Eneko Atxa

Meet Basque chef Eneko Atxa who heads up three-Michelin-star restaurant Azurmendi outside Bilbao, as well as a growing empire of Eneko restaurants from London to Tokyo.

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I learned that gastronomy is a universal language. At cooking school you learn that being a chef isn’t just about cooking and produce, it’s about discovering different tools to transform food. I learned that with gastronomy you can express who you are, where you’re from and where you’re going.

I am who I am because of my late father and my mother, Teresa Azurmendi (after whom Azurmendi is named) and I do this to honour them. My mother, through her love and support, gave me all I need to succeed. Sometimes when she tastes my food she says what we do is too sophisticated, but then she’ll say: “Ah, these are my recipes. I recognise that my soul lives here.”

I started by catering weddings and events. It’s sort of the typical chef story. This work eventually gave me the opportunity to create a fine-dining area, and we opened Azurmendi in 2005.

Every night I go to bed with three (Michelin) stars, but every morning I wake up with none. This is why I sleep well at night, but in the morning I know