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BM, GMA News, Philipines. "I always knew I wanted to go back [home], even when I was privileged [that] I could go away," Arzak told the press after her presentation on creativity at the recently concluded Madrid Fusión Manila at the SMX Convention Center.

"When I was abroad I can tell you I was happy also...not only because I was young, but because I knew I was going back."

Elena spent six years of her young career outside Spain. She studied at the Hospitality Management School in Switzerland and later worked at Le Gavroche in London; Troisgros, Carré des Feuillants, Vivarois, and Pierre Gagnaire in France; Louis XV in Monaco; Antica Ostería del Ponte in Italy; and at Ferran Adria's acclaimed elBulli in her home country.

Arzak said that it was her parents who instilled in her the desire to come back home. Her stint abroad was just a way for her to see other ways and systems of cooking that she can contribute to the three Michelin-starred restaurant that bears her family name.

"Do not forget your roots... Do not forget where you're from," Elena said.

She joined the restaurant's kitchen and later became the joint head along with her father, Chef Juan Mari, who is considered one of Spain's most important chefs and one who put Basque cuisine on the culinary map.

Love your profession until the end

One of Elena Arzak's acclaimed dishes: Fish served in a crispy seaweed balloon.

The talented father-and-daughter team have helped revolutionize traditional cuisine for 20 years. But the mentorship started way before Elena became a full-fledged chef.

Of all the things her father taught her, Elena said that the most important lesson she learned is a stubborn love for cooking.

"He told me since I was a child, 'Elena, you need to love your profession'," she said.

Now in his early 70s, Juan Mari still insists on asking the guests "politely" about their thoughts on Arzak's menu—especially when they leave a little on their plate, Elena revealed.

"He said, 'Elena, go always until the end. If someone has left [food on their plate], that's because he doesn't like [it], [then] we are not good'," she added.

To this, the chef stressed the importance of listening to the guests.

Elena to aspiring chefs: Go to school, get ready to be criticized

Elena met a lot of "self-taught and genius" chefs while growing up. But she advised aspiring chefs to go to school.

"Try to be formed in a school to have a theoretical [foundation]," she said.

Going to a culinary school also gives aspiring chefs a chance to practice their craft and determine if working in the world of gastronomy is really for them.

But most importantly, Elena—one of the world's greatest chefs—reminded young people to be humble, as chefs get criticized often.

"Be humble. Be humble because in this profession people will correct you a lot... And listen to the guests," she said.