María Marte

María Marte (born 1978) is a Dominican chef who works in Spain. She is the only female chef in Madrid with two Michelin stars, as head chef of "El Club Allard".[1]

María Marte
BornDecember 22 1978
Jarabacoa, La Vega,
Dominican Republic
Culinary career
Websiteelcluballard.com

Early life

María Marte was born in the town of Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic, in 1978. Her interest in cooking began during childhood, where instead of playing with a toy kitchen, she cooked real dishes for her friends.[2][3] After training in a bakery, influenced by her mother, she decided to move to Spain, a country she considered "the cradle of gastronomy".[4]

Career

In 2003, newly arrived from the Dominican Republic, Marte got a job cleaning dishes at "El Club Allard" in Madrid. Her arrival at the restaurant coincided with the arrival of head chef Diego Guerrero. At first, this work was combined with another, as a hairdresser, which kept her away from the kitchen, but allowed her to make a living for herself and her family.[2]

Marte took advantage of her work as a dishwasher and watched the cooks, to learn from them. Hearing of a vacancy in the kitchen, she asked the head chef if she could be promoted. After not being allowed to move up the first time, she asked again once there was another opening.[5] Given an opportunity this time, she began to work with Guerrero, doing food preparation and cleaning. Every day, she would arrive at work in the morning and start cooking, at 4:30 in the afternoon start scrubbing, and at 8:30 would cook again, because the dinner shift would be in full swing.[6] In interviews, she explained that she had started to sleep in the stairway to keep up with the rhythm.[7][8]

After three months, head chef Guerrero said he had to find someone else to wash the dishes because Marte "was worth the kitchen." From there, she was promoted more, and in 2006, became the second in command. In 2007, the restaurant got its first Michelin star, which was an incentive for Marte to work harder. In 2011, they were awarded the second star. During these years, Marte worked in all parts of the kitchen: bakery, fridge, meat and fish. Thanks to this, she acquired experience which she used as now-head chef, after the departure of Guerrero in 2013.[9]

Her story of overcoming obstacles has not gone unnoticed to the press, which generally gives her very good reviews. In the newspaper El País, they write about "a Cinderella Michelin";[10] the magazine Diez Minutos describes her as a "fighter";[11] Elle writes of her "triumph of constancy";[2] El Correo considers her a "brave and self-made woman with a story of a story".[12]

With Guerrero's departure, she feared for the future of the two Michelin stars the restaurant had acquired. The change of chefs was in the 2014 guide, and had been printed, so that although the head chef had changed, the restaurant's stars remained. In the following autumn came her reevaluation, and the inspectors considered Marte to deserve both stars.[5] She explained that it felt "like winning two stars at once."[7]

Marte says the way she cooks is to present "creative dishes", but "without transgressing or disguising the product". Her first new recipe at "El Club Allard" was Flor de Hibiscus, a caramelized hibiscus flower with pisco sour foam on a pistachio crumble. The plate proved to be a success, and was so important to her that she has its image as a tattoo.[2]

Awards and recognitions

References
  1. "Loable historia de la dominicana María Marte: única mujer con 2 estrellas Michelin en Madrid" [Laudable story of the Dominican Maria Marte: only woman with 2 Michelin stars in Madrid]. Arecoa.com (in Spanish). 2 February 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  2. Luengo, Álvaro (25 September 2014). "María Marte, la pasión como ingrediente" [Maria Marte, passion as an ingredient]. Elle (in Spanish). Hearst España. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  3. "María Marte, chef de El Club Allard: "La creatividad debe sublimar el producto, no esconderlo o disfrazarlo"" [María Marte, chef of "El Club Allard": "Creativity must sublimate the product, not hide or disguise it"]. Zoom News (in Spanish). Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad y la Comunidad de Madrid. 12 May 2014. Archived from the original on 3 June 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  4. "Y los premios al mejor chef y al mejor restaurante del año son para..." [And the prizes for the best chef and the best restaurant of the year are for...]. ¡Hola! (in Spanish). 15 April 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  5. Alonso, Aitor (26 November 2014). "De fregar los platos a dos estrellas Michelin" [From scrubbing dishes to two Michelin stars]. El Correo (in Spanish). Vocento. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  6. Valentín, Patricia (4 December 2015). "María Marte: "Era la friegaplatos del Club Allard pero así podía observar a los cocineros, el trajín que tenían preparando los platos"" [María Marte: "I was the Club Allard dishwasher, but I could see the cooks, the tragedy they had making the dishes"]. Zoom News (in Spanish). Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad y la Comunidad de Madrid. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  7. Cano, Carlos G. (24 November 2014). "María Marte: de friegaplatos a chef" [Maria Marte: from dishwasher to chef]. Cadena SER (in Spanish). Prisa. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  8. Díaz, Krisis (14 December 2014). "María Marte: "Muchas veces llegué a dormir en la escalera"" [María Marte: "Many times I slept on the stairs"]. Diario Libre (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  9. "Llegó en 2003 de lavaplatos a Madrid y hoy tiene dos estrellas Michelin" [She arrived in 2003 as a dishwasher in Madrid and today has two Michelin stars]. ABC Viajar (in Spanish). 17 October 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  10. Ruiz Mantilla, Jesús (19 March 2015). "María Marte, una Cenicienta Michelin" [Maria Marte, a Michelin Cinderella]. El País (in Spanish). Prisa. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  11. "María Marte nos prepara la crema de los deseos" [María Marte prepares for us the cream of our dreams]. Diez Minutos (in Spanish). Hearst España. 26 December 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  12. "La chef María Marte, nueva embajadora de la sal de Añana" [Chef María Marte, new ambassador of Añana salt]. El Correo (in Spanish). Vocento. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  13. "El Club Allard". ViaMichelin.com. Michelin. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  14. "Club Allard". El Mundo: Metrópoli (in Spanish). Unidad Editorial Información General. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  15. "El Club Allard". Guía Repsol (in Spanish). Repsol. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  16. "El Club Allard, Premio Metrópoli al Restaurante del Año" [El Club Allard, Metropóli Award for the Restaurant of the Year]. Expansión.com (in Spanish). Unidad Editorial. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  17. Smith, Adrienne (5 July 2012). "Club Allard in Top Ten Restaurants in Europe". Food and Wines from Spain. ICEX. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  18. "World's Best Restaurants of 2014 – TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards". Gourmand Breaks. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  19. "Club Allard y David Muñoz, premios Mahou-Millesime 2012" [Club Allard and David Muñoz, Mahou-Millesime Awards 2012]. Ocio (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  20. "María Marte de Club Allard, galardonada por la Comunidad de Madrid en el Día Internacional de la Mujer" [María Marte of Club Allard, awarded by the Community of Madrid on International Women's Day]. 7 Caníbales (in Spanish). Grupo GSR. 9 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015.
  21. "María Marte, chef de El Club Allard, recibe el Premio Nacional de Gastronomía" [María Marte, chef of El Club Allard, receives the National Gastronomy Award]. Ocio (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
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