Iago Pazos

The Path

Restaurant craft is learned differently when the pass, the floor, and the back office are all part of the same formation. In Iago Pazos’s case, work as chef, head waiter, food and beverage manager, and event manager built a practical reading of service from several angles: timing, heat, seasoning, product, welcome, pace, attention, and coordination. The cook has to read supply; the dining room has to read the table; the operation has to hold the rhythm between them. Pazos’s authority comes from that proximity to ingredients, guests, teams, and the small decisions that make service function. At Abastos 2.0 - Barra and Abastos 2.0 - Mesas, the Executive Chef role carries both craft and coordination. The work is organized around immediacy: what is available, what is local, and what can be served without excess.

The Work Today

Market-led cooking sets the terms across Abastos 2.0. Iago Pazos works only with what arrives each day from the market, a rule that removes the safety of a fixed repertoire. Weather, catch, season, and coast all affect the day’s possibilities, so the market functions as the kitchen’s working brief rather than a supply stop. Galician seafood gives that brief its structure. Mussels, fish, shellfish, and the changing measure of season are handled through a local lens, with preparations that do not push the product into a predetermined form. The discipline is knowing when the ingredient has said enough. Mejillones at Abastos 2.0 is a recovered dish from a sailors’ tavern, with mussels as the main protagonists. Its value is in the joining of source and material: a tavern memory, a coastal ingredient, and a dish brought back into use. The mussels are not garnish or support; they carry the dish. Galician wines work in the same register. They extend the place-based logic of the cooking, sitting with seafood, market supply, and table service as another local expression rather than an accessory. The technical position is stated plainly by Pazos: “For me, in cuisine, if there is technique, it should not be seen. It should not take precedence over the product.” The craft is present, but it is meant to disappear into precision. Product remains the lead; technique clarifies rather than competes.

In Their Words “My passion for cooking originates in the connection with culinary memory, evoking the flavours of my childhood and the aromas that filled the kitchen at home.” “For me, in cuisine, if there is technique, it should not be seen. It should not take precedence over the product.”

Acclaim

Recognition for the work includes Michelin Bib Gourmand for Abastos 2.0 - Mesas (2024) and Opinionated About Dining Casual Europe ranking #873 for Abastos 2.0 - Barra (2025).