This is Palodú, the new Michelin-starred restaurant in Málaga:

Cristina Cánovas and Diego Aguilar are, without a doubt, two of the happiest people in Málaga these days. The Michelin Guide gala recognized them as two of the new reference chefs in the national gastronomic scene, awarding them a Michelin Star for their work at the restaurant Palodú, just a few meters from the Atarazanas Market. Both showed equal parts nerves and excitement upon hearing their names in an auditorium full of personalities, role models, and friends from the profession who applauded their achievement with emotion.

"You expect something, but you really don't expect it, because it doesn't become real until they say your name. Today we are very happy, on cloud nine, assimilating. Yesterday I was in shock," admits Cristina Cánovas, still overwhelmed by the success, by reaping the rewards of hard work, the prize for the dedication and care they put into Palodú day after day. A project that started more than ten years ago, in 2014, with a very different idea or formula than the current one, adapted to the environment at that time, Teatinos, where the university pace demanded something else.

Cristina and Diego studied at the La Cónsula School of Hospitality, although it was later, while working, that they met. Both spent time abroad, shaping themselves in great kitchens, among stoves with some of the best in the national scene. "'What if we set up something?', we asked ourselves and that's where we started. We saw a tiny place, a burger joint, and we took it and remodeled it. Until two years ago when we changed location," explains the chef, a proponent of their famous 'dual cuisine.'

"This comes from way back. Initially, ten years ago, gastronomy was not as booming. Whenever they came to our restaurant, they would say: 'Oh, congratulations to the chef, congratulations to the chef.' And we always said: 'There isn't just one, there are two of us.' Here at the front, there are two. And from saying it so much, in the end, we said: 'Look, this is dual, there are two of us.' And in the end, we stuck with 'dual cuisine,'" explains Cristina Cánovas.

The Essence of Palodú

"The first idea of Palodú was to capture what we liked to do," recalls Cristina, who ventured with Diego, betting on what they know best: "This is a lifestyle for us. Our focus was for people to sit back and enjoy, enjoy as we do when it comes to eating. And then came the recognitions, also a result of work, perseverance, and ambition, because I'm not going to say no if you don't have ambition in life...".

The dining room of restaurant Palodú. / GOMA

Cristina and Diego focus on a cuisine grounded in local products and the Malaga recipe book, in the identity of the province. These are the technical bases which justified their rise to the first Michelin Star. They admit not knowing what they did to earn it, unaware of tricks or recipes to charm the guide's inspectors, although they are very clear about how it can be achieved: "By doing it very well." The chefs are clear that they aim to "do it very well and give a lot of love to the people," as well as always be alert to the details, which are "what make the difference in places when one goes, you have to be very attentive to them." "Also, having good products, betting on that. For example, our proposal is to work with products from here, from Málaga," they detail.

The 'dual cuisine' of Cristina and Diego

What can we find at Palodú? The restaurant offers two tasting menus, Palodú Menu and Alcazul Menu, the latter a bit shorter than the first, priced at 130 and 110 euros per diner, respectively. Both with wine pairing for 75 and 65 euros. Both start with a sequence of appetizers, several main courses, and a sweet finale that caps off the gastronomic journey led by Cristina and Diego with their 'dual cuisine.'

One of the proposals of Palodú. / GOMA

"In our kitchen, we have dishes that represent the city of Málaga a lot: ajoblanco, gazpachuelo... For example, we also have a little cake soaked with wine from Cómpeta. And really what we want is for people to taste in each bite the traditional dishes we have in the province," they argue about their tasting menus, both fixed but changeable, as working with local products can sometimes lead to alterations and changes of this type.

"I think that is the most difficult and at the same time the most exciting," says Cristina Cánovas, about the challenge of dealing with and sometimes reinterpreting the Malaga recipe book: "In the end, in every home, every grandmother, mother, or father, makes a stew and adds another type of ingredients, but you have to follow the basics. Making a gazpachuelo that reminds everyone who comes, who says: 'Ah, it reminds me of my grandmother's.' It's very beautiful, it means that we have hit the mark, you know? Being able to reach the point where everyone says it resembles this or that."