i. Biography
Manuel Alonso is chef at Casa Manolo in Daimús, Valencia, Spain, the family-run restaurant founded by his grandparents in Valencia. The restaurant’s work sits in a coastal Valencian register: Mediterranean product, rice culture, traditional Spanish gastronomy, and hospitality treated as part of the craft rather than as decoration around it. At Casa Manolo, inheritance functions as working material. The dining room, the product choices, and the kitchen’s restraint all point back to a family house that has learned its place through service. In Alonso’s hands, the reference points remain specific: the sea, the market, the Valencian appetite for rice, and a Spanish cooking tradition built on clarity, generosity, and depth of flavor.
The Path
Service formed the first discipline at Casa Manolo in Daimús, Valencia, Spain, where Manuel Alonso worked as maître until 2011. That dining-room training matters in a kitchen led by a former front-of-house practitioner: pacing, welcome, timing, and the weight of small gestures become part of how the food is conceived, not just how it is delivered. Since 2011, the chef / head of the kitchen role at Casa Manolo has carried that service knowledge into the stove. Alonso’s move from maître to kitchen lead reads as continuity within the same house: hospitality expressed first through the room, then through cooking that depends on precision, warmth, and a clear sense of purpose.
The Work Today
The cuisine is market-driven and product-focused, using light nuances to enhance flavor and quality while staying daring, creative, and faithful to traditional flavors. The useful tension is clear: freshness without austerity, creativity without excess, tradition without rigidity. Product remains the center of gravity; the kitchen works around it with restraint and intention. Mediterranean cuisine rooted in the coastal traditions of the Valencia region gives the restaurant its working vocabulary. Traditional cuisine and Spanish gastronomy sit at the center of that practice, with rice dishes carrying particular weight in the restaurant’s identity. In this setting, rice is a coastal language: a vehicle for technique, memory, and the flavors of the surrounding landscape. Rice is one of the clearest signatures at Casa Manolo because it is treated as a defining expression of place, not as an accessory. Through Alonso, it connects the restaurant’s family history with its contemporary voice while keeping the house anchored in Valencia’s coastal cooking culture. Presentation is also treated as part of the table craft. Custom KRION tableware was designed for bread, snacks, rice, desserts, and a special olive-oil plate, each piece made to complement and highlight his culinary creations. The plate, vessel, and service object become part of the same decision-making system as the dish itself: how it arrives, how it is framed, and how each detail supports the experience.
Signature
Signature dishes include Seafood paella and Custom KRION tableware for bread.
Acclaim
Manuel's honors include First Michelin star for Casa Manolo (2014), First Repsol Sun for Casa Manolo (2014), and 2 Repsol Suns.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Manuel
What is Manuel Alonso's current role?
Manuel Alonso is Chef at Casa Manolo.
Where did Manuel Alonso work before?
Earlier in their career, Manuel Alonso worked at Casa Manolo.
What recognition has Manuel Alonso received?
First Michelin star for Casa Manolo (2014).
