El Lago restaurant at the Greenlife Golf Club has held a Michelin star for an impressive 11 years. Credit for this—and its ethos of using Andalusian flavours and the finest local ingredients—can be given to its innovative Head Chef Diego del Río. We caught up with him to find out a little bit more about his secret to success…
To be a Michelin starred chef calls for several qualities—imagination, creativity, work ethic, talent, the desire to be the best and, above all, passion.
After all, there are many chefs, but to reach the top of the profession—a category that earning one of the coveted stars places you in—is an achievement not to be underestimated and one that requires all of these special attributes.
Marbella has four chefs who currently hold that distinction, and Diego del Río has not only achieved it but has managed to maintain the mark of honour for 11 years now. This is something not possible without truly loving the profession—the rare ability to not just provide the best quality food and service but the passion to keep creating new and wonderful dishes year after year. In fact, cooking has to be even more than a passion—it must be an obsession in order for a chef to remain at the highest level. Mind you, Diego puts his secret to success rather more simply: “Work and consistency.”
While some chefs have started cooking from an early age Diego initially trod a different path and qualified in administrative studies. He said: “That never fulfilled me. I always enjoyed cooking so I decided to try it at age 21 and I become obsessed. I’m very happy that my profession has given me so much satisfaction.”
His first move was to start training as a chef at the Hotel Escuela Bellamar in Marbella, where he studied for Head Chef between 1996 and 1997. Displaying the drive and attention to detail that have become his hallmarks, he was not satisfied with that alone and decided to look abroad to further his education and knowledge of food. Like so many young chefs determined to be the best he felt the call of Paris. “I worked in many different restaurants and in 1999 I enrolled in Le Cordon Blue, which is considered the best culinary school in the world. After that I followed a Head Chef course at Westminster College in London.”
These formative years were of course hugely influential for Diego, but despite working in the culinary capital of the world his eyes were turning closer to home, to a town that had started to catch the attention of those with a love of gastronomy. “In July 2000 I returned to Marbella as I loved how advanced cooking had become in our country, even for someone who was a Head Chef in France.”
He took up a post as second Head Chef at a new and exciting restaurant in Elviria—El Lago—the owners of which were determined to achieve the highest culinary standards.
Set in the clubhouse of the pristine Greenlife Golf course, it was the ambition of the Greenlife Estates group to create an innovative restaurant that offered creative cuisine using Andalusian ingredients and a very personalised service. From its opening in the summer of 2000 the restaurant had to meet the highest of standards to reflect its position as one of the flag bearers for the group—something it did immediately. Within five short years it had earned a Michelin star—with Diego very much to the fore. Brief stints as Head Chef at Hotel Incosol and at Caledonia Golf Hotel in Estepona had helped further his development in matters such as nutrition, but he always returned to his home from home—El Lago.
Diego’s cooking philosophy has proved to be a perfect fit for El Lago: drawing from his Andalusian roots—he was born near Ronda in 1975—and using the finest local ingredients to create dishes inspired by this mountainous region and Andalucía as a whole.
Expanding on this theme Diego told us: “I’m committed to defending and promoting the products of our country. My team and I work with local produce and also search out recipes to recover the traditional cuisine of Andalucía.
“I get inspiration from what we have ‘almost’ eaten. I understand that this is essential in gastronomy, it’s the base. We take the flavours of yesteryear and then we add an innovative touch. Our method is to blend traditional cooking with the style and flair of the chef preparing it.”
What shines through with Diego is his love of food, and in particular the first-rate ingredients available from Andalucía. “I like to eat well,” he said. “In fact I have some special favourites. On our menu I’ve got a lot of love for two dishes: Semi-dry tomato with goat cheese from Coín, quince, rocket pesto and praline of fruits. It is a classic, which we have managed to evolve. The other is our new dish of red prawn with hollandaise sauce, algae juice and snow peas.”
Diego’s love of local ingredients is also obvious when selecting his favourite ingredients. “Extra virgin olive oil of course, tomates huevos de toro from Guadalhorce (a variety of tomato that is probably best left untranslated—the Spanish can be more robust in their language than the English!) and sardines.”
These join some of the finest ingredients to be found in Andalucía—including baby goat from the Málaga mountains, the best local hand made cheeses, octopus from Estepona, prawns landed at Marbella and olives from Alora—to ensure El Lago maintains its ethos of presenting the finest dishes with a true Andalusian flavour.
This commitment is something that Diego likes to see in others too. When asked if there are any chefs he particularly admires he said: “All those that support the producers and the land, whether they have Michelin stars or not. But I want to highlight some names—those of my colleagues from the Colectivo Gastroarte and the Roca family.”
Busy as he is at El Lago, Diego still finds time to pursue his obsession of preserving traditional produce and ingredients, and bringing them to a wider audience. “Right now we are working intensely at the restaurant to increase what we like to call the Culture of Species in High Gastronomy. Also, we have worked on a TV programme that will air very soon on TVE1, called SOS Alimentos. I worked with many professionals from Spain’s food and catering sector—it was fantastic.”
With this passion for tradition and the finest quality foods, Diego del Río and El Lago can both look forward to many more years of success—as well as ongoing recognition from Michelin inspectors and diners alike.
Massimo Filippa
