Ababol

Ababol, the first restaurant of chef Juan Monteagudo (Albacete, 1991), has quickly become an unmissable bastion of nouvelle cuisine in La Mancha. Winner of a star in the Michelin Guide 2023, the only one in the city of Albacete, it also appears as Recommended in the Repsol Guide 2023.

Ababol's cuisine pays tribute to the recipes of La Mancha and its traditions and is enriched with French (the chef has Gallic roots) and Basque contributions. Dry-farmed vegetables, many of which come from Monteagudo's own vegetable gardens, game and local wines are the stars of a menu and two tasting menus that are constantly changing and dazzle critics and the public alike.

With a childhood spent among farms and fields, Juan Monteagudo has always had a deep commitment to sustainability and the circular economy. Most of the vegetables in his larder come from the two extensive vegetable gardens, Casa Garrido and Casa Carrasco, which his family has owned for more than 400 years in Tarazona de la Mancha. In the former there is also a stable with more than 500 sheep and goats, from whose meat Ababol gets its meat, and centenary olive trees from whose fruit Monteagudo makes its tasting EVOO, a coupage of arbequina and cornicabra.

El Tejar (Fuentealbilla) is the estate where Juan Monteagudo's family home is located, and where the chef from Albacete has a 100% organic vegetable garden of two hectares just for Ababol. Here, fruit trees, saffron, vegetables and numerous olive trees grow, from which the oil for cooking is obtained. With the help of José Manuel, his foreman for more than 30 years, this plantation obtains the energy it needs to function from solar panels. No sulphates, pesticides or herbicides are used: even the compost is prepared at El Tejar.

An extensive and careful selection of local suppliers completes Ababol's larder: in season, game comes from Ciudad Real; truffles from the Sierra del Segura area of Albacete and Villamalea (Albacete). The winery, directed by Laura Caparrós, also gives prominence to small, independent wineries in the area, focused on projects for the recovery of native or almost extinct varieties.

The Ababol Winery

Laura Caparrós, the sommelier at Ababol, is in love with the terroir of La Mancha and gives prominence to smaller wineries, with special, sustainable and interesting projects such as the recovery of almost extinct grape species. The wine list includes almost all the D.O.’s in the area, such as Manchuela, Méntrida or Almansa, as well as a selection of Vinos de la Tierra wineries from Castilla-La Mancha and other parts of Spain, most of them independent.