Luis Irizar Zamora (30 May 1930 – 9 December 2021) was one of the founding members of the

New Basque Cuisine Basque cuisine refers to the cuisine of the Basque Country and includes meats and fish grilled over hot coals, ''marmitako'' and lamb stews, cod, Tolosa bean dishes, paprikas from Lekeitio, ''pintxos'' (Basque ''tapas)'', Idiazabal sheep's ch ...

Early years

Born to parents from

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

, he had strong ties to the city and started his career as a chef in the prestigious Hotel María Cristina. During this early period he also worked at the Hotel Azaldegui in San Sebastián, the Restaurant Royal Monceau in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and the

Hilton Hilton or Hylton may refer to: Companies * Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name ** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

The catering school years

In 1976, Irizar opened the Escuela de Hostelería del Hotel Euromar in

Zarautz Zarautz (, es, Zarauz) is a coastal town located in central Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, in Spain. It is bordered by Aia to the east and the south and Getaria to the west, located about west of San Sebastián. It has four enclaves limiting the afo ...

, then the first

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

school in the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

. This school over the years has produced some of the most renowned chefs of the new Basque cuisine movement in the Basque Country, amongst them Karlos Arguiñano, José Ramón Elizondo, Ramón Roteta, and

Pedro Subijana Pedro Subijana Reza (born 5 November 1948) is a Spanish chef who runs the restaurant Akelarre in San Sebastián, Spain. In 2006 his restaurant received its third Michelin star. Early life He studied at Madrid's Casa de Campo Hospitality Schoo ...

Later career and death

After spells of working in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and running the Restaurante Irizar, he moved back to San Sebastián, this time to found the Luis Irizar Sukaldaritza Eskola ("Luis Irizar School of Cooking") in 1993. He died on 9 December 2021, at the age of 91.Luis Irizar, el 'maestro de maestros' de la cocina vasca, fallece a los 91 años

References

*Etxeberria, H. et al. ''Erabateko Sukaldaritza'' Ttarttalo 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Irizar, Luis 1930 births 2021 deaths Spanish chefs Basque cuisine Cuban emigrants to Spain Spanish expatriates in the United Kingdom People from San Sebastián Cuban chefs People from Havana Spanish expatriates in France