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Dylan Watson-Brawn, during his presentation at Madrid Fusion Alimentos de España. Rodrigo Díaz
Ernst, a New Restaurant Every Morning

Ernst, a New Restaurant Every Morning

Dylan Watson-Brawn crafted a 40-dish menu daily for his momentary diners

Fernando Morales

Miércoles, 29 de enero 2025, 12:51

Every day was like opening a new restaurant. The menu was reinvented daily, and diners were direct witnesses to the preparation process of the dishes. At Ernst, Dylan Watson-Brawn's restaurant, the menu was crafted based on the morning's available products. And it wasn't a simple one. It consisted of about 40 dishes, to be enjoyed over two and a half hours, prepared right in front of the diners. A maximum of nine people per day sat at a Japanese counter in Berlin.

Although the dishes were very simple—composed of one or, at most, two ingredients served at the right temperature and texture—the preparation was very complex, as the chef explained during Madrid Fusion Alimentos de España. In this restaurant, which remained open until last year, the dishes encompassed techniques to truly enjoy the quality of the product, something to which they had dedicated great efforts.

Moreover, the chef recounts, in Berlin, "a very unique city due to its history and lack of history regarding its gastronomy." The German city was culturally divided, and when Dylan arrived in Berlin, he realized the capital lacked a cultural identity compared to other European cities. This allowed them to start from scratch. They collaborated with a network of farmers who had arrived in Berlin in the 1990s, enabling them to revitalize Berlin's primary sector without a refrigerator in the restaurant.

In this peculiar restaurant, there was only one dish, or bite as they called it, that never left the menu. It was the Dashi, an element used to enhance the flavors of the ingredients they used. A technique that allowed them to showcase the complex nature of quality ingredients.

However, their way of cooking, minute by minute, opened the doors to play with the texture and temperature of each preparation, thus enhancing the natural flavors of each ingredient. Despite the overwhelming pace, with a two-minute interval between dishes, presentation became increasingly important. They sought plating techniques that paid homage to the products, creating natural and intuitive dishes for the diners. "Customers connected very personally with what they were eating at each moment," the chef notes.

From the Garden to the Table

From a product that was previously wasted by the ton, chef Miguel Ángel de la Cruz has built La Botica de Matapozuelos, a restaurant in Valladolid founded on the principle of using local products. A movement that seemed to occur only in Denmark but was developed by this Castilian-Leonese in Spain, without much publicity. He went to the field and harvested. Until he became a foraging chef.

His vocation is clear; his father is a chef, and he spent his childhood close to the stoves. He is a chef who follows his instincts more than trends or fashions. His priority is to capture in his dishes the landscapes surrounding his environment. In this quest to find nature on the plate, Miguel Ángel has become a foraging chef, discovering new ingredients in acorns, pine cones, herbs, or whatever the Valladolid countryside offers him.

One of the dishes prepared by the chef. Rodrigo Díaz

Thus, one of the products he works with most is the mushroom stem, an element previously discarded and now part of a tasting menu. A product also served with a cream suitable for people suffering from dysphasia, thanks to the texture it is served with on the plate.

A sauce that has won an award and is not the only thing cooked in this restaurant that gives vegetables a new life, or a different life. They left behind hydrating them for use in a stew and became interested in the components within them. Thus, by extracting it in an artisanal way, he liquefies dry chickpeas, obtaining a juice with part of the water used to hydrate the chickpea, which carries all the starch. From this, they make an emulsion and achieve a chickpea cream accompanied by mushrooms. But it doesn't stop there. For dessert, they also include legumes, with the legumes from their land. He believes that a chef should always look to the local environment but also to the culture and history of the place where they work. This is why the history of vegetables also leads them to that sweet moment after a good meal. And so the menu ends, with a dessert based on legumes and mushrooms. Products from the land from start to finish.

Deep in Catalan Cuisine

As Jordi Vilà, Chef at Alkimia* (Barcelona), says, when one looks out to the sea, they see crystal-clear water, but when delving deeper, everything happens differently. This is what he tries to convey in his cooking. He does not consider Catalan cuisine to be limited by the geographical division of the autonomous communities, which is why he tries to delve into its roots and the Catalan recipe book to create his dishes. In other words, he keeps his hands, body, and heart in the same place so that ideas can flow.

Jordi Vilà, during his presentation. Rodrigo Díaz

To the criticism that he does not cook traditional food, he responds that it is "relative." "I have always done things that emanated from feeling," he assured during his presentation at Madrid Fusion Alimentos de España, a chef who denies going to Italy to eat a hamburger. "One must value the culture of each place," concluded a chef who defends the unique DNA of each restaurant. "It is beautiful to be able to identify a restaurant by its flavors."

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