B&W Creations, L’Escaleta Restaurant

Your dishes are a constant homage to the land around you. How does the landscape of Cocentaina and its traditions influence your creative process? We want to know how the chef converts the territory into experience, and what role do memories and the environment play in his cuisine.

Observing the environment around us is fundamental. It is about discovering these small micro-universes and sharing them with our diners, giving them the value they truly deserve. We are guardians of our environment, and it is our responsibility to give visibility and recognition to those who take care of it every day: our farmers.

 Which local ingredient is a must-have this season?

For us, almonds are very important because from this ingredient we can create a wide variety of products. We follow its entire cycle throughout the seasons: from blossoming, through the green almond, the newly formed fruit, to the ripe almond. At each stage, we take advantage of its characteristics to make different products, such as pickles, pralines and much more.

Plating is a visual language in itself. What importance do you give to crockery when it comes to telling a story on each plate?

Of course it is important. Haute cuisine is a language that seeks to stimulate all the senses through different elements, and every detail adds up to a complete experience. Tableware, in relation to the product you want to highlight, plays a fundamental role.
On the one hand, there is the technical part: choosing a plate that adapts to the needs of the plating, that can contain sauces or liquids, or that makes it easy to cut the food if necessary. On the other hand, the tableware has an emotional dimension that connects with the story and the intention behind each dish.
Both aspects are essential to convey the culinary message with coherence and sensitivity.

What does Kiko Moya like to do in his free time, when he's not in the kitchen or trying out new recipes? We want to discover the most authentic Kiko, the one who disconnects and gets inspired.

Now that I still have my children at home, I try to spend as much time with them as possible, although probably not as much as I should. That's why in my free time I try to be with my family, disconnecting from work and cooking for them when we are together.
I like sports: cycling, pelota and football, although I must admit that I'm pretty bad at all of them, hehe. I also love animals and, as we live in the countryside, I have a small zoo at home. Tending the garden takes up most of the little free time I have left, but I enjoy it a lot.