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Danny Lledó, the Michelin star who with a Dianense menu has conquered the palates of Washington DC

August 15 from 2021 - 09: 06

Washington DC, home of the White House, the United States Capitol and, since last year, a piece of Dénia. The American capital was the place chosen by chef Danny Lledó to open his most personal project, which received the name of xiquet. It is a restaurant where the menu features the most dianenses flavors through products such as red prawn or sea spardenya, and elaborations so here such as figatell or a wide range of rice dishes.

Xiquet was born as a tribute by the chef to the city where he grew up and where his father is from. Right here in DéniaNow enjoy a few days off this August, as he does every time he has the chance, to reconnect with his family and friends. It had been a long time since he had come due to the pandemic, but come back with much to celebrateWell, no one else can say that it has the first Michelin star from a Valencian restaurant in the US.

Danny Lledo He grew up in the kitchen. Despite receiving the same education as any other child in Dénia, when he got home he was almost involuntarily trained in what in the future would be his trade. His father was a cook and his mother a pastry chef, so it was inevitable that he would end up taking a liking to the stove. Despite the fact that, already residing in the United States, he tried to make a career away from the kitchen, he always ended up returning to it to do what he really liked.

"I swore I would never work in the kitchen again," he tells us when we meet him on the terrace of the restaurant Mena. But, as we already know, he went back to the kitchen.

He drove some restaurant and wine bar until he was ready to undertake the homage to the capital of the Marina Alta that had been on his mind for a long time. An idea in which started working in July 2019 and it materialized in March 2020 when he opened the doors of the Xiquet restaurant. Finally I had fulfilled that dream with which he aspired to conquer the palates of the US capital and with which he knew he could reach the top.

March 2020. What happened is already part of history. Just a week after opening the project of, you might say, his life, Danny had to shut down his establishment. The coronavirus had made an appearance and in many corners of the world citizens locked themselves in their homes and the hoteliers, like so many other companies, had to lower the blind.

However, the pandemic did not stop the chef in his efforts to publicize the Valencian gastronomic culture. Like so many others, Xiquet adapted to the healthcare context and started new lines of business such as home delivery and online master classes where he supplied his student-clients with the product and pairing, as well as the knowledge so that they could prepare their own paellas at home. An initiative that was a great success and helped him win recognition, in which he began teaching a couple of dozen families and ended up teaching before a hundred people.

Now, although he was clear that he was looking for the most Valencian flavor for his restaurant, for that reason to differentiate himself from the rest of Spanish proposals focused more on Castilian dishes, paella had a difficult place in his menu. Danny was clear that Xiquet had to offer a tasting menu without a main course, where each proposal had the same weight. Once he reopened the doors of the premises, the paella was replaced by rice in different formats, all with a very Valencian spirit.

"A rice can also be haute cuisine"

The menu, as we said at the beginning, has a huge inspiration in Dénia. You can find in it red shrimp, dried octopus, figatell, sea spardenya and a rice dish named Duquesa de Dénia. Something very different from the other American haute cuisine proposals, much of it focused on imitating the French or insisting on the fusion so fashionable now with the Asian continent. Danny insisted on bringing the Valencian, the Dianense, and he triumphed. "A rice can also be haute cuisine," he claims.

The menu was a huge hit with the diners. So much that allowed himself to dream of the Michelin star despite knowing that it is not common to receive the badge in your first year. "If the inspectors have come we will be fine," he came to think when he saw the response of the people. "The star is a clear objective when you set up a restaurant like this," he tells us, "but in a few years, not the first."

The famous gastronomic guide did not wait and recognized his effort and dedication to the kitchen with the first Michelin star with only one year of life. In fact, Danny has made Xiquet the first restaurant with a Valencian menu to win a Michelin star in the US.

The chef appears before us very happy with the recognition but with his feet on the ground and already thinking about the next goal: the second star. We asked him if his plans for the future did not include some project in Dénia. Danny, very nice, laughs and expresses that for that we will still have to wait. He has already paid tribute with his Xiquet to the people of his father and the one who saw him grow up, now it is time to do the same with the other half of his origins, those of his mother, taking care of and bringing the public closer to the portuguese food. If you do it with as good a result as with the Valencian, surely many more successes await you.

1 Comment
  1. Ignacio says:

    Bravo for him and bravo for El Mena. Excellent restaurant with a magnificent menu, service and location.


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