The city of Madrid hosts The Best Chef Awards 2022 gala on 18, 19 and 20 September, an international gastronomic event considered to be the Nobel Prize for cuisine. It is an international conference in which there will be talks and conferences, and the world’s best 100 chefs will also be recognised.

These awards were initially held in Warsaw (Poland) in 2017 and since then, they have been held in Milan (Italy) in 2018, in Barcelona in 2019 and in Amsterdam (Netherlands) in 2021, whilst the 2020 edition was in an on-line format due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last edition, the chef from Madrid, Dabiz Muñoz, who holds three Michelin stars for his restaurant, DiverXo, took away the trophy for World’s Best Chef.

The event is backed by Perlage and has announced 13 special awards this year, apart from the famous Top 100 list. They include awards for the Best Chef Pastry, Best Chef Rising Star, Best Chef Science and Best Chef New Entry.

As a new feature, three new awards will be presented: the Best Chef Pristine Award sponsored by Gin Raw, given to the chef with utmost respect for and use of the highest quality local produce, the Best Chef Innovation Award sponsored by Custom Culinary®, and the Best Chef Dining Experience Award sponsored by Ron Matusalem.

Among the 100 candidates, Spain is the best placed country with Fina Puigdevall and Martina Puigvert, mother and daughter at Les Cols, Dani García (Dani García Group), Javier and Sergio Torres (Cocina Hermanos Torres), Ricard Camarena (Ricard Camarena Restaurant), Jordi Vilà (Alkimia), Javier Olleros (Culler de Pau), Bittor Arguinzoniz (Etxebarri), Paco Pérez (Miramar), Mario Sandoval (Coque), Albert Sastregener (Bo.TiC) and Paulo Airaudo (Amelia).

It is followed by Italy and France, although Latin America also has a good batch of chefs thanks to culinary experts like Paco Ruano (Mexico), Matías Perdomo (Uruguay), Fernando Rivarola (Argentina) or Álvaro Clavijo (Colombia), among others.

In parallel, The Best Chef Awards includes the Area Talks debates, with two discussion panels made up of experts who will share inspiring ideas, original solutions and exciting experiences, and the Food Meets Science conference, in which the main theme is “Avant-Garde and Awareness” and professional chefs will enjoy cooking demonstrations as well as speeches by other chefs and scientists.

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