These days,

Toño Pérez

(1961) from Cáceres has not stopped receiving congratulations.

The International Academy of Gastronomy has awarded him one of its highest awards, the

Grand Prix de l'Art de la Cuisine

, ex aequo with the French Guy Savoy, the Italian Antonia Klugman and the Belgian Peter Goossens.

Despite his almost 60 years and the accolades he has accumulated - a benchmark in avant-garde Extremadura cuisine or the two Michelin stars of Atrio, his hotel restaurant in the historic center of Cáceres - the award causes him to

blush

.

"Above all, when you share it with one of the greats of France, such as

Guy Savoy,

a chef I have always followed and watched. Or when you are among those Spaniards who have received him as Santi [Santamaría] who has been a very good friend. ours, Ferran [Adrià], Joan [Roca] ... ", he acknowledges.

An award for

a lifetime dedicated to cooking

.

"I'm about to retire," he jokes.

"No, please, I don't know how to do anything else," he quickly rectifies.

"It is a very important award,

for the city, for the territory

, for the gastronomy of an area. And, of course, for all the human part behind our house:

the team

, the

suppliers

and the

clients

that make it possible our work and that they travel with us. "

A journey that Toño and

José Polo, the two souls of Atrio

, began when they were 22 years old.

"

We left home and started a restaurant

, imagine."

And they distributed the work: "One to the kitchen and another to the living room. And, since you are young and intrepid, you get in there and begin to discover all the benefits and

wonders

of this profession: the service, the living room, the cellar, the kitchen ... ", revives.

It was then that he thought about being a cook - he, who was going to Fine Arts - and training.

"During the first years of Atrio [it was inaugurated in 1986] I did

internships or stages

in the houses that could 'tell you things' ... I went, came, worked".

And, in the meantime, he was trapped "by this beautiful world."

The chef in the kitchen.

Who were his teachers? I always remember Tomás Herranz, from El Cenador del Prado, now closed.

He had come from New York and we were just starting out.

It was the time of El Amparo, Zalacain ..., of the great restaurants of the late 80s, and Tomás came up with all those revolutionary ideas.

He was the first to remove food from a plate, he was inspired by travel ... I learned a lot.

I worked with Arzak and also in Jockey, I spent a summer with Ferran at El Bulli ... I represented Spain in the Bocuse d'Or contest and, to prepare myself, I went to see what was happening outside of our country, I was in a three-star in Brussels.

For a time, we traveled a lot in Southeast Asia;

Now all this fusion cuisine is something close, but in those days it was not, and those trips served as inspiration and learning. What is your cuisine like, as well as enjoying and referring to avant-garde Extremadura cuisine? make a friendly kitchen, deeply rooted in how we Extremadura, how we eat, how we live and counted on that wonderful pantry that we have.

For example, those bundles of wild wild asparagus in which you perceive everything behind: the exits to find them;

the sun they need;

the territory, because when you eat them you taste a little of our fields, with that wonderful slightly bitter touch.

And then there's how you present them, how you express them, how you pamper them.

All this connects people with a territory. Avoid the word chef and usually refer to himself as kitchens, why? The chef seems very important to me and, in the end, we never stop learning, from customers, of a trip, of life itself.

The kitchen thing is because I am an eternal apprentice who never stops investigating, working, trying things.

For example, a housewife told me a trick for a stew that I thought was great.

Or the other day, in Las Hurdes, in the north of Extremadura, I tried a kind of salad that they make with orange, olive oil, chorizo ​​and fried egg, subsistence things, and it was delicious.

Then, I started looking and found that the orange salad already appeared in the classic cookbooks ...

The restaurant.

In one of the worst moments for world restaurants, they have renewed the second Michelin star, although there was talk of the third, but in the end it did not fall ... I always say that we will dance where we touch.

The important thing is to work, cook for clients and not obsess over these things.

We are in wonderful but complicated territory.

With the perimeter closure we have worked with local and regional clientele and I feel very proud, for how we have all changed, for how we have connected with people.

Even though we have some tricky bites, I also play at cooking with recognizable flavors and memories.

There are customers who, with tears, have told me that their mother, their grandmother have come to their memory ... It is precious when, through a bite, you are able to stir feelings, emotions. Better than any star? Of course, ha ha ha.

The truth is that when this happens we are happy, because we feel that the experience we offer is perfect.

Norway lobster with an Iberian mask, one of its emblematic dishes.

Despite what is falling, Toño and José do not shy away from projects.

In addition to continuing with

Casa Paredes

, the

luxury hotel

they are building in a historic palace in Cáceres that they have rehabilitated, in December they opened

Torre de Sande

, a space adjacent to the mother house with a beautiful

patio

, where they bet on

casual

.

"We have put a Josper grill and we serve

products with little manipulation

. A nearby kitchen, some stew, like the

chickpea with squid

that I am making. I have been a stew here since 6 in the morning," he says happily.

And it is that cooking is a

balm

that appeases -for a while- even the

uncertainties

that the pandemic brings.

"We have lived pending the now I open you and now I close you ... I think that the health authorities

have made a mistake with the hospitality industry, it is my feeling

, because in some way they have made us responsible for the Covid. I understand that we are spaces where people socialize, but they have imposed a tremendous punishment on us and, unfortunately, many colleagues have not been able to endure. It is very hard, we are

70 people

and you don't know how difficult it is. "

Even so,

Toño is optimistic

: "I hope everything will pass and see if the vaccine gives us a little

respite

and we can normalize ourselves."

The restaurant has one of the most complete wineries in the world.

Have you learned anything from the pandemic? Yes.

With the pandemic I have learned that just nonsense.

The great lesson that he is leaving us is that we must enjoy every minute we have.

We have lost dear people.

How do you see the future? I see it well.

I say that those of us who are older have the obligation to do beautiful things, share them and enjoy them, it takes away sleep ... Things related to personal issues, that my children are well, that our team also, because in the end they are like the family.Do you regret anything?

Everything reports good things, I enjoy everything, a dish that identifies you, all those wonderful parts of the Iberico.

The crayfish with an Iberian mask is a historical one of our house, it has been with us for 30 years.

It speaks of our personality, of our way of understanding the kitchen.

Hotel-restaurant facilities, located in the historic center of Cáceres.

And there we leave him, as a stew in Torre de Sande, with his chickpea stew with squid, spinach and oloroso, and controlling the melting point of the sugar in some candies.

"There are few things that can amuse me more now."

Atrium Restaurant Hotel.

Plaza San Mateo, 1 (Cáceres).

Telephone: 927 24 29 28. Closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Price of the gastronomic experience: 185 euros, separate winery.

Sande tower.

Condes, 3 (Cáceres).

Telephone: 927 16 49 94. It does not close.

Average price: 40-60 euros.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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