Dinner-gastronomic
dialogue on Anni Albers

The first time I was told about the possibility of a collaboration based on the work of Anni Albers, I was overwhelmed. As a Chef, I have always sought inspiration in the things that surround me, in the sea and the mountains. For someone who follows his own path and seeks to have a style of his own, to find inspiration in other people, and more when they have dedicated themselves to other artistic aspects, is, at first, impossible.

When I spoke with Nick Weber I was very intrigued by the life of Anni Albers. She was an artist who lived and developed her work between Germany and the USA, focusing on the fabrics and has left an impressive legacy being a reference of her generation. Anni Albers thought of her art as a source of calm and balance in a tense, troubled world. The goal of her art was to entertain you. The same thing happens with my way of understanding gastronomy, my goal is to make people who sit at my table, live an experience and be happy.

I remember the smile that was on my face when I read “Working with the Material”, I discovered that she talked about the materials as I talked about the products and I understood that we were inspired by the same things, the essence, the simplicity. For me that simplicity is described with a word in Euskera, that has no translation to otter languages ‘muina’ is core, it is essence and also knowledge. With my work I seek to make evident the purest and most noble qualities of the products.

The texts of Anni made me think about my kitchen and I understood that the inspiration had already arrived, it had always been there. With this gastronomic dialogue I want to pay tribute not only to the artist but also to the person of Anni Albers, without a doubt a source of inspiration for me.

This project is part of the educational program of the exhibition Anni Albers: Touching Vision organized by the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.