Stellar night for Catalan restaurants Enigma, Aleia, Mont Bar and La Boscana receive second Michelin stars

The Michelin guide has awarded a spate of Catalan restaurants their second Michelin stars.

The gastronomic creativity of Enigma, the restaurant led by chef Albert Adrià, Aleia, at the Hotel Casa Fuster, La Boscana, by Joel Castañé; and Mont Bar, led by Francisco José Agudo.

Enigma had been in search of their second star for years, and finally received the distinction seven years after earning its first. 

The latest Michelin guide was announced on Tuesday evening at a gala in Málaga. 

Among the new two-starred restaurants, the Catalans have been dominant. In addition to the four Catalan establishments, another in Madrid run by a Catalan has also joined the list.

Albert Adrià's restaurant also bagged 34th place in prestigious '50 Best' ranking in the last edition.

Aleia is located on the first floor of the Casa Fuster hotel, a building designed by the modernist architect Domènech i Muntaner. The Catalan businessman Mariano Fuster i Fuster gave the house to his wife, Consol Fabra i Puig, daughter of the Marquis of Alella, from which the name of the space derives.

In the next edition of the guide, La Boscana, located in Bellvís, in rural western Catalonia at the hands of chef Joel Castañé, was also given its second star. The 60,000 square meter space with an intimate culinary proposal has room for just eight tables.

In Barcelona's Eixample, Mont Bar, by chef Fran Agudo, who came from the elBulli school and was head chef at Tickets, now applies creativity to classic recipes and turns appetizers into a symbol.

And, finally, the fifth restaurant to enter the select space of the two stars has been the Catalan chef Ramon Freixa, from l'Atelier, who once again boasts two stars with his establishment in Madrid.

Chef Enric Buendía with Kamikaze and Koichi Kuwabara, from Scapar, received their first Michelin stars.

Michelin has not added any new three-starred stars in this edition of the guide. The restaurants that already had them will retain the distinction, such as ABaC, Cocina Hermanos Torres, Disfrutar, and Lasarte, along with the Girona-based and veteran Celler de Can Roca.