Precision pays at Mugaritz

SATURDAY night saw JetMoney enjoying one of the best overall restaurant experiences of its life, at Michelin two-starred Mugaritz.

Here is a place where nothing is left to chance. Absolutely everything is thought through and solutions arrived at that result in a seamless, precision-driven experience.

Consider the restaurant's name, for example. It's comprised of two words, "muga" and "aritz", which mean "limit" or "border", and "oak". The oak is a sizeable 400-year-old tree that sits outside the restaurant and divides two towns - Astigarraga and Errenterria. "You could be taking a drink in the [restaurant's] caseta and be in one town [the former]," explains chef Andoni Luis Adruiz, "then go inside to eat and be in another [Errenterria]."

That tree is an integral part of the design of the restaurant, apparent on the impressive website and on all stationary, including business cards. The latter is another example of smart design, and a demonstration of how the staff at Mugaritz forms part of a whole - an integral feature of Adruiz's philosophy.

Each of the restaurant's nine managers has a square business card on a suede-like stock which, while hard to read, are each pieces of a puzzle. When flipped over and matched together, they create a version of the dandelion image used so impressively on the website and on the rough-hewn board which covers the restaurant's menus (The axe handle to which the latter is bound didn't go unnoticed, either!).

Despite the chill of the evening, JetMoney entered Mugaritz to find surprising warmth in its spacious dining room given its high ceilings and walls of windows. Subtle lighting over warmly hued wood and stone furnishings and fittings, and clever, earthy room dividers probably account for most of the comfortable ambiance. Think up-market organic, an approach which extends to the kitchen and food preparation. 

Everything stems from Adruiz, a protégé of Martin Berasategui (whose three-starred Michelin restaurant in San Sebastian was voted 27th best restaurant in the world in this year's Restaurant (magazine) Top 50), and Ferran Adria of Catalonia's el Bulli (named best restaurant this year for the third time in the same award list).

It's no surprise, then, that when Adruiz opened Mugaritz in 1998 at age 27 he had big plans, informing staff at their earliest meeting: "We are here to create the best restaurant in the world."

JetMoney got to see firsthand how his detailed, precision approach to life translates to the plate, having being invited into the kitchen before dining.

Adruiz's attention to detail is apparent here more than anywhere else. Staff use tweezers to place individual flowers and micro herbs and sprouts just so on each dish, the portions produced from individual vials so each plate receives exactly the same combination of flavours and textures. Sauces, jus and soups, taste-tested by at least three people for quality control, are dispensed from test tubes, again, ensuring precision of measurement on delivery.

"In this way, everything will be consistent," says the chef. "Every plate will either be good, or every plate will be bad."

The systematic approach also makes for a very relaxed kitchen by Michelin standards. It wasn't always this way - a few impressively deep dents in a refrigerator door attest to how fiery the generally mild-mannered chef has been when things have gone awry in the past.

On to dinner and JetMoney left itself at the mercy of the chef who prepared a special menu. Many wonderful things were delivered on to the table that night. I'll just cover favourites.

Two amuses got things started spectacularly - "rocks" of edible clay-encased new potatoes served atop hot rocks, then a table plate of fresh shelled peas and sweet baby potatoes in herbs and oil. This last dish (left) was spectacular in its simple but flavour-filled presentation. The peas, known locally as Basque caviar, exploded between the teeth. It's a pity their season lasts just one month.

The most visually impressive dish was a plate of vegetables, oven-roasted and raw, topped with micro sprouts and greens, seasoned with browned butter, dusted with seeds and petals then drizzled with an "Emmental" cheese broth.

The result was a taste sensation, with each bite delivering naturally occurring layers of flavour which changed with each bite. Given the work that goes into its construction, it's little wonder only 16 serves of it go out each night. Lots of tweezer-action here.

Next came sweet, nutty langoustine tails served on an amaranth "risotto" (not the most popular grain choice for those present), then an aromatic and pungent stew of roasted spring onions (delicious), a perfectly cooked sea bass fillet and, finally, a slab of roast Iberian pork.

Two desserts followed, the best of which was the single recipe that hasn't changed since the restaurant opened nine years ago - caramelised French toast enriched with cream and egg yolk served with ice cream of Latxa ewe's milk.

The sweet crispy-topped "toast" combined perfectly with the slightly sour handmade ice cream to give this dish Star Status among JetMoney favourites as a dessert option. Globally, it is now second only to JetMoney's number-one choice: the date tart served at Sydney's Rockpool Restaurant.

Mugaritz is probably a true three-star restaurant in all but its one area of weakness - the wine list. While clever, it lacks the depth of the other three-star restaurants in the area. While wine obviously requires a large capital outlay, a commitment to improvement here might get Muraritz over the Michelin line.

Overall, though, this place sings. It is now stamped firmly in JetMoney's top five restaurants of the world.