An exclusive peek into three-star Michelin chef Martin Berasategui's new restaurant

When I walked into the kitchen of Basque three-star Michelin chef Martin Berasategui’s new restaurant, the entire team of chefs turned momentarily sheepish at the sight of a civilian female. However, once the meal rush began, my presence as an observer was forgotten as intensely focused chaos erupted.

Although Berasategui oversees the menu (via frequent Skype conferences and infrequent visits), he is based in Spain and this Shanghai branch is a young restaurant run by his 25-year-old chefs Maxime Fanton and Yago Márquez. On my visit they had around 60 covers, their busiest night so far. When it was time to cook the main course for a table of 18, the kitchen leapt into frenzied athleticism—18 fat filets were turned into massive pans, and steam and clanging filled the air as the team sprinted to plate and garnish them.

Restaurant Martin is housed in a historic villa and though this makes for charming woodwork, it also means some design challenges: the hot kitchen (overseen by Fanton) is on the first floor, and the cold and pastry kitchens (Márquez) are on the second—the two kitchens communicate by a crackling walkie talkie system and messages can be hilariously difficult to decipher.

Despite the walkie talkie static, the Spanish-Chinese team gets along well. Fanton joked admiringly about chef de partie John Liu: “He is a machine. He has gold fingers!” Liu looks the part: a big meaty serious working chef who seared lamb chops and pigeon to perfection. He, and all the chefs, are unusually genteel today. “Usually they tease me but since you’re here they are very polite,” laughed Fanton.

Upstairs, I had missed the preparation of starters: “We were in the X#$%!” joked the affable Márquez, who despite the night’s pressure, explained everything patiently. When it was time to serve 18 desserts (caramelized housemade cinnamon brioche with café con leche ice cream), Márquez and a pastry chef took turns creating quenelle-shaped scoops. The ice cream must be turned onto the spoon just so, then the spoon bowl warmed with a rub of the palm so the scoop drops off cleanly. Márquez’s came out perfectly, but the rush was on, “Go, go, go!” he admonished the waitstaff to grab their trays.

Down in the lobby, a woman from a table of 20 spotted Fanton, grabbed him and gushed: “Dinner was wonderful! Oh my, it was wonderful!”

Listings info for Restaurant Martin

Want a peek into the machinations at another of Shanghai's Michelin-star chef's restaurant? Read my adventures making French fries at Jean-Georges.

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