A delight in Jaen
Since the night of last November 20, the telephone number of Lady Joan has not stopped ringing: getting a table right now in the restaurant means waiting, at least, a few months . The reason? This michelin star unexpected surprise that absolutely amazed everyone, starting with the ship's captain himself, the Chef Juan Aceituno.
And he was surprised, among other things, because it had only been 9 months since he had embarked on this new gastronomic project : in March he opened the doors of his restaurant in the heart of the San Ildefonso neighborhood , the most traditional of Jaen , to continue polishing an interesting career behind the stove and continue shaping his own kitchen.
But the star, beyond recognition, came to say much more. Something that had been seen coming for a long time: that the talent that manages the Jaen cuisine is currently revolutionizing the gastronomic panorama of the Inland Andalusia. So clear.
Lady Juana's octopus
In fact, they were already warning us from the guide itself when they awarded the **first star of the province just a year ago to Bagá**, from Pedro Sanchez - alias Pedro - Another crack.
The point is that it's already two out of two, and something tells us that things are going to go further. So to understand a little better what is happening in the gastronomic scene in Jaén , we have not gone to speak with its protagonists. And this is all we have been told.
UNION MAKE FORCE
Walking through the doors of Dama Juana, the first to greet us from a colorful portrait hanging on the wall is Doña Juana, the grandmother of Juan Aceituno and she is honored in this temple to good eating.
She was the one who instilled in her grandson that passion for cooking forever , her traditional one, and this gastronomic bet was dedicated to her just 16 days before she died. "She had a table reserved for a couple of weeks later, but she didn't get to eat here," Juan tells us, who has the consolation of, at least, having done the well deserved tribute in life.
One of the wonderful creations of Dama Juana
The environment is calm, relaxed , and even though the team has spent weeks working at 100% to carefully attend to each of his clients, he does not lose the enormous smile on his face. Juan still finds it hard to believe that the Michelin star is at home . He is still living in a cloud. "I was so nervous the day of the gala that when my name was called I started taking my jacket off even before I got on stage." Normal, John. Normal.
Here, in his house, the Lady Juana, the young chef strives to showcase your culinary ingenuity taking each ingredient to its maximum point of splendor. That's what makes him different. “ Mine is traditional cuisine taken to the sublime ”, he comments. No avant-garde touches, he does not consider himself a creative cook. “I throw away memories, and that is why what gives me the most satisfaction is when a customer tries my dishes and he tells me that he reminds him of what his grandmother prepared for him, or his mother …”. That's what it's all about: bringing the past to the present.
Teachers of the high kitchen as powerful as Manolo of the Bear , from the now disappeared Las Rejas de Cuenca, or Nacho Manzano . "In martial house I was in two different stages of my training, a total of two years. Nacho was the one who polished me off before opening my own restaurant.”
Lady Juana's cheese cart
A restaurant, olive garden , who saw life on the outskirts of Jaén, on an inhospitable road where no one passed. The beginnings were hard, but little by little he became stronger to the point of get the Bib Gourmand . "The time came when the restaurant could not evolve any more, and I had two options: either continue with the business, which was already profitable, or take risks and continue developing as a person and as a cook." And so Lady Juana was born.
For taste his art in the kitchen , and unlike what usually happens in many star restaurants, here you can choose one of their two tasting menus - the Otina Menu , with 18 dishes, and the Finca La Parrilla Menu, 7 —, or by ordering a la carte. Even if you just want to try a few portions in a more relaxed atmosphere, in Dama Juana it is possible to do it in the bar area of the restaurant.
Among the chef's flavors and proposals, much indigenous product To shape dishes so rooted in Andalusian culture as their Gazpacho for the rich, seafood for the poor , a modernized reinterpretation of the appetizer that his grandfather and father had when they got home after a full day's work. It complements delicacies such as shrimps, a lettuce cream and trout roe . Oh… How wonderful.
