Mateu Casañas

Chef at Disfrutar** (Barcelona, Spain)

One of the cornerstones of success at Disfrutar. Previously, he forged his path with Ferran Adrià at elBulli in Roses, his hometown.

The son of restaurateurs in the town of Roses (the family ran the restaurant Si Us Plau, on the seafront), he joined the neighbouring restaurant elBulli in 1997 to get work experience. Over the years he took on various responsibilities until he became head chef and member of the creative team, positions he still held when the legendary restaurant closed its doors in July 2011. He continued working with Ferran Adrià on the conceptualisation of Bullipedia until he ‘flew the nest’ along with fellow Bullinian chefs Eduard Xatruch and Oriol Castro to open Compartir, a restaurant in Cadaqués.

At the end of 2014, once they had established themselves in the capital of the Costa Brava, he and his partners made the leap to Barcelona and set up Disfrutar. The now two-Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant took the trio of chefs to new heights and to be ranked 9 on the list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2020.