i. Biography
Oscar Velasco is cooking at VelascoAbellà in Madrid after a run through kitchens where standards were set by repetition, service, and exacting control. The work in Madrid reads as a later phase, not a reset: Santceloni, Zalacaín, and Finca Serena are part of the record that shaped the discipline he brings to the room now.
Coming Up
He entered the trade at ground level, first as a kitchen hand and then as chef of traditional castilian cuisine, a progression that speaks to craft built from service rather than from theory. The next steps were steady and public-facing: chef at Cabo Mayor, chef at La Concha in Segovia, chef at Can Fabes, and chef at Santceloni in Madrid, Spain. Each post added range, but the pattern stayed the same—careful advancement, technical refinement, and a respect for the demands of the line. In 2023–2023, he served as gastronomy leader at Finca Serena in Mallorca, closing that chapter in a setting that required precision to hold.
Where They Are Now
VelascoAbellà in Madrid gathers the older kitchens into one present tense. The practical years, the service pressure, and the standards learned across earlier posts now sit inside a narrower frame, where experience is less about accumulation than about clarity. The result is a chef whose present work is built from repetition, restraint, and the ability to keep pace with the room. His own language stays close to the trade: “In this new stage of the journey, we want to surround ourselves with what we feel identified with and with what has our work and life philosophy in common.” That line sets out the operating terms without decoration—fit, alignment, and a preference for shared values over display. It also matches a career shaped by exacting rooms rather than shortcuts. The pressure of the work is stated just as plainly: “Every day since I started working, I feel I can do more. Sometimes it's frustrating.” And the kitchen ethic underneath it is just as direct: “What the kitchen takes, the kitchen gives.”
In Their Words “In this new stage of the journey, we want to surround ourselves with what we feel identified with and with what has our work and life philosophy in common.” “Every day since I started working, I feel I can do more. Sometimes it's frustrating.”
Honors
Oscar's honors include Best Chef (2007), one Michelin star, and Chef L’Avenir (2006).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Oscar
Where did Oscar Velasco train or study?
Oscar Velasco trained at Hospitality Institute of Segovia.
What recognition has Oscar Velasco received?
Best Chef (2007).
