La carta se escribe en la mañana

I'm often asked how the Olivea menu gets written. The answer disappoints anyone hoping for a system: it is written in the morning, walking the garden, seeing what woke up ready and what asked for more time. The first decision of the day is not mine. The soil makes it.

That forces a kitchen without attachments. You cannot fall in love with a dish: the dish depends on a plant that will be someone else tomorrow. You fall in love with a criterion — respect what arrived, don't disguise it. The Green Star speaks to that: not to the plate, but to the soil that makes it possible.

Drawing trained me better than any school. In a line drawing there is nowhere to hide: every stroke stays visible. A short menu written at dawn is the same. Few elements. None of them filler. Everything confessed.