Samy Alí, the chef who 'parked' his Michelin star to open a stall in a market

• Doppelgänger offers bites with a mix of textures, flavors and cultures

• The son of a Madrilenian and a Sudanese, he was clear that his was cooking in the 3rd year of EGB

• "My self-esteem and my happiness cannot depend on something other than me"

Samy Alí is a peculiar cook.

In "3º de EGB" he found out where his place was in the world, when his friend Mariví told him that he had to try fried milk, that "it was to die for", and he came home and started making it.

"I have always liked to eat and I have been curious," he says sitting in the doorway of the Antón Martín Market.

This is where Doppelgänger opened this summer, a position where labels are not welcome.

"People often don't know how to define my cuisine and that's what I like".

Likes to do things that others don't.

"I mix flavors, textures and cultures," he sums up.

And how.

Roll with legs, snout and tendons of veal and kimchi leaf.

It's Tuesday and at the tables there is a shift change.

"We have one at 1.30pm and another at 3.00pm."

Thirteen diners in each of them -there are two other services at night-.

Word of mouth has given him the best promotion yet.

"

."

Many of the customers who pass through here know him from his time at La Candela Restó, where he achieved the Michelin star in 2017, three years after opening, and which he resigned in 2018 after closing the restaurant.

"It was a gastronomic format that I had not chosen."

You are clear about what you want, but perhaps even more about what you do not want.

"My self-esteem and my happiness cannot depend on something other than me.

."

After closing his gastronomic, he devoted himself to traveling and reading.

"I already had my eye on the market stall."

Five people work with him, most of them colleagues from the previous project.

"My team is essential."

Pork meatloaf with a bittersweet touch.

As Samy talks, he plates one of his hits, the

, his grilled banana with Japanese curry.

Dishes are collected on a front wall;

the

of shrimp from Huelva,

with legs, snout and veal tendons wrapped in kimchi leaf, the ensaimada and

with sake and white chocolate filling are the essentials on the menu, an authentic explosion of flavors without frills.

They also make their own kombucha sodas.

With a Madrid mother and a Sudanese father, he studied at the Majadahonda Hospitality School.

"One of those summers, I think it was the year 2000,

to work. I knew that people ate very well there and little else. Iñaki Izaguirre picked up the phone and I went to Irún. He taught me a lot, "he recalls.

He was also tanned in London, where "they put into his head how good the Michelin stars were."

Grilled donut filled with white chocolate.

For years he thought about it, until that gala in Tenerife in 2017 they gave it to him.

"It just meant recognition and more work."

And that did not convince him.

"

."

You already think about mounting other things.

They have tempted him to go to Singapore, but the origins are thrown at him.

"I would like to open a joint in Sudan with my cousins."

His team says - when he disappears for a moment - with whom he insists on posing for the photo, that he is "self-demanding, very professional, maniacal, conscientious and affectionate."

At 38, he is convinced that things can be done differently.

"

."

He is certainly a somewhat peculiar chef.

Doppelgänger

.

Antón Martín Market, first floor.

Santa Isabel, 5. Open from Tuesday to Saturday.

Samy Alí, with his team.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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