Chef Daniel Redondo, one of the founders of Maní in SP, dies – 11/25/2023 – Food

Spanish chef Daniel Redondo, who opened the São Paulo restaurant Maní alongside chef Helena Rizzo, to whom he was married, died this Friday (24). At the age of 46, Redondo suffered a motorcycle accident — there is still no confirmation of where it occurred.

The news was confirmed by Helena Rizzo and communicated by the Roca family, at the head of the award-winning Spanish restaurant El Celler de Can Roca, in Girona, run by the brothers Joan, Josep and Jordi.

Redondo was chef at the restaurant at the age of 27, where he met Helena Rizzo, who had gone to do an internship at the restaurant.

In 2006, the two opened Maní, a restaurant that combined, at the time, the techniques of Spanish avant-garde cuisine, led by Ferran Adrià, with research into Brazilian ingredients.

“I remember that in 2008 we received that entire team of Spaniards here in Brazil, at that moment when Spain was experiencing a special moment, transmitting the message that every place [país] you should look at your surroundings”, says Helena.

This guideline was seen in ingredients such as taioba and tucupi, which, at the time, were still rare on tasting menus in restaurants in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro – a trend that, almost two decades later, Maní helped popularize. Redondo was part of the restaurant team until 2016, when Helena took over the kitchen fully.

“He loved Brazil, he loved caipirinhas, he loved genuine cuisine. He liked to eat and meet the producers here. When we came here [abrir o Maní] I had this desire to do something, to be creative. Anyone who lived with him has that memory”, says Helena.

“What an extraordinary talent. Born to cook. A persevering, talented person”, says a message on the Instagram account of the El Celler de Can Roca restaurant, which accompanies a photo of Redondo.