Teresa Gil, vocational cook.

She left the degree in English in the University of Zaragoze when she contacted by chance the world of the cuisine. She was gradually introduced by means of several courses and gastronomic collaborations, being Luis Irizar from Guipuzcoa who definitely opened her eyes and the dimensions of the high cuisine thanks to his lessons.

Over the last years she was the chef in the restaurant of the Hotel Iturrimurri she owns, where she never left her training and involvement in many gastronomic events.

She transformed a road restaurant into a gastronomic reference between Vitoria, San Sebastian and Pamplona through several reformations not only in the menu but also with banquets, business congresses, etc.

In 2000, she buys the Restaurant DON PABLO of Pamplona together with her family. She has to shape her cuisine to the taste of the city, while in the same time settles over the basis of the traditional cuisine of Navarre, never losing the sight of the new trends arriving from other Spanish, such as the cuisine of Catalonia, and foreigner cuisines, such as the Japanese. As a sign, several young Israelite, Japanese and Argentine chefs took part in her team.

After an adaptation period, the cuisine of Don Pablo starts to stand out thanks to Teresa’s perfect knowledge of the raw materials of each season, the exact boiling time of each vegetable, mushrooms in spring, in autumn, with prawns, sautés mushrooms, fish, starting form squids boiled in their ink and the slippery fish of Saint Peter with onion sauce, regular customers of the cod with tomato and in season, of the bass or the turbot.

Regarding the meat, the veal of Navarre with sauté vegetables is one of the last additions, together with the pork small hands filled with mushrooms or with season products, such as pigeon or partridges in marinadea.

Teresa thinks the dessert is the best memory of a good meal, and that is why her creations are innovative in shape, colors, and texture using a wide variety of products, such as the apple and the coconut, the milk and cheese, and, do not forget, the chocolates, meringues and sorbets.

The miniature cuisine and the ‘tapas’ or ‘pinchos’ have been the most known and popular creations of Teresa. These small dishes are designed to be tasted in small portions without loosing the creativity, presentation and high cuisine. Her creations have been awarded every year since 2001 in the Semana del Pincho of Pamplone, leading to an invitation in the ‘VI Congress. The Best Gastronomy” held in San Sebastian in November 2004.