This is the third time when representatives of the gastronomy world have met in one place due to the prestigious The Best Chef Awards event. Chefs, sommeliers, critics and other enthusiasts of culinary cuisine arrived in crowds from all over the world at sunny Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia recognized, alongside the Basque Country, as the heart of Spanish haute cuisine (e.g. Restaurant Celler de Can Roca in Girona, El Bulli on the Costa Brava, Lasarte or ABaC in Barcelona). They gathered not only to take part in the gala, but also to participate in special symposia Food Meets Science & Area Talks which caused that the competition took on a new dimension and became a must-event for foodies. We are pleased that once again Antonius Caviar was a partner in this extraordinary initiative.
September 23, 2019
On the first day of the culinary celebration, the Food Meets Science symposium took place. The purpose of the discussion was to determine the relation between the human nervous system and eating process. Outstanding experts such as: prof. Charles Spence (creator of the concept of gastrophysics, Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford), Dr. Nicola Pirastu (University of Edinburgh) or Dr. Paul Smeets (University Medical Center in Utrecht) together with the greatest chefs: Grant Achatz (Alinea, Chicago), Pia Leon (Kjolle , Lima), Vladimir Mukhin (White Rabbit, Moscow), Davide Oldani (D’O ‘Davide Oldani, Milan), Joan Roca (El Celler de Can Roca, Girona) and Modest Amaro (Atelier Amaro, Warsaw) tried to answer the question what happens to our brain when we eat and how it affects the food choice.
September 24, 2019
The second day of the event was particularly important to us – in the historic building of the University of Barcelona the Area Talks panel discussion was held. During the debate, Marketing and Sales Director at Antonius Caviar, Agata Łakomiak-Winnicka, had the opportunity to tell the assembled guests about our caviar, the history of the company and, above all, the values we follow in our work. There were also discussed new trends in gastronomy and strategies in social media, as well as experts answered the questions of the young chefs. After the speeches, the listeners eagerly began tasting our “black gold” and enthusiastically delved into details of the production of our delicacy.
The Awards Gala
Meetings with the experts came to an end and there was a slight tension in the air – everyone was waiting for the evening, during which we were to finally meet the best chefs of modern gastronomy.
As with previous editions of this prestigious ranking, the finalists were selected by the greatest experts in the culinary world. However, the decisive votes belonged to Internet users – you could vote for your favorites in social media and on the Organiser’s website. Although the formula of the competition has changed – the list of finalists has been reduced to 100, the new categories were created: The Best Chef Legend Award and The Best Chef New Entry Award and The Best Chef Voted by Chefs.
Winners of The Best Chef Awards 2019
As a result of the vote, with the highest number of points, the title of The Best Chef Top100 Award was won by Björn Frantzén from the Frantzén restaurant (Stockholm, Sweden). The second was the winner of previous editions Joan Roca from the restaurant Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain). The third place went to David Muñoz from the DiverXO restaurant (Madrid, Spain). At this point we would like to congratulate Wojciech Amaro from Atelier Amaro (Warsaw), who was the only Pole in the list of the 100 best chefs in the world.
The winners of other categories are:
- The Best Chef City Gourmet (the best restaurant in the host city): Disfrutar restaurant (Barcelona, Spain) run by Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch;
- The Best Chef Rising Star (an emerging young chef): Pía León from the Kjolle restaurant (Lima, Peru);
- The Best Chef Fol-LOVERS (the best chef on social media): Grégoire Berger from the Ossiano restaurant (Dubai, UAE);
- The Best Chef Pastry (the best master confectioner): Jordi Roca from El Cellar de Can Roca restaurant (Girona, Spain);
- The Best Chef Food Art (the best artist among chefs): Daniel Watkins from St Leonards restaurant (London, UK);
- The Best Chef New Entry (the best chef and restaurant among the new candidates): Disfrutar restaurant (Barcelona, Spain) run by Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch;
- The Best Chef Voted by Chefs (the best chef chosen by other chefs): Grant Achatz from Alinea restaurant (Chicago, USA);
- The Best Chef Legend (the best chef who is not active in the kitchen as a chef anymore, but who still has a crucial impact on the world of gastronomy): Eckart Witzigmann (Austria).
Antonius Caviar, being one of the partners of this event, had the pleasure of presenting the prize to Daniel Watkins in the category The Best Chef Food Art. The chef at London’s St. Leonards won the title of the most outstanding creator of culinary compositions. His “works” can be admired not only in the restaurant, but also on his instagram profile.
The festive awarding ceremony did not mean the end of the party. There were more attractions – a delicious dinner prepared by Joan Roca and a tasting of our caviar. We were very pleased that we could not only present our product to the most eminent chefs, but also had many interesting conversations. We’ve seen lots of familiar faces but we also met even more amazing people who love what they do and have devoted their lives to passion. It was very inspirig to share the same beliefs.
PHOTOS: NADIA CASTELLETTI, JOANNA OGÓREK
