The Odiseo gastronomic restaurant, the cornerstone of the spectacular building of the same name opened in February of this year in Murcia as a comprehensive leisure and enjoyment center, receives recognition from the Red Guide in its 2021 edition.
At the helm of the kitchen is chef Nazario Cano, who has already held a Michelin star..
Created and imagined by Grupo Orenes, Odiseo is an imposing building – a marvel of modern architecture – that has been created with the purpose of place the city of Murcia on the gastronomic map thanks to a comprehensive leisure and enjoyment offering where cuisine is the common thread. Despite the temporary closures caused by the coronavirus, His culinary vocation and the brilliant work developed by Nazario Cano during this time have been recognized with the award of a Michelin star. in the 2021 edition of the guide, which was presented tonight at a virtual gala held at the Real Casa de Correos in Madrid. For the chef, this award is "an injection of energy and motivation for the entire team in a particularly challenging year for the sector" and a recognition of the efforts made. It also represents a boost to his career and the chef's brave decision to leave El Rodat, where he had earned his first star in 2017, in search of new professional challenges: "We were very sad to leave Jávea, but we are very excited about this very special project where we hope to provide continuity and stability to the star thanks also to the support of Grupo Orenes. We believe we still have a lot to give; this is just the beginning," he adds.
Company sources emphasized that "Odiseo was created to mark a turning point in the Mediterranean tourism industry. We wanted to revolutionize the concept of comprehensive leisure by combining the finest culinary offerings with the best entertainment in a single complex. We would also like to thank the Michelin Guide organization for choosing us and recognize the Odiseo team for their hard work, something that will undoubtedly drive our continued growth."
COOK BY VOCATION
Nazario Cano (Alicante, 1973) began his love affair with the profession at the early age of nine, "not by imposition, but by pure vocation": his grandfather was a fisherman and his father, a cook at La Goleta, a traditional cuisine restaurant in Alicante, and that is why The sea, the salted fish, the smell of charcoal and the fish broths they made for seafood rice dishes are among his earliest memories, imbuing every dish he imagines with aroma and flavor.At the age of 12, he followed his father to El Delfín, where he discovered products like caviar and truffles, which he secretly brought home to research and which he has always maintained in his cooking. Later, he worked alongside figures such as Ramón Roteta, Martín Berasategui, Ferrán Adriá, Manolo de la Osa, and Norberto Jorge of the Casa Benigna rice restaurant, with whom he traveled to France to visit its grand dining rooms, boasting two and three Michelin stars.
From each teacher and each experience, Nazario absorbed some of the traits that define his cuisine today. A cuisine as bold in appearance as it is essential at heart; where there is as much reflection as intuition (the raw material itself is what inspires it); which can be defined as signature but also as terroir, since it adapts to the local pantry of the place where it is found at any given time; which is fun (for aesthetics, unusual, easy to share...) but, at the same time, reveres a first-class product and in which It uses primitive techniques (salting, smoking, substantial broths and fumets, etc.) to enhance the flavor.
DIFFERENT CONCEPTS
This exceptional ship captain has the merit of having created for Odiseo an inexhaustible repertoire of culinary concepts that make each visit unique and different from the last. "Other colleagues have to take a plane to visit their different businesses; luckily, I only have to take the elevator," explains the chef, whose role in this new project could well be that of Responsible for emotions: "I like to say that a chef doesn't sleep, he dreams, because our mission is not only to serve good food, but also to surprise and delight diners."
In the informal restaurant of the Nazario complex, he offers a complete tour of his overflowing creativity through more than a hundred dishes and small bites; in the piano bar – called Bar Rojo – he has designed a menu of Nikkei cuisine resulting from the four years he lived in Peru; and in the gastronomic restaurant – awarded its first Michelin star – captures, through the Aglaia (€90) and Ares (€60) menus, its purest essence: the love of the sea he inherited from his grandfather; the mastery of rice dishes, which also comes from his cradle; the skill with hunting and stews he acquired in Las Rejas; the technical precision of the fathers of the Basque avant-garde; the fondness for grilling and vine shoots from the classic northern dining room; Its ability to blend in with the environment by reinterpreting Murcian products and recipes And, of course, his way of giving meaning and value to the concept of sea and mountains in meats that find their substance in a seabed or in fish and seafood enriched with subtle meaty touches.
All this is supported by a room service and a team of top-flight professionals that make Odiseo a unique space in the Mediterranean.
