Angel Zapata Martin

The Climb

The line starts with strict kitchen discipline at Can Fabes in Barcelona, where Angel Zapata Martin worked as Sous Chef. That foundation carried into Ossiano in Dubai, where he stepped into the Head Chef role and applied the same rigor in a different city. Back in Barcelona, he took on Head Chef and teacher duties at Hofmann School and its one Michelin-starred restaurant, joining service and instruction in the same post. Private Chef work followed in Ibiza, Saint-Tropez, Megeve, and London, a mode of cooking that depends on discretion as much as consistency. He later became Chef Director at Barrafina (2017–2023), where the demands of leadership sat alongside the fundamentals that shaped the rest of the career.

Today

The core of the cooking is Authentic Spanish tapas. Within that register, Patatas Bravísimas stands as the signature work: direct, legible, and anchored in the Spanish language that runs from Barcelona to London through Angel Zapata Martin. It is the kind of dish that does its work without excess, relying on timing, calibration, and the confidence to leave the format intact. The arc is steady. Sous Chef, Head Chef, Head Chef and Teacher, then Chef Director: the titles shift, but each one asks for command of a different room. The cities change from Barcelona to Dubai to London and beyond, yet the same requirement follows the work. Angel Zapata Martin’s own words are blunt on that point: pride is tied to difficulty, and ease is beside the point.

Signature

Angel's signature dishes include artichoke tortilla and Patatas Bravísimas.

In Their Words “It's going to be quite challenging. We could bring somebody who does something much more in the style of Barrafina. It would be easier, but I like this challenge, this very radical difference!”

Recognition

The formal weight in Angel Zapata Martin’s career comes through responsibility in serious kitchens and through the Michelin-linked teaching post in Barcelona. As Head Chef and Teacher at Hofmann School and its one-star restaurant, he worked at the point where service and instruction met, with the day split between producing and passing on the standard. The six-year Barrafina chapter in London put that experience in public view. It also fixed his name to a role centered on Spanish tapas, with Patatas Bravísimas as the dish most clearly associated with the work.