Discover, enjoy and experiment. This is the goal with which EL PAÍS Gastro was born, a new gastronomy department that, on the one hand, brings together all the content made in the newspaper about the sector and orders it on the Internet, and, on the other hand, adds new perspectives, themes and collaborators for the project.
EL PAÍS Gastro incorporates the voice of El Comidista into its offer, which, under the direction of Mikel López Iturriaga, has been building one of the most successful websites on the Spanish scene for more than a decade. Recipes, guides, tricks, reviews, trends, restaurants – from haute cuisine to the most popular -, drinks, travel and lots of news will be the pillars of an ambitious publishing schedule. And all this while making full use of the possibilities offered by the digital world. Video, audio, meticulous photography or new narration when it comes to storytelling are combined with a powerful revamped recipe search engine. Lots of fun, no doubt, but also service and utility journalism. In its print edition, the newspaper will increase its coverage both in the daily business and in its magazines: El País Semanal, SModa and ICON.
The director of EL PAÍS, Pepa Bueno, sees the project as strategic: “Gastronomy is a fundamental part of our life, especially in Latin American societies. It’s the glue of family and friendship, a cultural fact that accompanies us from the moment we wake up until we go to bed. And it’s also a huge industry that moves the economy just as much as tourism does.” In a time that is as informative as it is often dark, a bet like EL PAÍS Gastro also nourishes the sense of good taste and enjoyment.
“A newspaper like this also strives to entertain its readers and subscribers, to discover places to enjoy, to be of use to them. The kitchen, the food, but also the drink, live in our daily conversation and this has increased even more in recent years. It unites us while showing our differences and our creativity, whether it’s a strait tuna, a Galician barnacle, a Malaga skewer, a Mexican taco, a Colombian ajiaco or a Peruvian ceviche,” says Pepa Bueno.
Spain is the country with the highest life expectancy in the world, next to Japan, and food plays a key role. For this reason, EL PAÍS Gastro will also talk about the effects of diet on our bodies, offering a complementary perspective on the health and well-being section of the newspaper. What are we talking about when we talk about an Atlantic Diet? Or where do you eat a vegan stew and what are its nutritional values? These themes will be common in the weekly menu of the new section of EL PAÍS.
THE COUNTRY Gastro.
The EL PAÍS Gastro team consists of Almudena Ávalos, Paz Álvarez and Helena Poncini, three journalists with many years of experience in gastronomy. Ávalos, coordinator of the project, gives some pointers: “EL PAÍS Gastro is a place where you can discover places to eat and drink well together with professionals and prescribers. The section is about avant-garde cuisine, traditional cuisine and everything that is behind a dish: the product, the country and the people.”
With a wide network of collaborators and the strength of its correspondents, EL PAÍS will pay special attention to everything that happens outside of Madrid. “We want to decentralize gastronomy, look from the local to the global and expand our presence in Latin America,” explains Ávalos. “And we will also welcome to our website and pages this new generation of chefs and chefs who understand gastronomy from a different angle,” he adds.
One of the big phenomena of recent times is that gastronomy and its supporters are living beyond the big cities, creating wealth and value in less populated areas and boosting their economy and culture. At the same time, many corners of the planet found in the kitchen a great way to present themselves abroad.
José Carlos Capel, the historical critic of EL PAÍS, will continue to be very present every week, with the criticism of a restaurant and its restaurateurs, where the same tells (and teaches) its high-calorie breakfasts with muffins, opening debates as controversial as whether they really exist are spaghetti bolognese. Amaya Cervera and Carlos Delgado accompany us through the world of wines; Esther Merino, beverage developer at the Alchemist restaurant in Copenhagen, will discover the latest cocktails; Rocío Benito, a sommelier with experience in Lera, Ambivium and Tohqa and current chief sommelier in Jaleo (Dubai), will share the keys to understanding the world of winemaking and María Nicolau, author of Cocina o barbarismo, will tell the news of his way, understand cooking. Todo al verde ―a philosophy that continues to gain followers, that of plant-based cuisine—, Where do the chefs eat and Oido cocina ―popular restaurants that deserve 10 Michelin stars― will be weekly sections, as will recommendations from publications who do Sara Cucala will make us of his bookstore A Punto.
The EL PAÍS gastro team
Almudena Avalos
Almudena Ávalos has a degree in Journalism. She was culture and gastronomy editor at S Moda, director of dissemination at Naves Matadero-Centro Internacional de Artes Vivas (Madrid) and has written in media such as EL PAÍS SEMANAL, ICON or The Washington Post. Since 2019 he has been gastronomic chronicler in EL PAÍS.
Paz Alvarez
Paz Álvarez has a degree in journalism. She began writing in the Madrid department in 1993 and joined the newspaper CincoDías in 1997, where she founded the Executives department and ran the Fortuna department until 2022. She also has a management development program from IESE.
Helena Poncini
Helena Poncini holds a degree in Journalism and a Masters in Journalism from EL PAÍS. She worked as an editor and photographer for several Spanish and Portuguese newspapers in Lisbon, including El Periódico de Catalunya, Correio de Manha and Jornal i. She has been with El PAÍS since 2016, where she has worked in the International, Gente y Estilo and EL PAÍS SEMANAL sections.