A Few Words With: Aitor Olabegoya, Executive Chef at Migas

This year our 2015 Reader Restaurant Awards have four personality-based categories: Best Chef, Best Manager, Restaurant Personality of the Year, and Food Entrepreneur of the Year. During the voting period that runs through March 8, we’re profiling a few of this year’s crop of nominees.

This time around we present Aitor Olabegoya, executive chef at Migas and nominee in the Best Chef category.

TBJ: Tell us how about how you got to where you are today.
For me, cooking is not a task or a job. It’s my passion, and I have converted it into a lifestyle.

TBJ: What dishes are you most proud of?
I’m proud of our aged barbecue beef. I’m also proud of all the time we spent researching for seasonal products. That hard work paid off, because we eventually found local farms that could provide us with fresh artichoke and white asparagus.  

TBJ: Tell us about your biggest kitchen disaster.
It would be cooking for my family. They are always so hungry, and then so full, because I start cooking very late and always cook so much. After that, there is never anything left in the kitchen

TBJ: How do you feel that Beijing rates on the scale of international dining destinations?
Beijing has definitely widened its dining destinations over the past five years, since I first arrived. The level of the authentic taste and originality is also rising.  

TBJ: Tell us about one of your favorite places to eat in Beijing, aside from your own.
Bottega, the new Italian and pizza place is my new favorite. I also love my Mother in laws' Chinese home dishes and her own recipes.  

Click here to read previous editions of A Few Words With wherein we profile some of the top players in Beijing's food scene during the voting period for the 2015 Reader Restaurant Awards, which runs through March 8.

Image: Migas