David Arauz

Career Sushi counter discipline sits at the center of David Arauz’s work: in Madrid, his control over rice, fish temperature, and balance has shaped Zuara Sushi into a restaurant built on restraint rather than ornament. The chef-owner role there reflects a compact but direct path through the trade, with the logic of sushi carried through into every decision on the plate. - Current role: chef-owner of Zuara Sushi. - Earlier career: Sushi Bar chef at 99 Sushi Bar in Barcelona. - Michelin: the Madrid restaurant earned a Michelin star in 2023. - Repsol: it received a Repsol Sun in 2023.

Signature

At the counter, Arauz’s signature work leans on clarity: hamachi with citrusy ponzu, bluefin toro nigiri, and spicy temaki each show a different side of the same discipline, where freshness, richness, and immediacy are held in balance rather than pushed apart. The range is narrow by design, and that narrowness is the point; the cooking reads as exact, composed, and rooted in the formal demands of sushi. Vanilla miso ice cream closes that language with a contrast that stays within the same register. Familiar sweetness meets savory depth, giving the menu a final note that is precise rather than decorative. In that sense, the dish matches the rest of Zuara Sushi: clean in intent, measured in execution, and attentive to the small shifts that define the craft.

Recognition

Recognition for Zuara Sushi arrived in 2023, when the restaurant earned a Michelin star and a Repsol Sun. Those distinctions marked a firm public reading of what the room already communicated: that Arauz’s work had settled into a clear identity, and that the consistency behind it was strong enough to register immediately in Madrid’s competitive dining scene.