He said he feels lucky because as the whole world is looking to vegetable dishes, his restaurant specializes in that.
Rodrigo said two great chefs in Spain he worked with influenced him the most. One of them is Andoni L. Aduriz, whose restaurant, Mugaritz, has two Michelin stars. Andoni uses only herbs, flowers and vegetables. The other influential chef is Martin Berasategui, whose restaurant has three Michelin stars. Berasategui uses traditional foodstuff to prepare creative dishes.
The chef himself is not a vegetarian and does not think he will become one. But he eats just a small amount of meat and fish. Although he would like to concentrate on vegetable dishes, it would make it difficult for his restaurant to survive in its town of 25,000 residents.
Rodrigo de la Calle believes the guests can tell their chef’s mood through the food. When he is not happy, guests will feel sad. When the chef’s happy, customers will be happy, too. The emotion can infuse itself in food. And guests are able to tell.
“There is only one best food no matter where in the world — the one chefs treat well,” he says.
He used to tell his colleagues in the restaurant: "When you serve food to the customer, you should think the dish is for your mom. When you take it away, you should think it is a pity the dish is not for me."
He thinks Ferran Adria is a milestone in Spanish cooking. If there is a book of Spanish cooking, it should be divided to “Before Ferran” and “After Ferran”, he says. Although Adria is important, the chefs thinks there are more than 20 chefs who cook like him. “Each chef is unique, because they will do what they want to do, and have their own specialties, be it seafood, or vegetables,” he said.
Only in the past four years has the chef been touring around the world to make cooking demonstrations.
"When I first started cooking, Michelin star chefs are like football stars to me," says Rodrigo de la Calle. "Sometimes I still don’t believe I’m one, and will pinch myself on the hand to make sure I’m not dreaming."
But he doesn’t think he has succeeded. “It has all only started,” he says. “Maybe if one day I open a restaurant in China and make a lot of money, I will consider myself successful.”
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