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Few chefs can boast such an extensive résumé of illustrious diners. Haaland, Benzema, Courtois, Beckham, Joaquín, Dina-Ebimbe and Tanguy Nianzou are just some of the stars who have trusted this Malaga province chef to delight their palates and enjoy a championship meal. Antonio C. Rodríguez, a young chef born in Gaucín, has built his career around the world of football. So much so that he is now known as the footballers' chef.
Antonio has been working in different kitchens since 2007, which is when he opened the Tegueste restaurant in Gaucin village with his mother, a place that provided a mixture of traditional cuisine from Andalucía and the Canary Islands (his mother's birthplace). Two decades later, and after working in different restaurants in London, Dubai and Ibiza, he has moved his headquarters to Marbella, where he is also the chef behind the new brunch service that the five-star Hard Rock Hotel has launched for summer 2025.
After his first restaurant experience in his home Serranía de Ronda village, this chef went to London, where he started washing dishes at Brindisa Spanish Foods, one of the most famous Spanish food chains in the UK. There he met José Pizarro, the most influential Spanish chef in London, and later joined the team at the fine dining restaurant Aqua Shard, where he had his first contact with football players.
Despite those first sporadic contacts - he also worked for the Adriá brothers - Antonio turned his career towards the footballing world (and celebrities in general) back in Marbella. While working in a trendy restaurant on the Costa del Sol, he seated Haaland and Joaquín at the same table and that led to the recording of a video that went viral around the world and put his name on the footballing map. "It came about as a joke, but from that moment on my career took a radical turn", he says.
The video in question, in which Joaquín tells Haaland that there was no place for him at Betis, spread like wildfire as people shared on their mobiles and it gave Antonio visibility among the teammates of both players. Since that moment, two years ago now, there is hardly a football player who visits Marbella without contracting this chef.
Although he does not reveal too many details due to confidentiality issues, Antonio confesses to having cooked in some of the most luxurious villas on the Costa del Sol. He has cooked not only for footballers, but also for other personalities from the world of sport or culture such as F1 driver Niki Lauda and the entire cast of The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2.
Contact for this type of profile began with people who work as intermediaries (often concierges), although over time "every footballer who comes back to Marbella calls me directly because I like to create a close, family-like environment with clients."
He makes it clear that "every customer is different" and one of his hallmarks is that he adapts completely to his clientele. After cooking in different countries and in all kinds of restaurants, he can offer Mediterranean, French, Italian or Asian cuisine. "I cook an exclusive menu for each client. I don't like fixed menus," he says.
So, it is in this context of Marbella and luxury that the collaboration with Hard Rock Hotel has come about. Every Saturday throughout summer he will design the gastronomic proposal of 'El Brunch del Mercadillo', an event that is held to coincide with the summer opening of the nearby flea market in Puerto Banús, one of the most iconic in Spain.
Antonio says that, with the brunch, they want to give customers a "more raucous and off-the-cuff experience in keeping with the Hard Rock image." From 12 noon to 3pm, brunchers can enjoy barbecue, different types of food, unlimited drinks with a wide variety of cocktails, music and live entertainment for 60 euros (30 for children under 12).
As for what's on the food menu, he points out that there is "a bit of everything", from barbecued meat to freshly-prepared pasta, brioches, eggs Benedict, truffle omelettes, all kinds of fruit, natural juices, sweets and desserts. "We set up high and low tables so that people can mingle, dance and have a good time."
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