Oriol Castro
One of three chef-founders of Disfrutar, named the World's Best Restaurant in 2024 and holding three Michelin stars.
- Michelin stars
3- Repsol Soles
3- Restaurants
- 3
- Born
- 1974 · Barcelona
Oriol Castro is one of three chef-founders of Disfrutar, the Barcelona restaurant named the World's Best Restaurant in 2024 by The 50 Best and holding three Michelin stars since November 2023. He cooks as part of a trio with Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, all three formerly long-time members of Ferran Adrià's creative team at elBulli.
From @oriolcastroforns on Instagram
Subcampions d’Espanya Barça Juvenil @fcbhoquei 👏🏻💪🏼💙❤️🥈
Moltíssimes gràcies @estrelladammcat @estrelladamm ho hem disfrutat molt! Felicitats per aquests 150 anys !!
Un cap de setmana ple d’emocions. Enhorabona a l’equip juvenil del Barça @fcbhoquei per ser subcampions de Catalunya. I felicitar el Calafell @clubpaticalafell que ha sigut el campió. #hoqueipatins #barça #campionatdecatalunya #blanes
Biography
Early years
Born in 1974 in Barcelona, Castro joined elBulli in Cala Montjoi in 1996 and met Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas there during 1996–1999. From 1998 he was part of the creative team alongside Ferran and Albert Adrià, and stayed on the elBulli team through its July 2011 closure and into the elBulliFoundation phase, working on the Bullipedia until November 2014.
Career
In April 2012 Castro, Xatruch and Casañas opened their first restaurant together — Compartir in Cadaqués, on the coast of northern Catalonia — as an informal sharing-plate space rooted in local Mediterranean cooking. In 2014 they inaugurated Disfrutar in Barcelona's L'Antiga Esquerra de l'Eixample, with the explicit ambition of bringing the creative spirit of elBulli into their own kitchen. Disfrutar earned its first Michelin star in 2015, its second in 2017, and its third in November 2023 (2024 guide), and was named the World's Best Restaurant on The 50 Best list in 2024. In June 2022 the trio added Compartir Barcelona, a more casual sibling, with Domenico Maglione as head chef.
Philosophy
Castro, Xatruch and Casañas cook as a creative trio — every dish is jointly conceived. Their work is rooted in technique inherited from elBulli but explicitly its own, focused on surprise, texture, and the precise architecture of a long tasting menu.
Restaurants
On Guidavera
2Elsewhere
1Accolades
- ·3 active Michelin stars at Disfrutar (since November 2023)
- ·3 Repsol Soles at Disfrutar
- ·Disfrutar named World's Best Restaurant by The 50 Best (2024)
- ·16 years on the elBulli team alongside Ferran and Albert Adrià
Frequently asked
How many Michelin stars does Oriol Castro have?
Three — all at Disfrutar in Barcelona, where he is one of three chef-founders alongside Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas. Disfrutar earned its first star in 2015, second in 2017, and third in November 2023.
Who are Castro, Xatruch and Casañas?
The three chefs met at elBulli in 1996 and worked together at the Cala Montjoi kitchen for 16 years, becoming part of the Adrià brothers' creative team in 1998. After elBulli closed in 2011 they opened Compartir in Cadaqués (2012), then Disfrutar in Barcelona (2014), and most recently Compartir Barcelona (2022).
What does Disfrutar mean?
'Disfrutar' means 'to enjoy' in Spanish. The name reflects the trio's stated philosophy that fine dining should be playful, surprising, and rooted in pleasure rather than ceremony.