Fran Martínez

Chef at Maralba** (Almansa, Albacete, Spain)

He and his wife run Maralba in Almansa (Albacete), a restaurant producing haute cuisine from La Mancha.

A "manchego" through and through, Fran Martínez (Elche de la Sierra, Albacete, 1977) became a chef in Catalonia. At the age of only 15 he went to Barcelona to study cookery at the Trades School in Santa Coloma de Gramanet, and soon immersed himself in the culinary delights of the Mas Pau* restaurant in Figueres. He went there to learn, but he gained the trust of chef Xavier Sagristà, and became his second-in-command for nine years. During the holidays he worked internships with, among others, Martín Berasategui and El Bohío.

After his stint at Mas Pau, Martínez and his wife, Cristina Díaz, decided to go back to Castilla-La Mancha, and opened the Maralba restaurant in Almansa in 2003 in pursuit of "La Mancha haute cuisine", focusing constantly on the produce of the land, but with one eye on the Mediterranean. Martínez concentrates on the recipes of La Mancha, taking them to more dignified levels to earn him the two Michelin stars he holds today.