Opinionated about Dining (OAD), a gastronomic guide that each year reveals various restaurant rankings following criteria different from those of Michelin or 50 Best, yesterday presented its list of the best casual restaurants in Europe with a pleasant surprise for Spain: the top five stalls have ended up in the hands of establishments here.
If Mannix in Campaspero (Valladolid) is the best according to OAD, Elkano in Getaria (Guipúzcoa) is close on his heels at number 2 followed by Los Marinos José in Fuengirola (Málaga), in third place on the list. On the other hand, fourth place went to D'Berto in O Grove (Pontevedra) and fifth to Güeyu Mar (Ribadesella, Asturias). Those who know these restaurants will instantly realize that what the guide has awarded this year is the obsession with the highest quality product cooked with the least possible intervention.
In addition, there are more Spanish restaurants this year in the Casual ranking of Opinionated About Dining, a guide promoted in 2007 by the foodie Steve Plotnicki. Specifically, of the 150 establishments that make up the list, 71 of them are in our country. Among them, Alameda in Fuenmayor (La Rioja), Casa Julián in Tolosa (Guipúzcoa), Askua (Valencia), Ultramarinos Marín (Barcelona), Horma Ondo (Larrabetzu, Vizcaya), Bodega Cigaleña (Santander), Bar FM have been included. (Granada) or Cañabota (Seville).
The launch of OAD's European Casual list serves to warm up the engines before the gala on June 12, in which the new ranking of the Best Restaurants in Europe 2023 in this guide will be revealed. Madrid will be the city that hosts the presentation and some of the best Spanish chefs will be in charge of the gala dinner. Among them, Eneko Atxa, Paco Morales, Quique Dacosta, Nacho Manzano, Hugo Muñoz, Massimiliano Delle Vedove, Diego Murciego, Rafa Zafra and Alberto Aguado (O Pazo, Madrid), who will cook in the restaurant since 1911.
In 2022, the Alchemist restaurant in Copenhagen (Denmark) led the ranking followed by Frantzén in Stockholm (Sweden) and Asador Etxebarri in Axpe (Vizcaya), who has been in third place in the OAD guide for years. Another Spanish candidate who could climb positions is Baga in Jaén, who in 2022 was in fifth place.
"Michelin or The World's 50 Best Restaurants are too local or stagnant for my taste, they have no movement," Plotnicki once explained to La Vanguardia, assuring that one of OAD's strengths is that voters move and their lists do not They are made by the people of the country. “It is not the same view of a Spaniard on the cuisine and restaurants of Spain as that of a Japanese, for example. That makes the difference."
For this reason, its ranking not only presents a single list, but several. The 100 best restaurants in Asia, the United States, Europe, the 100 best Casual Gourmet, the 100 classics, those with the best product... OAD tries to cover a wide range of possibilities to offer all kinds of options when choosing.
“I usually find voters on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. If I find someone I'm interested in, I follow them and, normally, when they follow me back three days later, I send them an invitation. If I invite them before following them, they usually say no," explained Plotnicki.
