Triana, which is made of a different paste, encloses beyond its neuralgic San Jacinto a network of streets and neighborhoods that make community between whitewashed houses scented with orange blossom. And in the bowels of the centenary neighborhood of León emerges Ricmaiz Estudio.
Neither bakery nor laboratory nor sweet house. In this unclassifiable space possibly the best desserts of Seville and one of the newest -butalreadyessential- gastronomic experiences in the city.
It is run by the pastry chef Ricard Martínez, whose experienced career is clearly compatible with that exciting look of the first times. And the fact is that, far from limiting or defining his project, the proposal flees from atavistic precepts and dares to experiment and share haute patisserie.
Because what exactly is Ricmaiz Estudio?
Pro pastry shop in the bowels of Triana
Just as it is easy to designate good restaurants in Seville, it is not so easy to gather a handful of memorable desserts.
The Catalan chef and consultant trains professional restaurateurs to help them create great gastronomic closings through pastry. Theoretical and practical courses on restaurant desserts, also on petit fours, pastry and cooking workshops,…
In addition, [insert celebratory interjection] democratizes haute patisserie thanks to its sweet tastings.
Readers should not expect the finest bites to be served in a hurry, nor succulent desserts that are limited to sugar. Tradition and avant-garde come together to create opportunities that reach far beyond excellence.
The Ricmaiz Estudio experience is about something else, about the declinations of sweetness, innovation, presence, and the beauty contained in the ephemerality of eating.
As if it were a liturgy, the attendees are gathered around a table where more than just the palate will be stimulated.
Sweet tastings once a month
The tastings take place once a month in two sessions with limited seating, on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The proposal, which changes every six months, revolves around a theme where seasonal and proximity products rule. The next dates are scheduled for September 12 and 13; October 24 and 25; and November 14 and 15.
Thus, the attendee will be faced with four passes with their respective pairings that will blow your mind. If we can advance one thing, it is that you will not taste, at least in Seville, anything similar. There is no sugar-coated effort, only prodigious creations that permeate, even more, with the passage of time.
Ingredients that you never thought would combine together, a display of textures, nuances, chromatisms and flavors capable of shining in their individuality and enhancing each other in their embrace. Surprise factor? The answer is yes, but this does not camouflage the identity of the ingredients, the certainty of living an unusual moment.
And the fact is that, in the chef’s words, “every dish expresses itself in a way”.
If all the processes matter so does the soundtrack, with songs that harmonize the evening and are designed to accompany each bite.
Ricard and his team narrate with affection and closeness every gesture that structures their desserts, these delicacies that are prepared and arranged in front of the diner.
Ana Cortés – whohas already worked at Gaig, Azurmendi and the Underwater Restaurant Under (Norway) – accompanies Ricard in this innovative adventure.
The first brushstrokes of sunset coincide with the end of this late afternoon snack where a feat is achieved: that the food matters as much as what happens at the table.
An inclusive space
El Barrio de León has its Whatsapp group; also diffusion lists where neighbors weave care and offer a communicative forum. In that noble art of applying the do as you will, Ricard joins in and warns every time he makes batches of cheesecakes, financiers or cupcakes. That the studio is already part of the cosmos of this neighborhood.
As versatile as the space he has created, the pastry chef lends himself to any initiative that has a place in this place on Regla Sanz street. Presentations, small-format concerts,…. The possibilities are as endless as the recipes and combinations to come.
But there is more. The desserts of the sweet experience of Ricmaiz Estudio are inclusive and have no gluten (and if they do, they are adapted to the diner) or alcohol (at least not in the pairing, but integrated in small quantities in the elaborations of the desserts).
The sweet item that Seville needed
If sweet items in restaurants are often not the best in terms of resources, the fact that Seville has a redoubt dedicated to this art is both an anomaly and a privilege.
The prognosis is favorable and the future of haute patisserie in Seville is more accessible than ever, both for novice palates, the curious and the promising figures of the Sevillian hospitality industry.
A must-visit that, it is already predicted, “redefines the culinary experience”.
About the pastry chef
Ricard Martínez treasures an extensive professional career around gastronomy. He has been part of the history of great houses of the country such as Ramón Freixa, El Racó de Can Fabes; he has also worked with the Italian Mauro Uliassi.
He was also one of the arteries of Espai Sucre, the first dessert restaurant in the world, as coordinator of studies, teacher and researcher and has collaborated with Angelo Corvitto, Rowzer Taurus and highlights, among others, his participation as a guest on MasterChef. Today he is a member of the 21 Brix Collective and captain of this project that is Ricmaiz Estudio in Seville.
Beyond the stamps and experiences that cross his history and position him in the gastronomic universe, his task seems to transcend technique. Like Triana, perhaps, a different sensibility. I think of something that Gaston Lenôtre said to journalist Óscar Caballero and that resonates with me these days after meeting Ricard: “the goal of pastry is not to feed people but to put a little sweetness in every life and to share that sweetness”. And in this eagerness to give great feasts and great moments, I think Ricard has a lot to say.