Eneko Atxa’s Azurmendi restaurant, the best in Europe

The Basque restaurant Azurmendi, headed by the chef Eneko Atxa, has been rated the best in Europe in the OAD (Opinionated About Dining) ranking, one of the world’s most prestigious restaurant ratings. Azurmendi already has three Michelin stars, which means it was already among the top few in the world, but in 2015 the OAD ranking has pushed it up no less than 18 places higher than last year, putting it in the top spot. Opinionated About Dining or OAD is a rating system for restaurants created by Steve Plotnicki, which is drawn up by a group of expert connoisseurs who are highly qualified in the culinary arts and travel the world to experience gastronomy. Immediately behind Atxa’s cuisine in this year’s rating are the French restaurants Troisgros in Roanne and L'Arpège in Paris. Upon hearing the news Eneko Atxa used Twitter to thank his customers for their confidence, recognising them as “the soul of the house" in Basque Spanish and English. Haute cuisine has a distinctive home in the Basque Country, which has the world’s highest concentration of Michelin stars. In this year’s OAD ranking there are seven restaurants in the Basque Country shown among Europe’s top 100. Apart from Azurmendi the list includes Etxebarri (Axpe), Arzak (San Sebastián), Elkano (Getaria), Mugaritz (Errenteria), Martín Berasategui (Lasarte) and Ibai (San Sebastián).