The Macarfi Guide continues to expand domains. If this 2024 has included as a novelty in its pages the ranking of the best restaurants in Malaga and Valencia along with those in the provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Madrid, Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa, Álava and La Rioja; Its goal in 2025 is to extend throughout the national territory.
This is what Manuel Carreras, founder and CEO of this guide, which already includes more than 550 restaurants, explained tonight during the presentation of the Macarfi Awards 2024 held at the NH hotel in Malaga. A gala that has been hosted with great humor by Carlos Latre and that has brought together some of the best-known faces of the national gastronomic scene, among them Oriol Castro, Rafa Zafra, Nandu Jubany, Javier and Sergio Torres, Joan Roca, Paco Pérez, Juanjo López, Benito Gómez, Ricard Camarena or Begoña Rodrigo.
According to the votes of the altruistic gourmets who cooperate with Macarfi, among whom are chefs and specialized journalists, this year the award-winning restaurants are Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, Desde 1911 in Madrid, Asador Etxebarri in Vizcaya, Elkano in Gipúzcoa, Arrea! in Álava, El Portal de Echaurren in La Rioja, the Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Bardal in Málaga and Ricard Camarena in Valencia.
The restaurants Diseño, by Oriol Castro, Eduard Therefore, they are no longer part of the voting. No restaurant has managed to join this limited club in this edition of the guide.
The Rookies, an award that Macarfi gives annually to the best opening of the last twelve months, have gone to Azul Rooftop Barceloneta by the French chef based in Barcelona Romain Fornell, to the Madrid-based OSA from the tandem formed by Sara Peral and Jorge Muñoz, who makes A few days later they also received the Madrid Fusión Newcomer Chef award; and in Bakea, the new restaurant of the former head chef of Mugaritz, Alanz Bilbao, in Mungia (Vizcaya).
In second place in the ranking of each province are now Alkimia (Barcelona), Saddle (Madrid), Arzumendi (Vizcaya), Arzak (Guipúzcoa), Kromatiko (Alava), Venta Moncalvillo (La Rioja), Ca L ́Enric (Girona). ), Kaleja (Malaga) and La Salita (Valencia).
And in third Estimar (Barcelona), Ugo Chan (Madrid), Nerua (Viscay), Akelarre (Guipúzcoa), Zaldiaran (Alava), Alameda (La Rioja), Miramar (Girona), Los Marinos José (Malaga) and Fierro ( Valencia).
The Macarfi guide, which is published in Spanish, Catalan and English, was created in Barcelona in 2015 with the aim of being a close and democratic publication, fed by anonymous gastronomists and lovers of the kitchen. Little by little it has gained ground and greater visibility.
A few months ago, the Macarfi Guide also launched the Macarfi Club, a club with exclusive gastronomic experiences and trips, an e-commerce with hard-to-find gourmet products and advantages in collaborating hotels with a fee of 250 euros per year.
During the presentation of the new edition of the guide, which for the first time has decided to be done in February instead of November, Manuel Carreras took the opportunity to explain how this club works, which began its journey last September and which already has more than 500 members.
