The chefs of Cañitas Maite take their cuisine of essence and product to Cebo, the Michelin star of Urban that reopens today in Madrid

From the outside their careers could not seem more meteoric: in three years the

of recent times, they have opened new concepts and have landed in Madrid

with its unique proposal based on the product and the essence.

But from inside,

"When you work seven days a week, 20 hours a day and you barely have a day off to see what's around you, you don't realize how fast everything happens.

down because you live from day to day .

day with a lot of intensity. For me, three years have been like six... Even so, we are aware that everything has gone very fast and we have been very lucky", explains Javier.

Luck that for these two very young chefs - who have revolutionized cooking

- has more to do with "working and thinking" than with chance.

Because Javi and Juan, always friends,

and they've been working on it for a decade.

They trained at the Toledo School of Hospitality (Javi) and at the Toledo Labor University (Juan) -"with those teachers who teach you from scratch and who know how to be patient", admits Javi- and then went through high-end restaurants such as

.

from left

From left to right: Juan Sahuquillo, Borja García (head chef) and Javier Sanz.

At the end of 2019, both returned home to transform the proposal of Cañitas Maite, the hotel-restaurant of Javi's family, into gastronomy.

"It was little by little and in a superlogical way, since at the same time the menu of the day coexisted with more modern and gourmet proposals. When you come from such big places

but we are not from jump into the pool on the first day," says Javi.

2022 arrived and

(the gastronomic restaurant close to the native territory) and now they land in style in the capital.

In between,

that gave them "time to think, to know what we wanted, to analyse", acknowledges Javi and the awards (

, Best croquette in the world and Best marinade, all at Madrid Fusión 2021).

That was yesterday, because today what happens, with the tension and emotion typical of an opening,

that Aurelio Morales left a few months ago and with which he obtained a Michelin star.

Part of the team from Cañitas Maite in the Cebo dining room.

Javi and Juan take on the challenge "with the utmost respect, humility and enthusiasm.

. We've been through a lot and, in the end, everything works out. with a lot of respect, because there are very good colleagues here and Madrid is, together with Copenhagen, the European capital of gastronomy. But

, "says Javi that insists on its fetish word.

So far seven members of the La Mancha group have arrived: Borja García, head chef and in charge of transmitting the philosophy

of Cañitas Maite

and five other people in the kitchen.

"Everyone is committed to our project, which they feel is theirs.

," she details.

-What do you want to achieve, the star?

-Slowly.

We don't know what will happen, if the Michelin Guide will keep it or not.

.

If it continues,

.

If not the first year, the second or the third, but always with the aim of doing things very well, beautifully, taking care of all the details.

When you do it like this, the reward comes by itself.

Work cow sirloin and halophiles, one of the new Madrid Michelin star dishes.

How is the proposal that you have created for Cebo?, they will ask.

Well

.

"We share many fetish products from our parent company, suppliers and ideas. But here we can allow ourselves with the great dining room team that we have [at the Urban] and the capacity of the restaurant to take it to a more

, more formal point, with more care. First class raw material -the best of the best- treated with

", continues Javi.

Juan insists: "The concept is inspired by a kitchen stripped of artifice and expressed with the best products of the moment.

".

Both are for "touching the product a little and accompanying it very well", and also for being grateful.

That is why for the disembarkation in the capital they have used suppliers with whom they have been working for years.

"

and those who, when you open in Madrid, you tell them to come with you: with whom we work fish, poultry, cow... Those small producers with whom we deal more closely, more like family," says Javi.

Baby squid and pickled white beetroot, one of the star recipes on the tasting menu.

The proposal revolves around two tasting menus

-which 22 diners can enjoy- "where each dish tells a story: that of its suppliers, ours, that of work," says Javi.

(11 steps and 110 euros, drinks aside);

for the long one (14 passes, 135 euros, drinks apart) we will have to wait until November.

are not lacking

, such as its famous croquette or the matured carabinero, which here is more gourmet and is finished in the dining room.

"We can share the product, but

For example, at Casas Ibáñez we make a hook squid that Roberto from

sends us, which

we go through the grill and accompany with a

stew .

While in Cebo we make a more complex dish, a white one, with the squid raised raw,

, a pâté from its interiors... Spicy and very rich.

Very careful, subtle and with a lot of technique", adds Javi. More dishes: Andean horn tomato, cigala de la ría, hooked squid, working cow, Ortolans quail, smoked caviar...

The landing has begun in the dining room of the Urban hotel, but

supporting the current team to improve and implement the offer of events, terrace... The objective is to strengthen and grow. Add ", explained last Thursday

, during the presentation of the new Cebo.

from left

From left to right: Borja, Javier and Juan in the completely renovated kitchens at Cebo.

-When you were 16 you decided to study cooking, did you imagine what is happening today?

We have always dreamed of this.

In that sense we are ambitious and we always want a little more.

.

We have felt admiration for other chefs who do super cool things, but we also want to go where others have gone.

.

We have to be realistic, we can't want three Michelin stars at the age of 25, but we can consolidate our business, open a restaurant, get to Madrid...

With that small dream, that work and that having a head ("

") Javi Sanz and Juan Sauquillo have achieved the not American dream but the from La Mancha

Cebo (Hotel Urban) Carrera de San Jerónimo, 34.

Telephone: 91 787 77 80. Closed Sunday and Monday.

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