I really enjoyed reading this Chef! It took me back to my early years in kitchens, especially 2018–2021 at Mugaritz. What made that place feel artistically alive to me wasn’t polish or comfort, but the willingness to sit with discomfort, friction, even rejection. Where most restaurants optimise relentlessly for satisfaction, Andoni's vision at Mugaritz was always more interested in the space between satisfaction and disgust, and in what emotions we’re trained to push away.
Dani Lasa who was the very first guest on my podcast once put it very simply when I spoke with him: most of the industry chases pleasure, but perfection often lives at the edge of imperfection. That idea stayed with me. The risk, the controversy, the possibility of failure weren’t side effects, they were the point.
That’s why I sometimes wonder if the question isn’t “is cooking art?”, but whether the restaurant format itself can hold artistic risk when hospitality is structurally designed around comfort, reassurance, and value-for-money. Inviting discomfort is a hard sell in a medium that people also rely on for nourishment and care.
Really appreciate how you’re opening this space up, saw a few of your recent videos and also very intrigued about the upcoming book idea you have mentioned!
Thank you very much for your comment!. Your point about whether the restaurant format can carry the risk is very interesting, and I strongly agree. I haven’t thought about Mugaritz in the way you described before, but it sheds light on my own experience there, which honestly left me perplexed.
I completely understand that sense of perplexity, and it’s something I’ve heard from many diners over the years. Especially at Mugaritz, the experience seems to hinge heavily on how the narrative lands in the room.
One recurring issue I noticed is that service and storytelling become a critical part of the medium, and that’s where things can falter. With English not being the first language for many on the floor, and with the difficulty of hiring service staff who can confidently carry complex ideas, the vision doesn’t always land as intended with international diners. I’m not even sure this is something the team is fully aware of, because from the inside the ideas can feel self-evident.
When dishes rely less on immediate flavour impact and more on concept, symbolism, or provocation, the absence of clear narration makes that friction much sharper. That, to me, highlights how fragile this kind of artistic ambition is within the restaurant format. If art in food isn’t fully self-explanatory, it needs mediators as much as makers. And those mediators are human: tired, multilingual, unevenly trained, sometimes disconnected from the larger intent.
Which circles back to your question. The issue may not be whether cooking is art, but whether the restaurant as a structure can reliably carry artistic risk to a diverse audience without losing meaning along the way. That tension is part of what makes places like Mugaritz so compelling, and also so difficult.
I really enjoyed reading this Chef! It took me back to my early years in kitchens, especially 2018–2021 at Mugaritz. What made that place feel artistically alive to me wasn’t polish or comfort, but the willingness to sit with discomfort, friction, even rejection. Where most restaurants optimise relentlessly for satisfaction, Andoni's vision at Mugaritz was always more interested in the space between satisfaction and disgust, and in what emotions we’re trained to push away.
Dani Lasa who was the very first guest on my podcast once put it very simply when I spoke with him: most of the industry chases pleasure, but perfection often lives at the edge of imperfection. That idea stayed with me. The risk, the controversy, the possibility of failure weren’t side effects, they were the point.
That’s why I sometimes wonder if the question isn’t “is cooking art?”, but whether the restaurant format itself can hold artistic risk when hospitality is structurally designed around comfort, reassurance, and value-for-money. Inviting discomfort is a hard sell in a medium that people also rely on for nourishment and care.
Really appreciate how you’re opening this space up, saw a few of your recent videos and also very intrigued about the upcoming book idea you have mentioned!
Thank you very much for your comment!. Your point about whether the restaurant format can carry the risk is very interesting, and I strongly agree. I haven’t thought about Mugaritz in the way you described before, but it sheds light on my own experience there, which honestly left me perplexed.
I completely understand that sense of perplexity, and it’s something I’ve heard from many diners over the years. Especially at Mugaritz, the experience seems to hinge heavily on how the narrative lands in the room.
One recurring issue I noticed is that service and storytelling become a critical part of the medium, and that’s where things can falter. With English not being the first language for many on the floor, and with the difficulty of hiring service staff who can confidently carry complex ideas, the vision doesn’t always land as intended with international diners. I’m not even sure this is something the team is fully aware of, because from the inside the ideas can feel self-evident.
When dishes rely less on immediate flavour impact and more on concept, symbolism, or provocation, the absence of clear narration makes that friction much sharper. That, to me, highlights how fragile this kind of artistic ambition is within the restaurant format. If art in food isn’t fully self-explanatory, it needs mediators as much as makers. And those mediators are human: tired, multilingual, unevenly trained, sometimes disconnected from the larger intent.
Which circles back to your question. The issue may not be whether cooking is art, but whether the restaurant as a structure can reliably carry artistic risk to a diverse audience without losing meaning along the way. That tension is part of what makes places like Mugaritz so compelling, and also so difficult.
fascinating Christian! I just sent you a dm here on Substack -Chef Harrison :)