SanSebastian

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Programme

The chefs

ALAIN WEISSGERBER

Having trained and worked with the culinary elite (Elena Arzak in San Sebastián, Joël Robuchon in Paris, Tantris in Munich and Wolfgang Puck in Los Angeles), the chef of French origin Alain Weissgerber, opened his first restaurant, Blaue Gans, in Weiden, Austria, going on to garner his first Michelin star in 2005. After the Blaue Gans was destroyed by fire in 2010, Alain joined the Taubenkobel, one of Austria's best restaurants. Four years later Alain took up the reins of the business. During these years at the Taubenkobel, Weissgerber has developed and refined his recognisable culinary style, with a cuisine inspired in regional dishes, placing special emphasis on local varieties. His efforts have earned him two Michelin stars and a place on the World's 100 Best in 2014.

ANDREA TUMBARELLO

Born in Sicily, gastronomy has always played an important part in Andrea Tumbarello's life. One evening in 2005, surprised at the poor quality of the pasta served while dining at the Don Giovanni restaurant in Madrid, he asked to speak to the owner, who offered him the option of the lease. A month later, Tumbarello was already running the restaurant, before finally going on to purchase the trattoria. Today, the Don Giovanni is a reference of Italian cuisine in Madrid, an unpretentious eatery serving dishes that radiate the authenticity of a gastronomy which, though simple, is exquisitely prepared. Tumbarello's restaurant, winner of multiple awards, including two Soles from the Repsol Guide, was acknowledged as Best Italian Restaurant in Madrid in 2012.

DANIEL LÓPEZ

Daniel López is another of the notable chefs who learned his trade under Luis Irizar. At the young age of 27, Daniel López opened the doors of the Restaurante Kokotxa in San Sebastián's Old Town. Barely six years later, the restaurant would receive its first Michelin star, which it maintains today, serving sincere cuisine with local roots.

ELENA ARZAK

With a long family tradition in gastronomy dating back to her great-grandparents, Elena Arzak always knew she would become a cook. Having studied at the Schweizerische Hotelfachschule Luzern hotel and catering school in Switzerland, she worked at La Gavroche (London), Vivarois (Paris), Louis XV (Montecarlo), Antica Hosteria di Ponte Cassineta (Lugano), Pierre Gagnaire (Paris) and El Bulli (Rosas), among other establishments all over Europe. After her wanderings she started working in the family restaurant, the mega-famous Michelin three-starred Arzak. Today she runs the restaurant alongside her father.

ENRIQUE FLEISCHMANN

After years of training under reputed chefs including Iñaki Agirre, Karlos Arguiñano, Juan Mari Arzak and Paul Bocuse, and having worked as sous-chef for seven years at Pedro Subijana's Akelarre Restaurant, Enrique Fleischmann set out on a new professional endeavour as head of the Txoko Getaria Restaurant, a family restaurant serving classic dishes with a modern touch while respecting the product, flavour and tradition. His second culinary proposal is the Bailara Restaurant at the Iriarte Jauregia Hotel, a commitment to innovative, state-of-the-art and flavoursome proposals. The two projects earned him a nomination for the Best New Chef 2014 Award at Madrid Fusión and won him Best Restaurant of 2016 at the Más Gastronomía Jóvenes Valores Awards.

JORGE MAESTRO

Jorge Maestro started working in kitchens at a very young age. After completing his cookery studies he set out to broaden his skills at different restaurants in Catalonia and the Basque Country. During that time he worked with the big chefs, earning sufficient experience and knowledge to to set out along his own path, resulting in the nöla, in Siguenza. Here the lands of Castile are enormously present on a menu always featuring the region's ubiquitous game dishes or locally-sourced mushrooms and truffles.

KAMILLA SEIDLER

Kamilla Seidler, chef of Danish origin, was named the Best Female Chef in Latin America by the 50 Best website. Seidler is the soul of Gustu Restaurant, in La Paz, Bolivia; with two Michelin stars, the restaurant also takes the number 14 position in the list of Best Restaurants in Latin America. At Gustu, Seidler explores and cooks 100% Bolivian food. The combination of her talent as a chef and her social commitment has gained her the reputation of being one of the great chefs of the region.

KEPA TXAPARTEGI

The Txapartegi brothers, Mikel, Gorka and Kepa run the Restaurante Alameda in Hondarribia. Kepa, with his brother Gorka, is in charge of the kitchen. A family-run business, born in 1942, which has now seen the passage of three generations and produces traditional cuisine with a modern touch which displays great respect for the ingredients used and has earned them their first Michelin star.

MIKEL GALLO

Mikel Gallo has developed a large part of his career in two magnificent buildings, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and the Kursaal Congress Centre. After nine years in the kitchens of the Kursaal, his career took a turn when, with Bixente Arrieta (IXO Group), he set about introducing a new restaurant concept: the Ni Neu at the Kursaal Congress Centre, serving innovative gastronomic dishes and bringing haute cuisine to the general public.

MUTSUO KOWAKI

Born in southern Japan, he began his career at the age of 20 at the Heiseischool, before going on to perfect his skills for 10 years at the Tokyo restaurants Aoyagi and Ryugin (both currently holders of a Michelin star). After working in Indonesia he headed for the Matsu restaurant in Barcelona, later developing his experience in the same city at restaurants such as the Espai Kru, the Fonda Sala and the Koy Shunka before tackling his own project as a private chef with more than 20 years of experience and as a consultant on traditional Japanese food.

OSAMU TOMITA

Four-time winner of the Best Ramen Award in Japan with his famous Tsukemen ramen, owner of ten restaurants where people start queuing at six o'clock in the morning and author of a book on the dish, Osamu Tomita is unquestionably king of the ramen.

RUBÉN TRINCADO

Rubén has travelled from the Kokotxa in the Old Town with Muguruza, to the Bodegón Alejandro with Martín Berasategui, passing through the Abarka in Hondarribia, until his training with Didier Garbage in Les Landes, La Perouse in Paris and Labota in Geneva. But without a doubt those responsible for his love of cooking are his grandmother Faustina Zaldua and his father Mitxel, together with Mari Carmen Trincado, for years the alma mater of the Mirador de Ulía, meaning that Rubén represents the third generation at the head of the same restaurant. In 2006 he won the Martín Berasategui-Alcorta mini-cuisine Award, going on to land his first Michelin star in 2010.

TOMÁS KALIKA

Trained in Jerusalem, Israel, and now living in Buenos Aires, Tomás Kalika recovers the inheritance of Jewish recipes around the world in his restaurant, Mishiguene (Buenos Aires), opened in 2014. The Mishiguene serves avant-garde Jewish cuisine or, in his own words, immigrant cooking. Mishiguene, translated from Yiddish, is fondly used when referring to a person who is delightfully or charmingly crazy.