their proximity to the sea. "For the region, having two such powerful chefs in such a small area is a fortune that greatly helps attract visitors," acknowledged Jesús Ochoa, president of the Alto Nason Commonwealth. Their presence also encourages other hoteliers in the region to step up, creating an attractive gastronomic destination.

The forum provided several examples of international success, from Peru's Cuzco to Napa Valley, passing through Tuscany. Virgilio Martínez spoke of MIL, a restaurant and gastronomic research center located at 4,000 meters altitude where more than 300 Andean families collaborate. Reaching there involves a tortuous journey and a battle against altitude sickness, yet its tables are always full. "People want to connect with nature, and there we can show them things they couldn't see in our restaurant in the Barranco neighborhood of Lima." The project's motto sums it up well: "There is more outside." An invitation for customers to explore the gastronomic beyond the table and a call for chefs to lift their heads from the chopping board and make use of what they have around them. From California, Lindsey Gallagher reviewed the history of a region that in 1968 became the first protected agricultural landscape in the United States. While in neighboring areas the land has lost its identity to become luxury residential neighborhoods, in Napa, that protection has allowed family wineries to survive and a high-level gastronomic scene to flourish around them. Closer to home, in Rioja, Santiago Vivanco called to avoid overcrowding that diminishes the visitor's experience: "We had up to 160,000 visitors, but many people left dissatisfied. Now, with 80,000, everyone leaves happy." His museum does not revolve around his own winery or even La Rioja, but around wine as a cultural narrative. Other examples like Pago de La Jaraba or Familia Fernández Rivera agree: more countryside, more closeness, less overcrowding.

Overcrowding sometimes fueled by our obsession with lists, like those promoted by the Taste Atlas phenomenon, with millions of followers on social media and viral rankings of the world's most appreciated dishes. Its founder argues that local gastronomy can compete for media attention with haute cuisine if communicated well. "Most tourists in San Sebastián aren't looking to eat at Arzak, but to try the cheesecake," he provocatively states. The truth is that social media is changing the way people approach restaurants. Today, Google Maps is a showcase with 2 billion users a month. Many rural businesses ignore it or don't bother to include correct data, even though it's a free and valuable tool. However, "you have to start by building the business well, then attract attention. And be clear about who you want to tell your story," recommended Samuel Moreno, chef of El Molino de Alcuneza.

The final word came from Benjamín Lana, general director of Vocento Gastronomía, the forum's promoter alongside the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha. "The most important landscape of this land is not the windmills; it's its human landscape." Against the risk of turning the rural into a set—the Saint Emilion effect, he called it—he urged to avoid both museification and gentrification. "To preserve the authenticity of the villages, people must live here who can tell the product's story and move those who arrive."