One more year, the American businessman Steven Plotnicki has achieved a milestone in our country from the gastronomic point of view. And it is to bring together the most prestigious chefs in Spain to cook an exclusive dinner with some of their most iconic dishes. According to him, it didn't cost him much, as 95% of the cooks he contacted confirmed their attendance immediately. The reason?, the presentation of the expected list of The Best Restaurants in Europe in 2023 according to Opinionated About Dining (OAD), the emerging gastronomic guide that he created ten years ago and that is increasingly consolidated as a reference when it comes to distinguishing the best tables on the continent.

The dinner, which will take place on June 12 in June at Taller de Bombas, the event space of the Madrid restaurant Desde 1911 (Vivero, 3), will feature a menu of ten passes prepared by 18 hands by chefs Eneko Atxa (Azurmendi, Vizcaya), Paco Morales (Noor, Córdoba), Hugo Muñoz (Ugo Chan, Madrid), Massimiliano Delle Vedove (Smoked Room, Madrid), Nacho Manzano (Casa Marcial, Asturias), Quique Dacosta (Quique Dacosta Restaurante, Denia, Alicante), Diego Murciego (Desde 1911, Madrid), Rafa Zafra (Estimar, Madrid and Barcelona) and Alberto Aguado (OPazo, Madrid). Each of the nine chefs will present their most emblematic dish, such as hake kokotxas al pilpil from Atxa, shrimp from Denia by Quique Dacosta or fabes with cod tripe from Nacho Manzano, while the Lhardy restaurant will do the same with its famous dessert soufflé.

Pump Workshop.

Under the theme The magnificent fish and seafood of Spain, it is open to the public, although there are only 200 places, includes a pairing based on select wines and costs 350 euros per person (reservations are made through the guide's website). At press time, there were still some entries left.

From blog to prestigious gastronomic guide

But who is Steven Plotnicki and why has he organized this event that has created a great expectation among food lovers? A great fan of good cuisine, this musician born in Brooklyn (New York) created in 2003 a blog called Opinionated About Dining (OAD), in which he shared his gastronomic experiences online. Due to the success and large number of readers, in 2007 he carried out a survey among his followers in which they recommended which were their favorite restaurants. Since then, the results of up to 13 polls with the votes of some 7,500 accredited collaborators on more than 6,000 establishments around the world are published every year with great expectation. Rankings such as The Best Restaurants in Europe, 149 informal premises or The 30 Best New European Restaurants (and many others in North America, Asia, Japan and South America) are presented in style at events organized by Plotnicki himself.

Steven Plotnicki, founder of the gastronomic guide Opinionated About Dining (OAD).

"When I started with the guide, I knew that there was no good publication that really reflected what the gastronomic community was looking for to make their getaways; but I never thought it would have this impact," the businessman tells METRÓPOLI by phone from his newly opened home in New York. The impact of the guide has reached even the best chefs in the world, who do not hesitate to make themselves available when the occasion requires it. Figures of the stature of Alain Passard, René Redzepi, Albert Adrià, James Knappett, Merlin Labron-Johnson or those mentioned above have now participated in the annual dinners organized for the presentation of the results of their rankings in past years.

Both the place, the menu and the chefs participating in these events (this edition will be on Monday, June 12 from 18:30 p.m.) have been chosen and coordinated by Plotnicki himself. "This year I have chosen Madrid because it is one of the great gastronomic capitals of the world, in which all chefs want to open a place. The gastronomic diversity of Spain is superlative not only for the wide offer, but also, and above all, for the quality. And I decided to do it in the restaurant Desde 1911, of Pescaderías Coruñesas, because it topped the OAD ranking of the 30 Best New European Restaurants in 2022 and because it has enough space to accommodate 200 diners, "says the businessman.

Regarding the menu, in each edition Plotnicki chooses a theme (this year it is fish and seafood) and then "I decide which chef will make each dish," he says. The businessman boasts that95% of the chefs he called to participate in the event confirmed their attendance without hesitation. "I have learned two things from chefs: the first is that they like money and the second, that they love to cook for people who appreciate good gastronomy, and that's why they agree to come."

According to Plotnicki, who still spends all his time traveling the world to discover new restaurants, his guide is "better than Michelin and others like The World's 50 Best Restaurants, because it is the only one that takes into account the experience of diners when traveling in its rating system and because transparency prevails throughout its elaboration process."

Restaurant dining room Since 1911 in Madrid.

The best restaurants of 2023

Without revealing names, Plotnicki has pointed out to METRÓPOLI that in this year's list four Spanish restaurants have been among the 10 best in Europe, and 10 among the top 30, three more than last year. Among the Spanish establishments that were recognized in one of the rankings of the Opinionated About Dining (OAD) guide of the 2022 edition are Elkano, in Getaria (Guipúzcoa), which led the list of Europe Casual (149 informal premises), the Madrid Since 1911, which topped the Top 30 New European Restaurants, Saddle (Madrid), which appears on the Europe Classic list, or the Girona ice cream parlor of the Roca brothers, Rocambolesc, which ranks 36th in Europe Cheap Eats (affordable spaces).

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