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Juanlu Fernández, chef at Lú Cocina Alma; Albert Adrià, chef at Enigma; and Cristina Jolonch, gastronomic journalist. Edu Martín
The Tasting Menu: A Timeless Gastronomic Proposal

The Tasting Menu: A Timeless Gastronomic Proposal

This type of cuisine, which runs parallel to creative cooking, faces the challenge of time and the limited flexibility available to diners when choosing what they want to eat.

Fernando Morales

Lunes, 27 de enero 2025, 14:51

“There are wonderful tasting menus and others that are soporific, but in no case should they be condemned. Instead, we must find a formula so that these menus are not destined to die.” This was the conclusion reached by Juanlu Fernández, chef at Lú Cocina Alma; Albert Adrià, chef at Enigma; and Cristina Jolonch, gastronomic journalist, during the round table at Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España titled 'Has the Tasting Menu Died? Are We Returning to the À La Carte Menu?' presented by Manuel Villanueva, content director at Mediaset. During the discussion, it was highlighted that many customers avoid tasting menus because they are relegated to the role of "mere spectators." They agreed that while a tasting menu is a chef's manifesto of identity, it does pose a time issue for the customer, who, according to Adrià, is the one in charge. “Some customers take it as an experience that they extend indefinitely, while others eat in half an hour.” Thus, although this type of gastronomy is considered "a necessary evil," the virtue lies in being able to give the customer what they want.

This form of gastronomy, which in recent years seems to have been condemned to death, boasts some of the best tasting menus in the world in Spain, partly due to the proposals made by Spanish chefs in each of their restaurants. This type of cuisine runs parallel to creative cooking and allows the restaurant to have a "solid" proposal that creates a different language and an alternative experience to the classic menu. Moreover, they believe that a menu of this nature, composed of numerous gastronomic proposals, allows for dishes that would be impossible to include in a traditional menu.

However, despite defending the need for such proposals, where the chef dictates the beginning and end of the customer's experience and where diners are not afforded the freedom often sought by consumers to choose what they want to eat, chefs who work with tasting menus believe this cannot be the only way to understand signature cuisine. Especially in the current moment, where those who are not vegetarian often have some form of intolerance or allergy, obliging them to offer more than one tasting menu in their repertoire.

In the creation of the tasting menu, according to Fernández, it is important to have bridging dishes that make the experience fluid and allow for transitions with dishes that require more delicate preparation. This configuration is one they are always innovating, though always bearing in mind that star or emblematic dishes are very difficult to remove, especially considering that many customers visit these types of restaurants to experience, to enjoy, as one might say, a gastronomic feast that enhances the diner's happiness with a unique and distinctive proposal.

This does not mean, the chefs continued, that such proposals cannot include hard bread or bread with oil. “A chef is, after all, a spokesperson for the culture of the land,” affirmed the Andalusian chef before concluding a presentation that called for open-mindedness and finding a way to continue offering tasting menus in a country where, thanks to the variety of proposals, "we eat better than ever today."

The Networks in the Kitchen

It is on social media where many chefs and restaurants showcase their gastronomic proposals, a new form of communication that, while massive—and not all chefs have jumped on the bandwagon—does not mean anything goes. “Social media must be cared for and must be very genuine, like the kitchen,” summarized Mario XXX, at the table 'Word of Mouth, Media, Social Networks, and Gastronomy: Who Fills the Restaurants?', where the 'feedback' provided to chefs by having a presence on social media was highlighted, allowing "democratization" of access to communication for small restaurants, thus giving them a new opportunity to be known.

Even so, with the proliferation of social networks, the profile of the 'influencer' emerged, a figure who does not always know the gastronomic world despite their publications reaching thousands of followers. This is why, for Verónica, the role of the influencer cannot replace that of the gastronomic critic. “We whet the appetite, because in a one-minute video I cannot tell you all the details of a restaurant, but I can encourage you to go or read more in-depth about a restaurant.”

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