Profiles

The Relais & Châteaux Chefs Turn Toward Sustainable Seafood

Santi Santamaria, Relais & Châteaux Grand Chef at Can Fabes, Spain

Seafood Choices was very fortunate to have done a recent interview with Santi Santamaria, before his recent passing, about his work on the conservation of seafood resources. We are posting this interview as a tribute to him, his entire crew and all his loved ones.

Chef Santi Santamaria received the most Michelin stars in Spain. At his restaurant, Can Fabes, he and his second-in-command Ivan Solá used each season’s unique bounty to create a menu that blended progress, skill and experience to express artistic perfection. He bought most of his seafood products directly from the Blanes fish market and got his poultry and produce from small producers in Montseny and Montnegre. His partner, Xavier Pellicer, decided to keep Can Fabes open, “as a tribute to the professionalism, talent and lasting impression” of Santi Santamaria.
© DR Relais & Châteaux

1) Santi Santamaria, what is your professional background?
Before becoming a chef, I studied technical design and industrial valuation. In 1981, my wife Angel and I decided to open a restaurant called el Raco de Can Fabes in my native village Sant Celoni in the foothills of Montseny. My passion for cooking turned into a profession. I am a completely self-taught chef. We were approved as a member of the Relais & Châteaux in 1991 during the Quebec World Congress in Canada. We were awarded or first Michelin star in 1988, the second in 1990 and the third in 1994. The third star really propelled us into the international spotlight. It motivates us and pushes us to improve.
In 2001, I was awarded the first Michelin star at my second restaurant Sant Celoni in Madrid (Hotel Hesperia) and it received a second star in 2005. In 2006, I opened a new restaurant called Evo, at the gateway of Barcelona, at the top of the Hotel Hesperia Tower designed by renowned English architect Richard Roger. Evo restaurant received a Michelin star by the end of that year.
I was also president of the Relais Gourmands (which became the Grands Chefs Relais & Châteauxin 2008) and vice-president of Relais & Châteaux.
In 2007, I opened my fourth restaurant in Spain called Tierra in the Valdepalacios Hotel Gourmand (Relais & Châteaux) in Oropesa in the Castilla-la-Mancha district.
In 2008, my first restaurant outside Spain, Ossiano, opened its doors in the Atlantis the Palm hotel complex on the manmade island The Palm on the coast of Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

2) What types of seafood do you serve?
My menu varies based on what I find at the Blanes market. It could be sea bass, bream, goatfish, sardines, etc. I also serve scallops, lobster, spider crab, shrimp, common pandora, denti-fish and grouper.
I only serve wild fish. We are fortunate to live near the Mediterranean, which has a very strong fresh fish culture. It’s a local product and I believe it is part of human culture and everything that accompanies fishing.
I do not buy farm-raised fish. I think it defeats the purpose to feed captive fish with wild fish. We are fattening up fish with other fish that we eat. I feel we should teach people to eat sardines rather than feeding the sardines to farmed fish.

3) What is your favorite seafood?
It’s curious, but it is hard to find my favorite seafood wild. It’s mussels. I really love Galician mussels, steamed.

4) Have you seen any changes over the last few years?
People today don’t cook fish anymore. They cook products processed by big industry. They eat fried breaded fish that hides the skin and so it’s impossible to know what kind of fish it is.
It is different when people go to a gourmet restaurant. They expect more and are counting on the chef. They come to eat turbot, goatfish, sea bass, monkfish and rockfish.
There has also been a noticeable change in the size of wild fish, which are getting smaller and smaller. Technology has made it possible to catch more and more fish but as a result there has been a loss in quality of seafood available and the quantity of fish in the sea.

5) Are there any species you have stopped serving?
Yes. When the fish is endangered, you have to leave it alone and use other kinds. And we go back to it later when the stock has been replenished. It’s about education! We have to educate and be more responsible. There is no freedom without responsibility. You don’t negotiate with the environment. We have to think about our children and grandchildren.
I stopped working bluefin tuna and I will not go back to it until we are sure they are reproducing sustainably.
I also stopped using octopus. I loved those little creatures, but I gave them up.
And I do not buy small fish either, young fish. People who buy them are stopping these fish from maturing and reproducing. I try to be conscientious. I think you have to work from that perspective – some fish farms are having a very negative impact on rivers and streams and in some regions they are fishing with explosives and destroying the coral and the environment. The large trawlers are destroying everything in their wake.

6) Do you think your clients are aware of all these threats?
No, people are not as aware as they should be. We lack educational resources and need to do some work in the education sector.
It is important to ask about the source of a product but clients are still not asking those kinds of questions. They do not yet have that awareness. Clients are coming in for the whole experience, not a specific product. For example, my clients did not notice I stopped serving bluefin tuna.

7) What do you think might resolve these issues?
We have to stop being selfish and leave something behind when we are gone, that is in everyone’s interest. That should be standard practice. We need to work towards this line of behavior and awareness. We have to develop educational programs for kids. We have to pass on this pleasure of working with select products that are as sustainable as possible. In culinary schools, similar to how we plan food conservation programs, work protocols for kitchens, product shipping, etc., we need to institute programs on sources of raw materials, which would breach the subject of sustainable seafood. This should be done all the time.
Another solution, which would be a miracle, where the entire society realizes that our seafood resources are not limitless and see that we cannot forget about this limit or overstep it. We will not be building for the future like we did in the past and are doing now. Things right now are not sustainable.

8) What kinds of tools would be useful to you in making more sustainable choices?
The European Union should issue new rules. Plus, we really need a manual like you did in France and the United Kingdom to help people working in the industry find the information they need and guide them towards purchasing sustainable products. This information is crucial.

9) What does the commitment made by Relais & Châteaux mean to you?
An association like Relais & Châteaux has a duty to summon and convey this information and education. Olivier Roellinger has that level of awareness, which is a step in the right direction. They have taken on a lot of responsibility and that can create conflicts with some members who do not agree. But we make commitments in order to keep them. I think it is an extremely important decision and therefore a courageous one. We can be proud of that.

About Relais & Châteaux:
Relais & Châteaux is an exclusive collection of nearly 500 of the finest, charming hotels and gourmet restaurants in 60 countries.
Established in France in 1954, the Association’s mission is to spread its unique art de vivre across the globe by selecting outstanding properties with a truly unique character.
Furthermore, Relais & Châteaux is also a family of hoteliers and Grands Chefs from all over the world who share a passion for and a personal commitment to ensuring their guests are privy to moments of exceptional harmony, an unforgettable celebration of the senses.
From the vineyards in Napa valley to the beaches in Bali, from the olive trees in Provence to the lodges in South Africa, Relais & Châteaux offers all the stops on the finest route for discovering each special place and country. The Relais & Châteaux signature reflects this ambition: “ALL AROUND THE WORLD, UNIQUE IN THE WORLD”.

Posted in March 2011

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