ADN Berasategui in the Barcelona Culinary Hub: the keys to a new stage

Respect for the product, precision in technique, and creativity at the service of flavor. And, above all, "being a good person." These are the pillars of Martín Berasategui's cooking (and life) philosophy, which the chef will now imprint on the Barcelona Culinary Hub. The higher education gastronomy school and the renowned chef have sealed an alliance through which Berasategui and his team will imbue the center with their philosophy, taking a leap in scale by incorporating the chef's vision into its programs.

"For me, it's important to be good people. And it has paid off," Berasategui emphasizes. At the doors of the center and after touring its facilities full of students, flavors, and smells, Berasategui has launched a declaration of intent about this strategic alliance: "We are going to leave a mark, there will be a before and an after." And he went further: "Students will find my entire universe."

And what are the keys to this Berasategui universe? Those pillars of authenticity and essence, fused with the culture of effort and the appeal to being a good person. Always, from a perspective that goes further and has the ambition to amaze: "It must be impossible for us not to do something that leaves us speechless." This aspiration and knowledge will be added to "the freshness they bring and the verve they have" as students. According to the chef, from a vision that encompasses tradition and innovation, "thanking the past and shoring up the future."

"The best legacy I could leave is to give everything I have done in this life as a crazy chef," and the place to do it has been the Barcelona Culinary Hub. Now, the center opens a new stage, five years after starting to operate and positioning itself among the leading gastronomic training centers. Affiliated with the Universitat de Barcelona and with about 870 students, the center is part of Planeta Formación y Universidades, the higher education network of Grupo Planeta ---with 22 centers internationally.

To formalize the alliance, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, walked through the kitchens and spaces of the center, among students, teachers, pots, and chocolate. He did so alongside the president of Grupo Planeta, José Creuheras; the mayor of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, David Quirós; the rector of the Universitat de Barcelona, Joan Guàrdia, and the CEO of Planeta Formación y Universidades, Carlos Giménez, accompanied, of course, by Berasategui.

"This alliance reinforces our commitment to gastronomic training of excellence, connected with the reality of the sector and with an international vocation," highlighted the CEO of Planeta Formación y Universidades. Now, the incorporation of Berasategui's knowledge and philosophy allows the center to "take a qualitative leap in its project."

In this framework, the school offers a university degree in Gastronomic Direction and Management, as well as training cycles and postgraduate degrees in the areas of Haute Cuisine, Haute Pastry, Artisan Bakery, and Workshop Management, among others. In fact, one of the differentiating elements of the Culinary Hub's proposal is this vision that goes beyond the kitchen and also encompasses that of the gastronomic business, always with a transversal view of the sector and an international vocation.

Now, all of them will be imbued with Berasategui's vision and —as the chef himself has made clear— that of his team. And it is that, as the chef has highlighted, this alliance goes beyond his figure, and includes his entire team and environment. In fact, the technical direction of the school will be assumed by Philippe Labbé, a close collaborator of the Spanish chef with the most Michelin stars. With the agreement, Labbé will be in charge of transferring Berasategui's culinary and training model to the Culinary Hub in the day-to-day life of the academic center.

The hybridization of the center with the Berasategui DNA will thus represent an evolution of its academic project and its culinary training programs, which are attended by students from more than 40 nationalities. With a clear objective: to promote talent in a dynamic and creative sector, under a philosophy that goes down to the essence of gastronomy, of the product and of the person behind the stoves.