La Prensa went from being a bulk wine store to a benchmark restaurant in Zaragoza’s haute cuisine, with a Michelin Star and a Sol Repsol, thanks to the constant work, professionalism and love for a job well done of chef Marisa Barberán and sommelier David Pérez.
Work, perseverance, professionalism, honesty and a constant creative restlessness are some of the keys that explain the brilliant trajectory of La Prensa, an establishment that began as a bulk wine store and today represents one of the essential classics of Aragonese haute cuisine. Behind this peculiar history is the love for a job well done and the constant search for excellence of the couple formed by the chef Marisa Barberán and the sommelier David Pérez.
La Prensa was founded in 1970 by David’s father, as a business dedicated to the sale of bulk wines. Shortly after, a bar was installed to taste the wines they had for sale and a small dining room where they served homemade food. When Marisa married David, she joined the team and began to develop the kitchen more, discovering her true passion.
The chef began to innovate and introduce more creative dishes until, in the year 2000, they turned the establishment around so that the restaurant took center stage. By then, both Marisa’s kitchen and the wine cellar of La Prensa, managed by someone like David who, in addition to being in the world of wines in genetics, was sommelier of the first brilliant Aragonese promotion, already stood out in the gastronomic panorama of Zaragoza.
Twelve years after they started this new stage, the prestigious Michelin Guide awarded them a star and in 2013, they received the Sol Repsol, recognitions that they revalidate year after year. The arrival of these distinctions did not change either Marisa’s cooking style or the philosophy of La Prensa, which continues to be “that the client enjoys to the maximum, that they have a complete hedonistic experience, both with the food and the drink,” says David.
His gastronomic offer is always based on the best raw material, because “without good product there is no good cuisine”, says the sommelier. The maximum respect for these carefully selected products is translated into a cuisine that does not mask, very modern, although based on the Spanish and Aragonese tradition, creative, with some funny touches and very aesthetic and delicate presentations.
This gastronomic offer is structured in two tasting menus -one shorter and one longer-, for which they offer the option of pairings “with wines or champagnes, because the world of drinks is not limited to wines, it is much wider”, explains a sommelier who is also well versed in cocktails, distillates, etc. “Our menus change with the season, although there are dishes that we cannot remove because customers continue to demand them,” says David.
This temple of Zaragozan gastronomy, in addition, has the merit of having remained from its distant and different beginnings, in the original premises, in a street far away from the center of Zaragoza, claiming the haute cuisine of the neighborhood. In its dining room, whose decoration follows an aesthetic similar to that of Marisa’s dishes, where simplicity, minimalism and elegance prevail, the hedonistic experience is completed with an attentive and careful room service, at the height of one of the greats.
Download the recipe here:
Sturgeon and Caviar Recipe. La Prensa Restaurant
