Kiko Moya

The Path

Trained as an Advanced Technician in Catering at the CdT of Alicante; internships included ElBulli., and those habits remain visible in the food at L'Escaleta, where he has worked as chef and chef propietario since 2005. The move from that formative kitchen to his own restaurant reads less as departure than as accumulation: technique kept intact, then tightened into a personal register.

The Work Today

That framework places the work in direct contact with landscape, season and local memory. The ingredients are not treated as interchangeable parts; they are positioned by context. In the rice work, that idea becomes especially clear, with texture and geometry doing part of the explanatory work. Arroces al Cuadrado is a dry squared rice enhanced by various seasonings and finished with a Mediterranean Mountain Essence, a dish built to register locality through structure rather than decoration. The square paellas extend that same logic into the pan itself. Moya created them by designing a rectangular iron pan to ensure precise control over the cooking of the rice, making the vessel part of the dish’s method and identity. The form is functional first, but it also defines the reading of the plate: line, surface and grain working together. “I like the rice to reflect seasonality and location, so that we are always very aware of where we are and what time of year it is when we eat that dish.” The point is direct: rice can be used as a marker of place and time, provided the cook keeps the dish accountable to both.

Signature

Kiko's signature dishes include Arroces al Cuadrado and square paellas.

In Their Words “I like the rice to reflect seasonality and location, so that we are always very aware of where we are and what time of year it is when we eat that dish.”

Acclaim

Kiko's honors include Michelin Guide, 2 stars and Repsol, 3 soles.