i. Biography
Alhucemas earned One Sol from Guía Repsol in 2015 for a table built on product, control, and a coastal register rather than display. In the cooking of Miguel Palomo García, strong raw materials, seafood products, and Spanish and North African culinary traditions are treated as working foundations. The line is direct: heat, oil, rice, shellfish, and fish handled with enough discipline for plain cooking to show its difficulty.
Coming Up
Rice dishes and fried fish function at Alhucemas as primary techniques, not references. In Miguel Palomo García’s work, childhood and youth entered the menu through forms that depend on repetition: rice cooked to the point, fish fried cleanly, family and coastline translated into kitchen practice. Their apparent ease sits on timing, instinct, and respect for product. By the early 21st century, the quality of the fried fish had become one of Alhucemas’s defining measures. The method rested on extra-virgin olive oil, careful frying, and seafood dishes such as boquerones al limón, taquitos de mero, and calamares. The cooking worked through texture, temperature, and product character: a clean fry, tenderness inside, and enough acidity to lift the fish without covering it. Ensaladilla de bogavante set a clear hierarchy inside a familiar Spanish form. Miguel Palomo García made the lobster salad without potatoes, using finely chopped lobster with small pieces of egg and carrot, bound with mayonnaise. The outline remains recognizable, but the structure is ingredient-led: lobster first, garnish second. Castañitas, small cephalopods from Isla Cristina served grilled at Alhucemas, show the kitchen’s reliance on direct technique. Seafood meets fire, with the grill drawing out a darker marine register. Fried salmonetes and floured calamares were also among the dishes Palomo García used to surprise Adrià at the restaurant, evidence that the force of the kitchen came from precision applied to already expressive products.
The Work Today
Seafood products and strong raw materials still organize the cooking, with shellfish from Galicia, Cádiz, and Huelva placed alongside lobster ensaladilla, grilled castañitas, and rice dishes. Alhucemas continues to read as a coastal restaurant: attentive to origin, but just as attentive to the techniques that make those origins legible on the plate. Atlantic coast ingredients and techniques that honor Spanish and North African culinary traditions define the restaurant’s working vocabulary. The structure is coastal produce, Andalusian frying, rice cookery, and a southern-Mediterranean memory of spice, sea, and fire. The forms are familiar, but they carry depth when handled correctly: good oil, grill smoke, warm rice, shellfish salinity, and a cuisine clear about its ground.
The Record
Miguel's honors include One Sol for Alhucemas (2015).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Miguel
What is Miguel Palomo García's day job?
Miguel Palomo García is chef at Alhucemas — Andalusian-Seafood.
What recognition has Miguel Palomo García received?
One Sol for Alhucemas (2015).
What is Miguel Palomo García known for?
Rice dishes and fried fish stood out on Alhucemas's menu, influenced by his childhood and youth.
