Pedro Subijana (‘Chef Mentor’ award)

‘I didn’t expect this at all, it has been a radical and absolute surprise.’ Pedro Subijana He couldn’t quite believe the recognition they had just given him: Chef Mentor Award. This is one of the special awards that Michelin gave out, during the celebration in Murcia of the presentation gala of the new edition of the guide for 2025.

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And, in addition to the cast of new stars, The French guide also awards a series on its big night individual awards for outstanding figures from the world of cooking, in different categories. Among them is this Chef Mentor award (whose objective is to recognize the contribution of a chef as a trainer and inspiration for young talents) that Subijana received from Lara Bartolomé, Grand Manager Blancpain Spain and Portugal.

The renowned watch brand, sponsor of this award, is closely linked to the universe of gastronomy. ‘For Blancpain it is an honor to share with all of you this new edition of the Michelin gala. We share the same values ​​with haute cuisine: the search for excellence, traditional know-how, innovation, respect for the product, precision, and timing, so important in the kitchen,’ Bartolomé explained, just before Subijana offered some emotional words of gratitude: ‘I had great teachers. I don’t know if I will be considered that way by any of you here, but I can tell you that I want to continue working, and that all of you present, whether you have a star or not, know that You have a friend willing to do anything to help you out‘, he pointed out.

There are, of course, plenty of reasons for Subijana to receive this award. In front of the San Sebastian restaurant Akelarre, Pedro is also one of the founding fathers of the so-called New Basque Cuisine. He is also the promoter and patron of Basque Culinary Center and founder of Euro-Toques International. A career that, without a doubt, is a reference for any young chef.

The day after the Michelin gala, Subijana is about to take a plane to return home from Murcia. But before boarding, the chef is kind enough to give us a few minutes to tell us how he experienced receiving this well-deserved award:

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Last night you received the ‘Mentor Chef Award’, what does this recognition mean to you?

The truth is that it was a radical surprise. It was the last thing I imagined. It even scared me (laughs). After 58 years of my profession, 50 of them in Aquelarre, hundreds of young people have passed through our house, some have come from stagiersothers have been employed… I’m sure that being in our house has helped them in their careers. I have always been very much in favor of training, in fact I am a promoter of the Basque Culinary Center and, in recent years, I have also been very involved with the issue of professional training and quality. I was lucky to have some wonderful teachers and I like to be able to give back to society a little bit of that luck I had.

Speaking of mentors, who would you say were yours?

The first teacher I had was Luis Irizar. He was a wonderful character who has recently died and who has shaped half of Spain. Then, during the times I was in Zaragoza with Benjamin Urdiainwho also recently passed away. I had a good friendship with him, apart from the fact that he was my boss for a time, we had a very good relationship. Obviously, I have had references in life like Paul Bocuse, who came to Madrid in 1976 to make a presentation organized by Club de Gourmets magazine and since then we had a great relationship and forged a great friendship. In the end, all this gives you training, it gives you knowledge, but above all you have to be very humble, learn from many people who are far above you and also from people who are far below you. I think curiosity is very important and I maintain that curiosity a lot. In fact, I am constantly watching video platforms about cooking because I like it and I am always learning something from anyone.

For yet another edition you are still president of the Cinco jotas Cooking challenge contest, after winning this award as a Mentor, what advice would you give to those young chefs about to finish their cooking studies? The first would be to have humility?

There have always been especially high egos, who forget humility and who believe that they are the navel of the world. But, it is true that what needs to be told to people is that things are achieved step by step, step by step. I always say that at university, in vocational training or anywhere, you learn how to learn, and then you have to be willing to learn for the rest of your life. You have to be very constant, very tenacious… You have to know that not every day is wonderful and that the day things go wrong you have to learn to get up and gain new momentum. I always say that after a disappointment, something that has not worked or has gone wrong, the reaction has to come to bring out something good, because this is the opportunity to improve, and, of course, then have that attitude of curiosity and humility to always look forward.

How did you experience the Michelin gala? What do you think of the new stars awarded in the 2025 Michelin Guide?

I think everyone who gets a star is deserving. I think someone else should have gotten one, two or three stars. But hey, I don’t have a guide (laughs) and, as they usually say, if you don’t like mine, then buy another one. For me personally and the true guide has always been Michelin. There are a lot of lists, rankings, this and that, but for me the reference is the Michelin Guide.

© Akelarre Restaurant

At the gala you said, jokingly, that next year you will celebrate your ‘first 50 years in Akelarre’… Where would you say your restaurant is currently? What does someone who visits Akelarre find today?

We are in a moment of pure transition and pure revolution. Our thinking is “what do we want Aquelarre to be in 30 years”, then I will no longer be there, obviously, because I am already old (laughs). And so, under that premise, we have hired two excellent chefs, one who was the head of all the kitchens of the Basque Culinary Center, Jorge Bretón, and another who was one of the chefs of Martín Berasategui, who is Juan Knoll. So with those two by my side, plus the ones I already had and Borja García Argüelles, who is the one in the kitchen area that we have, we form a bit of the leadership of the entire kitchen. Then the others who were there continue and at this moment we have the best team we have ever had. And then, on the subject of the room, we have hired someone who created the Basque Culinary Center and who has come to join the other three we had. And, now, we are actively searching for a super maitre d’ to do the duties of maitre and room director and that you have to pamper and take great care of because I think it is an important pillar of any project.

© Akelarre Restaurant

Would you like to ‘die on stage’, as some artists say? Or would you like to retire at some point?

I always have the feeling that I want more, that I am not satisfied with what there is, with what we have and I am also extremely critical of ourselves. That’s why I always make the joke that my life project is to live 200 years (laughs). I have no intention of retiring, but I’m not stupid either. I already know that he will catch me when he catches me, but I’m not thinking about that because I’m older… I like my job. Obviously, there are facets of my job that I don’t like at all, those are the ones that I want them to take away from me, to take away the brown ones. But I’m still 100%, working morning and night, every day at the top of my game.

Any wishes for 2025?

Well, my wish is that there was a little more harmony in the world and that there were fewer crazy people leading them. But if we talk about the purely gastronomic aspect, my wish is that people do not get carried away by the pressure of fashion, guides, or gastronomic gurus. That people have their own personality and maintain their style and do what they really like, not what is supposed to be fashionable. I think it is extremely important and that people who take one direction or the other are also respected because it is the one that convinces them.

© michelinespana