Diego René's Málaga restaurant René enters the Michelin Guide
Less than eight months after opening on Calle Carretería, the chef's ninth Málaga project joins the guide's selection: recommended, tagged new, no star yet.
Diego René has taken his newest Málaga restaurant, René, into the Michelin Guide less than eight months after opening it on Calle Carretería, in the old town. There is no star and no Bib Gourmand: René enters the selection as a recommended address, tagged “new”, in the guide's top price bracket.
The guide files it under contemporary cuisine. Its inspectors describe French technique applied to the flavours of southern Spain, a strong seafood line and a meal that moves guests through several rooms, and they single out two dishes: a monkfish Wellington and a frozen dessert inspired by Picasso, the city's most famous son.
“It is a reward for the effort, dedication and work of the whole team,” the chef told El Español. The top end of the city is getting busier: Marcos Granda is preparing Paula de Marcos, his Málaga opening planned for February.
A recommendation is the guide's entry level; the stars are decided in Huesca on 1 December.
What Diego René serves at René
The dining room seats 20 at five tables, one of them a chef's table facing a kitchen that takes up almost half of the 200-square-metre space, and 14 people work there, according to El Español's pre-opening report in February. The two tasting menus, René and the vegetarian Nature, run to 13 courses plus snacks and petits fours and cost €160 each, with a €120 wine pairing; Nature has to be ordered 24 hours ahead.
A shorter weekday lunch menu, Midi, costs €120 (pairing €80), and the à la carte option comes to about €90 a head, according to the restaurant's website. It closes on Sundays and Mondays.
The cellar, run by sommelier Jesús Rioboo, holds around 700 references and is listed by Star Wine List. Head chef Baltasar Díaz comes from Martín Berasategui's team, pastry chef Julieta Canavate from Ceto and Mirazur, and maître Adolfo Avilés spent more than 15 years at Arzak.
From Tabarca to the Michelin Guide in Málaga
Born in Alicante, René started cooking at 14 in his father's seafood restaurant on the island of Tabarca. He trained with Martín Berasategui and with María José San Román at Monastrell, worked in Argentina and settled in Málaga in 2016.
René is his ninth project in the city. Beluga, one of the restaurants he runs with partners Andrea Martos and Miguel Gutiérrez, earned a Michelin recommendation and a Repsol Sun in 2023, and the Academia Gastronómica de Málaga named him best chef of that year.
A recommendation is the guide's entry level, not a verdict on stars. Those are handed out at the Michelin Guide Spain 2027 gala in Huesca on 1 December. Beluga took the same first step in 2023; René got there in under eight months.
