Which restaurants have been awarded with Soles Repsol in 2023?

We already know the Soles Repsol that will complete the 2023 Repsol Guide. On February 27, at a venue held in Alicante, these distinctions were awarded, recognizing the best restaurants in Spain and Portugal. But do you already know what the Soles Repsol are?

Soles Repsol: What are they?

The Repsol Suns are the Spanish version of the Michelin stars and appear in the Repsol Guide. This was born in 1979 under the name of Guía del viajero, a tourist guide with road maps, routes, service stations, hotels and restaurants in Spain, Portugal, Andorra and the south of France. The Confraría de la Buena Mesa, a gastronomic brotherhood in Madrid was in charge of evaluating the restaurants, awarding ‘suns’ and not ‘stars’; and up to 4 soles compared to 3 for Michelin.

Why are they called ‘Soles‘ (suns)?

One might think that the sun is the perfect icon to identify an award given by Repsol, as it resembles the company’s logo. The truth is the story is a bit less simple. Already in 1974, Gonzalo Sol, a member of the beforementioned brotherhood, created after himself the Sol Gastronomic Guides, which could be considered the predecessor to the Guía del viajero. But in the 1980s, it was renamed Guía Campsa, a gas company, and replaced the suns with gasoline pumps, granting a maximum of three. It will not be until the fusion of Campsa and Repsol that the guide will receive its current name with the following categories:

• 3 Soles: they distinguish the best restaurants of the year.
• 2 Soles: They guarantee excellent quality in cuisine and service.
• 1 Sol: they recognize restaurants with high quality cuisine and sufficient variety.

The new Soles Repsol

This year, the Repsol Guide has distinguished a total of 101 new restaurants: 2 with three Suns, 18 with two Suns and 81 with one Repsol Sun.

The restaurants Corral de Moreira (Madrid) and Moralba (Albacete) are the new additions to the highest category: the 3 Soles of the Repsol Guide 2023. In addition, the Bo:TIC restaurant by Albert Sastregener and Cristina Torrent, located in Corçà (Girona), has obtained its second Sol. This one is a gastronomic project that regularly collaborates with our Master in Culinary Arts and Kitchen Management through master classes conducted by them.

As a whole, the 2023 Repsol Guide for Spain and Portugal has 43 restaurants with 3 Suns, 164 establishments recognized with 2 Suns and 506 with 1 Repsol Sun.

EUHT StPOL Alumni and the Repsol Guide

What makes us most excited to tell you is that former students of EUHT StPOL are in charge of different restaurants in Spain recognized with the Soles of gastronomy. To the 7 Michelin stars that in 2022 are held by chefs who once studied at EUHT StPOL, are added multiple Soles Repsol. Some of them, and just to give a few examples, are:

3 Soles:

• Ramon Freixa Restaurant (Madrid) – Chef Ramon Freixa

2 Soles:

• Restaurante Xavier Pellicer (Barcelona) – Chef Xavier Pellicer
• Restaurante Bardal (Ronda) – Chef Benito Gómez
• Restaurnte La Boscana (Bellvís) – Chef Joel Castanyé
• Restaurante Béns d’Avall (Sóller) – chef Jaume Vicens

1 Sol:

• Tresmacarrons restaurant (El Masnou)– chef Miquel Aldana
• Alejandro restaurant (Roquetas de Mar)– chef Alejandro Sánchez
• El Club Allard restaurant (Madrid)– chef José Carlos Fuentes
• Tram-Tram restaurant (Barcelona) – chef Isidre Solé

Congratulations to all of the winners of the Repsol Guide 2022!