Soon enough, his extraordinary culinary skills earned him the National Gastronomy Award when he was 32, and the Arzak Restaurant got its first Michelin star. From the mid-70s on, Juan Mari won one award after the other, which placed the Arzak Restaurant among the best establishments across Spain and around the globe. In 1976, Juan Mari Arzak and a group of chefs revolutionised the art of cooking when they created a new culinary concept, a movement known as New Basque Cuisine. In 1978, he was awarded his second Michelin star and in 1989 the third one. He was the second to get three Michelin stars in Spain, and he still holds them.