The Best Meals in Valencia, According to Chef Virgilio Martínez

Megan Spurrell
·5 min read

Collage by Andrea Edelman Kay
Photo by Camila Novoa

Speaking to Virgilio Martínez—undeniably Peru's most lauded chef of the past decade—it's clear that being the brains behind a restaurant repeatedly named the best in the world (his Lima spot, Central) means that every meal offers the potential for inspiration.

In November, he and traveled to Valencia, Spain, and brought several of his teammates with him—including the chef of his Cusco restaurant, Mil (Luis Valderrama), and his wife, chef Pia León of Kjolle. “We wanted to go to as many restaurants as possible in four days,” he tells me, as we sit in Central's empty dining room before service begins for the day. Martínez had been to the city before, for the World's 50 Best Awards, but events kept him so busy that his wishlist of to-visit restaurants remained largely the same once it was time to head back to Peru.

Eager to spend time with fellow chefs, Martínez figured that getting out of their own restaurants would allow everyone the mental space to really catch up. “Most of the time, when I go to speak to my chefs, it's hard to get away from the chaos of the restaurant—so we said, okay, let's go to Valencia, and try some of these restaurants we've been hearing about."

What followed was a whirlwind of paella, seafood, and more vegetables than you'd expect from the land of jamón. Below, Martínez tells us about the very best bites of the trip to Valencia—and everything he shoved into his suitcase for the journey home.

What was your most anticipated meal—and how was it?

Quique Dacosta, which was about two hours from the city of Valencia. It's a high-end experience, with a long menu, where you spend a few hours—the kind of meal that makes you reflect on gastronomy.

We also had excellent paellas. Now, you see paellas everywhere, but you've got to go to Valencia to try theirs. Paella Valenciana is made with things like rabbit and snails. The best we had was at Casa Carmela, and Lavoe. At Casa Carmela, it was cooked over fire. It's a big place, where you get to see all the paellas being cooked and you can smell the smoke. You've got to bring a lot of people: The first time I went, we had 10 chefs with us, so we ordered 6 or 7 paellas.

At Lavoe, they let me go into the kitchen and I got to see the broth. It had smoky pimento, and this really intense flavor. Everything was done in a beautiful, organic, artisanal way.

I also had paella at Llisa Negra, and what I liked about that place is that they also serve gambas (shrimp) and Carabineros (jumbo prawn), among all sorts of seafood.

What was your go-to breakfast every day?

I always go to the market. There was the Mercat Central, and we went to Retrogusto to try their coffee. They had coffee from Peru, Panama, and there are little typical snacks like croquetas and jamón all around the market.

What was your favorite cheap eat?

Doña Petrona. It's two Argentinean guys and they serve empanadas. For me, when I've been eating out and traveling for a few days and I want to eat something comforting, I want empanadas. Maybe it's the South American version of going for a slice of pizza.

I see fine dining as a place where you go and reflect about food. Of course some people are coming because of the Michelin Guide or 50 Best, but for people who really enjoy food, you want to reflect on it. When you have good hospitality, and people are telling you where your food came from, and what inspired the recipes, it's fun—but for us, we're always analyzing, getting inspiration, so we're still working. Sometimes, the day after all of that, you just want to have an empanada.

This place Rausell's was also amazing—apostando por la cocina de mercado (supporting the market restaurant) [is their slogan]. I got fried squid, seafood, fish collars. It's not exactly cheap, but the quality for the price is great.

If you could fly back for one meal, what would it be?

La Salita de Begoña Rodrigo. For the whole experience, and their take on vegetables. There are so many vegetables like zucchini blossoms and she uses the kombucha SCOBY in interesting ways. I had this dish, like a spaghetti carbonara, but instead of using spaghetti or tagliatelle, it used vegetables. Fennel was used in place of penne. When you go to Valencia, you eat meat and seafood and everything is nice and salty, but when you want to have vegetables—like a veggie tasting—this is where you go. The desserts were also amazing.

Ricard Camarena is a very technical chef, very precise, and the way he cures tuna it's almost like a ham. He uses soy sauce for this umami reduction, so it's more meaty than fishy. He has a great juice-pairing with teas, and infusions. When you go to Spain, of course there's great wine and wine culture, so you don't expect such a high quality of extracts and non-alcoholic options. It's a very complete restaurant. Even the bread service was amazing: There was a sourdough with a croissant flavor. Really, really good.

Did you bring anything home?

As usual, cheese and ham. I love goat and sheep's milk cheeses from Spain. There's one from the northern Spain, Basque country, Idiazabal, that I love. I also brought back some black truffles, olive oil, and cans of mussels and squid—all the basics of Spanish cuisine. It filled a whole suitcase.

Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler

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