David Rivero

Chef at Kabuki Abama* (Guía de Isora, Tenerife, Spain)

Starting out at Kabuki doing work experience, he learned and worked his way up until he took over the helm – where he still is – of Ricardo Sanz’s empire in Tenerife.

Born in La Garita (Telde, Gran Canaria), he entered Kabuki Abama as a student and never left. For years he worked as an assistant and cook until the head chef, Daniel Franco, left, allowing him to take on the position. That was back in 2017. Since then, he has been the captain of this restaurant at The Ritz Carlton Abama de Guía de Isora, which has two Repsol suns and a Michelin star.

It was meant to be, as Rivero has been passionate about all things Asian and Japanese since he was a child. He loved manga and anime, Japanese comics and cartoons but, above all, he loved Japanese food and sushi. First it became a hobby, then a passion. ‘As soon as I got to Kabuki I was enchanted, I fell in love, and since then I haven’t stopped preparing Japanese food,’ he explains, only having been away from an Asian kitchen for a year while in Ireland, where he was shaped by the hand of the esteemed chef Dylan McGrath.