The Harvard Common Press

Teresa Barrenechea is one of the most eminent authorities on Spanish cooking, specifically the cuisine of the Basque region, in the United States.  She was the chef and owner of the former Marichu, the widely acclaimed restaurant in New York, which the Spanish National Board of Tourism lauded as having the most authentic Basque food in the United States. Barrenechea is a native of Bilbao, Spain, a coastal city in the Basque region. Before opening her own restaurant in the United States, she helped design and develop menus for several restaurants in Spain that specialized in Basque cooking.  She has also worked in her family’s Madrid restaurant, Jai Alai, known as one of the best Basque restaurants in the city.
Barrenechea’s fame is rapidly growing in the New York area and nationwide. A culinary ambassador, Barrenechea is frequently asked to represent Spain at international events and conferences, as well as to prepare special feasts for officials and celebrities in Spain and the United States.  She represented Spain at the 1995 James Beard Awards celebration and was a featured chef at the Beard House in 1994 and 1997. In 1998, she was awarded the prize for “Best New Publication” by the Spanish National Academy of Gastronomy and the “Best Regional Cuisine Book” award at the International Cookbook Revue’s 1998 World Cookbook Fair Awards. Teresa Barrenechea’s recipes have appeared in Food & Wine, Food Arts, Gourmet, The New York Daily News, and the New York Post.  She has appeared on the Food Network, Lifetime network, Good Day New York, and CBS at Noon.