That yes: there is a fetish ingredient for Aceituno —and with that last name, we can start imagining it—: the Jaén extra virgin olive oil . One of those responsible, in the words of the chef himself, for the gastronomic revolution that the city is experiencing. “ It coincides that at the moment we are a group of young chefs eager to do well and fight for our land , also accompanied by young olive oil producers. Some of us pull on others, and others pull on one”. Clearer, impossible.
Roasted quail, buñuelo from its interiors and Dama Juana sweet potato
In fact, Dama Juana has her own winery composed of approximately 80 different olive oils , the 95% with the seal of Jaén . Aceituno does not understand his cuisine without that liquid gold that takes shape, color and flavor in more than 68 million olive trees that grow in Jaén lands, where the best EVOO in the world . There is no doubt that everything, absolutely everything, tastes better this way.
THE 'RARE' CUISINE ALSO DESERVES A STAR
They are also great **lovers of EVOO in Bagá**, you couldn't expect anything else. And of course, it is an essential ingredient in your kitchen. A kitchen that own Pedro Sánchez, chef and owner of the “Estrellado” restaurant —In the best of the senses, of course—, he defines as “rare”. “Rare?” we ask. “Yes, rare: it is very simple apparently, but then it is complex in terms of thought. Sometimes it's not about creating, but about having personality”. And that is precisely what he dedicates more effort to when working.
With two years of life, Bagá was also one of those premature restaurants in terms of recognition. The star came to him in 2018 , when he was one year old, one more piece of information that demonstrates what we mentioned about the revolution in the kitchens of Jaén.
“I think that Jaén still has a lot to say, we are a very rich province both culturally and gastronomically , what happens is that it is a great unknown, we need tourism to take notice of us”, he tells us under the protection of some winter sunbeams in a small square next to the restaurant. Although “one of the good things we have on this earth is that all the cooks get along very well . We know each other and make pineapple, there is a healthy competition”.
Says a professional who has passed through the kitchen of restaurants like Lasarte, from Berasategui, from whom he admits having inherited discipline and seriousness when it comes to working. He would later put himself under the orders of Dani Garcia in Tragabuches . “From Dani I still have the creativity that he had, the self-confidence when taking the Andalusian recipe book and transforming it”. His trajectory would end in a French Relais & Châteaux with two Michelin stars before deciding to bet on his own business, which, of course, saw life in the heart of Jaén.
There, also in the neighborhood of San Ildefonso, he fell in love with a small space of just 30 square meters, ideal for the project he had in mind: create a cozy place in which the diner would feel at home.
Pedro Sánchez, in Bagá
Three tables and a small bar where you can immerse yourself in the gastronomic world full of Sánchez's sensitivity make up his little world, the same one in which he recreates doing true poetry with the ingredients.
Among his most emblematic recipes are the revered pickled shrimp , a classic of the house and one of the 18 dishes that make up his tasting menu. Recipes that vary according to the season and the creativity of the chef , that he enjoys like a child giving new interpretations to products, especially his prized vegetables , which make up 80% of your proposals.
“Haute cuisine has to be healthy, and there is many myths about vegetables at mealtime . Possibly they are the ingredients that have more soul and are more different from each other. A cauliflower has nothing to do with a tomato: each one has its texture, its flavor, its aroma… And you can play a lot with them”. We can not agree more.
Bagá or excellence bathed in extra virgin olive oil
The best thing is that the Jaen orchard allows you to access a product of the highest quality, one of the most outstanding aspects of their land. “ Olive oil covers 100% of the care , but then we are the second cherry producer in Spain , for instance. And we have many natural parks that supply us with ingredients such as mushrooms”, the chef tells us.
And so, in this way, with a lot of work and effort, both culinary geniuses have managed to place Jaén, even more strongly, if possible, on the culinary map of Spain. Do you need more excuses to consider a gastronomic getaway to the city? We, it is not for nothing, but we see it clearly.
It was about time to give that inland Andalusia the space it deserves.
The baga room