i. Biography
From the lareira smoke of Boqueixón to the paced modern courses of Herentals, Roberto Filgueira’s arc runs through two sharply defined kitchens. The milestone came in 2025, when the MICHELIN Guide awarded a Bib Gourmand to O Balado in Boqueixón, Spain, recognizing the Galician restaurant where he worked as chef and operator.
Early Years
One essential chapter in Filgueira’s career is O Balado, where his work was rooted in Traditional Galician cooking rather than imported theatrics. In Boqueixón, the kitchen drew on local produce and short-supply-chain ingredients, giving the restaurant a regional center of gravity. The lareira, the open fireplace in the dining room, became more than atmosphere. Its wood-fire smoking shaped dishes such as smoked scallops and horse mackerel, both noted for carrying that fire-marked character directly to the plate. Another anchor was oxtail stew from Bandeira, slow-cooked in the regional tradition. The dish placed time, place, and technique at the center of the meal, showing how Filgueira’s Galician cooking could depend on patience as much as flame.
Making a Name
The 2025 MICHELIN Guide Bib Gourmand for O Balado marked the clearest public recognition of that work. A Bib Gourmand is awarded to restaurants that deliver notable cooking with value, and here it belonged to a kitchen built around Galician produce, smoke, and regional memory. For Filgueira, the honor did not describe a single dish in isolation. It gathered the restaurant’s larger identity: a table shaped by the lareira, by local ingredients, and by cooking that kept the region’s traditions active rather than ornamental. His role there was both chef and operator, a combination that tied the cooking to the running of the house. The food’s sense of place came through in the menu’s details, from shellfish touched by open-fire smoke to a slow stew linked to Bandeira.
The Present
At Nr.12 by Helsen in Herentals, Belgium, Filgueira’s cooking takes another form. The restaurant’s modern cuisine is organized around structured course progression, deliberate contrast between courses, and a clear meal arc. That shift matters in the shape of the experience. Where the Boqueixón work emphasized Galician tradition, local supply, and lareira smoking, the Herentals kitchen is defined by sequence: courses arranged to move, counter, and build over the meal. The through-line is control of rhythm. In one setting, fire and regional ingredients carried the identity; in the other, progression and contrast give the menu its architecture. Filgueira’s journey reads as a movement from the elemental force of smoke to the composed momentum of a modern-cuisine service.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Roberto
What roles has Roberto Filgueira held?
Roberto Filgueira has worked as chef and operator at O Balado in Boqueixón, Spain, and as chef of Nr.12 by Helsen in Herentals, Belgium.
What is Roberto Filgueira doing now?
At Nr.12 by Helsen, he cooks modern cuisine organized around structured course progression, deliberate contrast between courses, and a clear meal arc.
Where else has Roberto Filgueira worked?
He worked at O Balado in Boqueixón, where Traditional Galician cooking centered on local short-supply-chain ingredients and lareira smoking.
