Luis Irizar Zamora is one of the founding members of the New Basque Cuisine

Basque cuisine

Basque cuisine, the cuisine of the Basque people, includes meats and fish grilled over hot coals, marmitako and lamb stews, cod, Tolosa bean dishes, paprikas from Lekeitio, pintxos , Idiazabal sheep's cheese, txakoli sparkling wine, and Basque cider.A basquaise is a type of dish prepared in the...

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Early years

Born to parents from San Sebastián

San Sebastián

Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...

, he has always 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

Royal Monceau

The Royal Monceau Hotel is a luxury hotel located at 37 avenue Hoche, 8th arrondissement, Paris, France. The hotel has 203 rooms and 45 suites that have been recently refurbished...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and the Hilton

Hilton Hotels

Hilton Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton hotels are either owned by, managed by, or franchised to independent operators by Hilton Worldwide. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

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The catering school years

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

Zarautz

Zarautz is a coastal town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country, northern Spain.The town is a popular tourist destination with the population swelling from its usual 22,812 to around 60,000 in summer. The Palace of Narros, located adjacent to Zarautz's 2.8 km long beach,...

, then the first catering

Catering

Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, public house , or other location.-Mobile catering:A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose...

 school in the Basque Country

Basque Country (historical territory)

The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....

. 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

Karlos Arguiñano

Karlos Arguiñano Urkiola is a chef, popular TV presenter and producer.His devotion to cuisine started when he was a child and helped at home because he was the eldest of four brothers and had a disabled mother.Before beginning his training in the field of cooking, he worked for CAF, a rail car...

, José Ramón Elizondo, Ramón Roteta and Pedro Subijana.

Later career

After spells of working in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 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.