Culinary Zinema, the San Sebastian Film Festival’s hugely popular food-themed sidebar, opens Sept. 23 with “Mugaritz. No Bread no Dessert,” (“Mugaritz. Sin pan ni postre”) which draws back the curtains to reveal the inner workings of the two-Michelin Star Basque restaurant, Mugaritz.
Produced by Movistar Plus+ and Fonte Films, the documentary is directed by Paco Plaza (“The Grandmother,” “Veronica”) who was given access to the inner sanctum of the 26-year old restaurant located just outside the tony city of San Sebastian. In the documentary, Plaza follows Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz and his team as the restaurant closes its doors to the public for a few months. During this time, they deliberate and craft a new and edgy gastronomic experience for the coming season.
By late April, Mugaritz opens with the aim of testing the curious diners who pick up the gauntlet and accept the challenge. The staff is encouraged by the chef de cuisine “to surprise, astonish, provoke and even piss off people” for this year’s theme, “Lo que no se ve” (What cannot be seen). In the end, the 20-plus dishes aim to blur the lines between the avant-garde and the traditional, gastronomy and science, cuisine and art. Every season is an unexpected leap into the void, with no room for the hit dishes of the previous season. Some inventive dishes include one where the diner has to smash a bone to reach the ingredients and a tea served in a cup made of leaves.
This original Movistar Plus+ production, which debuts an exclusive teaser in Variety, marks another leap in the platform’s original production strategy, underscored by the company’s alliances with directors like Plaza and the broader ecosystem of Spanish cinema, including independent production companies like Fonte Films, founded by Pablo Isla, Carla Pérez de Albéniz, and María Jesús Román.
In an exclusive interview with Variety, Chef Andoni and Plaza drilled down on the philosophy behind the restaurant and the making of the doc.
Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz:
What would you say are the main inspirations for your dishes?
“We have spent more than 25 years dedicating ourselves to searching, posing questions, and investigating… in order to then try to build something that contributes to those who visit us. In this exploration, the network of relationships we have with people from the performing arts, literature, music, fashion, philosophy, science, etc., is very present. We have realized that we have much to discuss and learn and that, deep down, there is a common language between these disciplines and gastronomy, that everything is more intertwined than we imagine.
When you are dedicated to creativity, inspiration for a dish or the idea of something can appear in the most unexpected way, from reading a romantic novel to an 18th-century poetry essay. After all, life and what happens in it are what inspire you.
In the documentary, you say that your leadership style is not to lead. Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?
There is a type of leadership through inspiration, where what you aim to achieve is to make the world resemble what you would like it to be, and the way to achieve this is not through theories or by imposing only your way of doing things, but by creating an ecosystem. Inspiration is tremendously powerful, and if you allow the people around you to grow, and your role is more about ensuring the quality and continuity of a style, extraordinary things end up happening.
You and your team also discuss negative comments about the dishes. Additionally, an influencer’s negative review of the restaurant surfaced on TikTok and later in the press. What are your thoughts on these comments?
I believe that in the world of social media and the immediacy we’ve created, we are prioritizing and promoting visibility and the ability to go viral over judgment and common sense, and I think it’s something we should stop to reflect on. Here, no one is forced to come, and I think it’s logical as a diner to care enough to have a basic understanding of the place you’re going to visit. It’s also curious that sometimes the criticism comes from people who are the same age or younger than the person behind the project, which has been defending its own way of understanding and inhabiting the world of gastronomy for over 25 years. The greatest act of generosity we can have is to show ourselves as we truly are. It’s an act of pure love for the customer, knowing that we might clash but also knowing not to give in on what we consider to be an asset for us: our style, our essence. I always say that the worst thing that could happen to us is for a diner to leave indifferent after an experience at Mugaritz.
Who do you think was the pioneer in this type of experimental and experiential cuisine? Ferran Adrià of El Bulli, who you’ve worked for?
Many professionals have made significant contributions. For me, Adrià’s El Bulli is the most brilliant and generous project that has ever existed. At the same time, the French nouvelle cuisine movement and everything it sparked was very revolutionary, with things that sometimes seem almost naïve today. For example, they said that Michel Guérard was insolent for making a salad with a foie gras terrine, claiming that acid couldn’t pair with foie gras, and today it seems like the most obvious thing in the world. Or the open ravioli by Gualtiero Marchesi, which I consider a conceptual masterpiece. Many wonderful things happened, such as the path opened by Michel Bras, which gave rise to all the naturalistic cuisine and its offshoots. And there are also other wonderful chefs like Heston Blumenthal or Pierre Gagnaire, among others, who have opened new paths.
Paco Plaza, Director:
Can you tell us what inspired you to make this documentary?
I’d been visiting Mugaritz occasionally for the last 25 years, practically since they opened, and this has allowed me to witness their amazing evolution. Andoni’s philosophy, his relentless pursuit of new challenges, and his curious and non-conformist approach to gastronomy are a source of inspiration for me. So when I received the call from Fonte Films, I didn’t hesitate for a second because I felt privileged to witness the creative processes of one of the brightest minds around.
I really appreciated the music you chose. Can you tell us how you decided on it? What instruments you used?
The music was composed by Mikel Salas, with whom I have worked on many films. His approach was not to use any traditional instruments, replacing them with forks, frying pans, and glasses. One inspiration was the classical melodies of the txalaparta, so typical of the Basque Country, but using culinary instruments instead.
How long did it take to film, and when was did it take place? These are the dishes they are serving in 2024, I imagine?
We covered the process of creating the 2024 menu, which spanned from January until the opening in late April.
What challenges did you face while filming, if any?
The challenge was to make the documentary reflect the philosophy of Mugaritz: nonconformist, playful and more poetic than descriptive. I tried to apply the same working method to the filming and editing that the research and development team at Mugaritz uses. I hope I succeeded.
Mugaritz. No Bread no Dessert
Courtesy of Movistar Plus+
