Álvaro Arbeloa

Álvaro Arbeloa began his professional training at the Marbella Catering School, where he discovered his passion for cuisine, and respect and love for the profession alongside chef Manuel Atienza. His training continued at a number of Spanish establishments before he moved to Shanghai (China), where he opened the first Spanish restaurant (2001). There he contacted experts in Asian cuisine, and most particularly Japanese chefs, who influenced his cooking.

After his Asian journey, he went round the world to arrive in America, where he worked as executive chef at the prestigious Mantra Hotel Resort, Spa & Casino in Punta del Este (Uruguay). Having seen both east and west, he returned to Spain to settle in Majorca, at the Hotel Blau Portopetro, where he was executive chef for more than four years. It was on this Balearic island, and not during his time in Shanghai, where he met Toshio Tsutsui, with whom he developed a great friendship and with whom he decided to set up a restaurant in his own town, the Takumi restaurant.

Takumi emerged in 2011 as a traditional Japanese restaurant, using the best local produce for its fare. After they had consolidated themselves over the years, in 2017 the two owners opened another establishment in the provincial capital, Málaga.