Chef
Aitor Jeronimo Orive
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Singapore, Singapore
i. Biography
Born in Madrid and raised in Australia, Aitor Jeronimo Orive brought Basque cooking a set of references shaped by distance as much as by technique. Charcoal, seafood, stews, and big cuts of meat sit close to the center of that cooking, giving it a practical emotional register: comfort-forward, disciplined, and attentive to place without treating place as decoration.
The Path
Training at Valencia set the base before a run through kitchens where precision and pressure are part of the job. Orive worked as chef de partie at The Fat Duck in London, then moved to Mugaritz in Spain as chef, and later to Nerua Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain, also as chef. Each stop added another layer to a style that tracks texture, control, and a clear sense of origin. In 2016, that path extended into Shanghai, where he became chef at Barbarossa Paco Roncero (from 2016). The same year, he also took on the role of chef at Iggy's in Singapore (2016–2018). Taken together, those posts place Orive inside a wider exchange: Basque cooking carried into international kitchens without being flattened into cliché. Since 2018, Basque Kitchen by Aitor has been the fixed point in that sequence. There, the strands of training and movement come together in a restaurant built around his name and the cooking language it stands for.
The Work Today
At Basque Kitchen by Aitor in Singapore, the work stays close to the codes that define his practice. Charcoal, seafood, stews, and big cuts of meat are handled as working parts of a Basque Kitchen, not as nostalgic markers. The result is food that aims for directness and depth, with comfort doing real structural work. That approach has the feel of home cooking scaled for a professional room. It carries the logic of repetition, restraint, and familiarity, where the point is not to impress through complexity but to land with clarity. Orive’s own line about going for drinks and pintxos in the old parts of town fits that frame: eating as routine, social texture, and urban habit. Seen that way, the cooking reads less like a concept than a method of preserving atmosphere. The plate becomes a place where drinks, pintxos, old streets, and shared table rhythm are translated into form, with generosity and precision held in the same hand.
Signature
Aitor's signature dishes include Marmitako, Txuleta, Oxtail Bomba, and Sea Anemone Rice.
Acclaim
Aitor's honors include MICHELIN Guide Singapore — one MICHELIN star.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Aitor
Where did Aitor Jeronimo Orive train or study?
Aitor Jeronimo Orive trained at Valencia.
What recognition has Aitor Jeronimo Orive received?
MICHELIN Guide Singapore — one MICHELIN star (2019).
