Chef
Braulio Simancas
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Spain
i. Biography
At El Silbo Gomero in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, island cooking was treated as working material rather than decoration. In Braulio Simancas’s kitchen, place came through product, seasoning, texture, and restraint: La Gomera, Tenerife, and memories of island kitchens were translated into dishes that stayed close to the archipelago without leaning on nostalgia. The register was local, but the handling was disciplined.
Career Arc
Island cooking entered the work early through Tesina Hotel in La Gomera, where Braulio Simancas worked close to the products, rhythms, and culinary memory of the islands. La Gomera remained more than a biographical stop; it became part of the kitchen vocabulary, especially in the treatment of inheritance, simplicity, and depth of flavor. A defined Canary language took shape with Tasca El Silbo Gomero in Tenerife (2002–2010), founded by Braulio Simancas. The address and its name carried island reference, but the work was practical: building a restaurant around local identity, measured generosity, recognizable preparations, and careful refinement. The period established an approach in which memory and technique were not separate gestures. Fine-dining discipline sharpened that island vocabulary at Las Aguas, Bahía del Duque Hotel (2010–2019), where Braulio Simancas became head chef and leader of the gastronomy restaurant. The Canary thread remained, now worked through a more formal frame: controlled textures, clearer presentation, and progression on the plate. Those years added polish to a culinary identity already attached to Canary places. The return to Tasca El Silbo Gomero in 2019, as executive chef, brought the work back to its foundational address with a longer technical memory behind it. In Braulio Simancas’s hands, the return reads less as repetition than consolidation: the same house, now informed by both island roots and the discipline of a gastronomy restaurant.
The Work Today
Canary Island roots, a modern, light and delicate touch, and impeccable technique define the current cooking at Silbo Gomero in Tenerife, where Braulio Simancas is chef ejecutivo, and at El Silbo Gomero in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where he is chef. The useful tension is clear: tradition sets the base, but the plate is not made heavy by it. Recovery of tradition, respect for Canary culinary heritage, and the exaltation of local island products form the working brief. In the cooking of Braulio Simancas, that brief appears through familiar Canary registers handled with craft rather than display. Michelin has highlighted meat cooked in a traditional marinade, the escaldón of fish and Gomeran gofio, and the frangollo with raisin jam and sweet wine as standout dishes. Each keeps a distinct part of the archipelago’s flavor memory in play: savory preparation, gofio-based substance, and a sweet register tied to familiar ingredients. Cheese is one of the more specific technical signatures. Since 2005, Braulio Simancas has been associated with maturing and refining Canary Island cheeses, and the unique cheeses on the menu are personally matured by him. That work sits outside the speed of service: it depends on observation, timing, and handling before a dish is ever assembled. The craft links milk, island product, and the chef’s hand through maturation rather than last-minute presentation. The cooking at El Silbo Gomero is rooted, but not fixed. Technique is used for clarity, not ornament, and Canary cuisine is allowed to remain local while being worked in a lighter, more contemporary register. In Braulio Simancas’s kitchen, memory is not the endpoint; it is the material being refined.
Awards and Standing
Braulio Simancas has received Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand for Silbo Gomero (2024). Recognition has come from within the Canary trade context, including Best Chef in the Canary Islands (2004) and Mejor Chef de Canarias (2017) for Braulio Simancas.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Braulio
What role does Braulio Simancas hold?
Braulio Simancas is chef at El Silbo Gomero in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.
Where did Braulio Simancas work before?
Earlier in their career, Braulio Simancas worked at Tesina Hotel, Tasca El Silbo Gomero, and Las Aguas, Bahía del Duque Hotel.
What recognition has Braulio Simancas received?
Best Chef in the Canary Islands (2004).
