Restaurant El Cabo Norte, located on the Mojácar seafront, has been honoured with a “Plato de Oro” National Gastronomy Award by Radio Turismo.
María Moreno Galdón, whose whole life revolves around the running the restaurant, excitedly received the news, although with a degree of surprise adding, she felt “so happy for my team as well as for the gastronomy in the area that is in need of recognition.”
Radio Turismo, with the official support of the Ministry of Tourism,
set up these awards as a way of recognizing the work of gastronomy professionals. Since it was initiated in 1985, great restaurants like Adriá, Arola, and Arzak, amongst others, have been recipients of a “Plato de Oro”.
They constantly seek out top professionals, chefs and restaurants who strive for excellence in gastronomy, without needing to be in the top end guides, but whose optimal work and customer service make them deserving winners.
María Moreno has been cooking for thirty years and, the last sixteen have been in Mojácar, with El Cabo Norte celebrating its third anniversary this summer. Gaining success by her efforts, hard work and sheer determination, she is self-taught although would love to take time out to take a specialized course, if only her hectic work schedule would allow it.
At times she feels misses the support of the classroom, however Maria has honed her craft by “eating and trying”, as she says and whatever free she has time she is always visiting other restaurants on the lookout for “what’s cooking” everywhere she goes.
This research combined with endless samples and experiments in the kitchen, a natural talent and enthusiasm for her work, make her a more than worthy winner of the National Gastronomy Award. The menu at El Cabo Norte is made up of original dishes designed in their own kitchen and from the initial idea of a dish until it is served the customer, can take six to eight months of intense development.
Using her team as first tasters, followed by a second round of trying out the creations on friends and trusted customers, every new recipe is a long process of experimentation, just like an alchemist, before it makes an appearance on the menu. For María, her work is never ending, as every year she completely renews the menu, describing her cuisine as Mediterranean and always the very best ingredients.
In her expert hands, she cooks up a range of delicious dishes that always impress her customers, whatever their palate, who come from far and wide to savour the food, of which the slow cooked white sea bass is a favourite.
The award is also good news for the region and, for Mojácar, highlighting an additional attraction and “unforgettable memory” in a great way, with the wonderful food, friendly service and hospitality of María Moreno and her team at El Cabo Norte.
