24th November, 2009
Monday 23rd November turned out to be a special day indeed. The XI edition of the San Sebastian International Haute Cuisine Conference was inaugurated in true style, all activities successfully summoned a large amount of people…but if there is something that caused a sensation it was the master presentation of the day “Dining room contributions to contemporary cuisine”.
The Top Level and OFF Gastronomika conferences merged in the Kursaal Auditorium to reunite some of the greatest references in the industry to discuss an issue insufficiently covered until now. In the meantime Josep Monje from Via Veneto was awarded the 1st Golden Guéridon Prize and joined by his restaurant team, he performed a live demonstration of the mythical guéridon service.
San Sebastián Gastronomika has grown considerably until becoming the TOTAL conference it is today, encompassing all disciplines of enogastronomy. To achieve this, two main sections have been designed: Top Level and OFF Gastronomika: two parallel conferences focused, on one hand, on contemporary haute cuisine, and on the other, on “The world of the restaurant industry: hotels, restaurants and wines”.
The master presentation “Dining room contributions to contemporary gastronomy” exemplified the bond between dining rooms and kitchens. Those in charge of participating in this necessary debate were some of the great visionaries of the dining room; people extremely committed to the trade who have spent years defending the work of waiters, maîtres and sommeliers…. once too often eclipsed by the cooks.
- Juli Soler: founder and co-owner with Ferran Adrià of the best restaurant in the world, elBulli. Juli can be considered as the creator of the contemporary dining room.
- Josep Roca: the second of the Roca brothers has become an institution within the world of wine. At his restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca, there is one of the most envied wine temples including thousands of references.
- Ferran Centelles and David Seijas: as representatives of the new golden generation of Spanish sommeliers, they deploy their incredible dining room experience under the supervision of Juli Soler at elBulli.
- César Cánovas: head sommelier at the innovative Monvínic - a centre dedicated to wine culture with a fabulous trajectory within the industry.
The 1st Golden Guéridon prize was for Joseph Monje
One of the many innovations at San Sebastián Gastronomika is the creation of the Golden Guéridon Prize, an award aimed at consolidating as one of the maximum acknowledgments for dining room professionals.
The first winner of this highly necessary prize was Josep Monje from Barcelona’s Via Veneto restaurant. A legend in the world of dining rooms, a service expert who has made elegance his trademark.
Josep Monje is something else. With his team he performed a live guéridon service, a long lost practice which is currently coming back at the best restaurants in the world. A selection of the best professionals from Via Veneto, experts in this type of serving, performed a demonstration of the preparation and presentation in the dining room of the tartar, canard à la presse or á l’orange.
