EL PORTAL DE ECHAURREN
The creative cuisine of Echaurren
By 2001, the creative cuisine of the Echaurren had already become a major niche in the structure of the house. It was then that we decided to create a new element that gave shape those concerns and so, in 2002, El Portal de Echaurren was born. In its beginnings we had to convince both ourselves and strangers that El Portal was not only a dream of youth, but it was to complement a magnificent culinary offer inside the own hotel. But it had to be a new space, inside the same building that shelters the Echaurren Tradición, and designed by and for the taste of the most creative cooking.
An ambitious space where Francis Paniego could give free rein to his creativity. The bet in a small town of only 2,000 inhabitants was not easy, but today it presumes to have been the first restaurant in the history of La Rioja to get a Michelin star. In November 2012, Francis got the prestigious National Gastronomy Award for the Best Chef in 25 years after his mother, and in November 2013, he obtained the second Michelin star for this restaurant.
FRANCIS PANIEGO
"Francis Paniego cooks as he is. His dishes and the research he develops in El Portal del Echaurren is the faithful reflection of the spirit of a human being radically marked by the restlessness".
Pablo García Mancha