Alejandra was always in one way or another connected to the kitchen, first observing her grandmother, then learning from her aunt, and always encouraged by the words of her mother, a kind of gastronomic spur. And although perhaps the kitchen was not her first option (she studied Architecture and Fine Arts before entering the Costa Azahar catering school) it was what attracted her the most once with her apron on. With her title under her arm, she passed through the kitchens of Martín Berasategui (where she would meet Emanuel), Sergi Arola or Pepe Solla, more than enough background to face new challenges.
Emanuel’s is a story that begins far from here, in the city of Buenos Aires where he was born. Always surrounded by the world of gastronomy, he arrived in Spain at the age of eleven and when he came of age he entered the Bell-art hotel school in Barcelona, combining his studies with his work at Fonda España under the watchful eye of Berasategui himself who later It would give him shelter in his mother house, an experience to add to his time at Vía Veneto, Sergi Arola Gastro, Ramón Freixa or Casa Solla.
One of the elaborations of Atalaya
Lasarte was the origin of this professional and human synergy, and Alcocebre is the destination. It is there that in 2014, barely a year after crossing paths, they decide to undertake a common project, the most important so far in their careers: to open their own restaurant, Atalaya, the sum of two ideas that complement each other to be stronger together. . It has been almost eight years now betting on a kitchen that looks into the eyes of the environment but also goes much further to confirm that modernized and very personal vision that comes from within. In 2019 they won the prize for young promises of the Valencian Community, in 2020 and 2021 they appeared as a Bib Gourmand restaurant in the Michelin guide and at the end of 2021 they achieved their first star, the logical evolution and the well-deserved recognition of their daring and career.
Atalaya is divided into two spaces, a room with capacity for more than 30 people and the terrace, separated by a glass window that provides natural light and crossed views between the two. A simple and sober decoration acts as a common thread and adapts to what is really important here, the culinary vision of its young couple of chefs. It may sound like a clich, but local and seasonal products want to gain a place between the two tasting menus and the menu available to diners, a flexible range of options that try to adapt without losing an iota of flavour, technique and thoroughness. Always from the
One of the dishes at the Atalaya restaurant
The Goleta menu is the most daring, a set of elaborations that transmit everything learned by the tandem of chefs in their career with a touch of conservatism that they will get rid of later. Thus we find a grilled oyster with the surprising point of a juice of chicken wings and horseradish foam, some shrimp accompanied by a consomm of Valencian tubers, roasted celeriac and sour carrot or a brioche stuffed with roasted cauliflower, demi-glace of onion and eel ideal as first courses. As main dishes, rice could not be missing, in this case creamy with Iberian pork and mushrooms, as well as any meat option such as wild boar cured in pine, dried apricots and stuffed spring onion and another with fish, changing depending on the day and the nearby markets and accompanied by a fennel risotto and air of aniseed.
