The National Gastronomy Award splits and goes to Paco Solé Parellada and Xavier Pellicer

The Gardens of the Pedralbes Palace repeat as the setting for the celebration of the gala in which the XXII National Gastronomy Awards have been granted by the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition in its invaluable task of making visible the excellence and good health of Catalan cuisine, as well as the professionals who take care of it. In the words of Carles Vilarrubí, president of the Academy, "our cuisine has a long historical tradition, of which we have a living and very rich culinary legacy that must be known, appreciated and preserved."

With these Awards, and in particular with the selection of the award winners in this edition and the novelties it has presented, the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition wants to highlight the globality of the Catalan gastronomic scene, in which both the avant-garde and the look at tradition and its history coexist to offer locals and foreigners a truthful and qualitative experience of the Catalan spirit in the kitchen, representing the territory and its traditions through the effort of producers, elaborators and chefs, as the ultimate responsible for the transformation of raw material into bites that gather yesterday, today and the vision of tomorrow.

This annual event is a major happening in the gastronomy sector. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the future of the city and the Catalan territory in its responsibility to offer authenticity and culture to both local customers and visitors, who choose Catalonia as their leisure destination looking for good cuisine and excellence in the service that the territory carries in its DNA.

The Awards, one by one

The National Gastronomy Award 2024 is divided, for the first time, into two categories, giving visibility to both professionals who develop their paths seeking to preserve tradition and gastronomic heritage and those who, from respect and deep knowledge, move towards a discourse of evolution and avant-garde. Two facets that, as happens in every living culture, support each other to offer an authentic portrait of contemporary Catalan cuisine. The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and Carles Vilarrubí, president of the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition, were in charge of presenting this double award.

Thus, Xavier Pellicer has obtained the Premi Nacional de Gastronomia d'Autor 2024, recognizing a long career that, in itself, is evolution, knowledge, and creation. Pellicer, who before arriving at Can Fabes had been at La Llar (in Roses, whose establishment held 1 Michelin star from 1982 until its closure in 2014), at Arzak and at Le Carrés de Feuillants in Paris, began a personal interest in spiritual, emotional, and physical growth through the exploration of cooking with vegetable protein. First in the fleeting Céleri, which opened in 2015 and after winning its first Michelin star closed, and then in Xavier Pellicer and El Menjador by Xavier Pellicer, his gastronomic discourse has elevated plant-based cuisine to haute cuisine that both the soul and the stomach recognize and appreciate. An emotional, always lively and dynamic cuisine that demonstrates that gastronomy and nutrition need and feed each other so that happiness is acquired by ingesting.

Paco Solé has received the Premi Nacional de Gastronomia Tradició 2024 as a token of appreciation from the sector for a lifetime dedicated to the preservation of Catalan culinary culture with rigor and commitment. He considers himself a link in the 190 years of life that his family restaurant, 7 Portes, will soon celebrate, but his love for restoration and the respect he instills in it, which he learned from his father and developed in childhood, have indeed made him a key piece for this emblematic Barcelona restaurant to head towards its 200 years of life with a unique, authentic and practically, heritage gastronomic proposal of the city. Paco Solé is credited with the creation of the Col·lecció 7 Portes de Receptaris Històrics de Cuina Catalana in 2010 with the aim of collecting, documenting and preserving the history of Catalan gastronomy, starting with the Sent Soví edited in the 14th century and advancing, for now, until the 8th century. A task and a legacy that will continue at the forefront to complement this valuable documentation to the present day, while from the kitchen and dining room of 7 Portes, culture that is eaten and drunk continues to be offered.

The Premi Revelació 2024 was presented by Valentí Roqueta, a member of the Academy's Board of Directors, and Ciril Rozmán, vice-president of Agbar, the official sponsoring company of the event. It was received by Núria Bonet, chef and co-owner of the Ca la Núria restaurant in Bellver de Cerdanya. In this project, managed jointly with her partner August, both bring together a shared trajectory at the helm of kitchens that have tirelessly offered their diners territory, tradition, and personality while always looking to the future. The award recognizes not only her professional career but also her unique ability to create dishes that tell stories and excite the palate in equal measure.

Fina Navarro was the protagonist of the Premi Cap de Sala 2024, presented to her by an emotional Carme Ruscalleda, vice-president of the Academy. Her more than thirty years of dedication and impeccable professionalism at Fonda Gaig, La Torre del Remei, or Petit Comitè in Barcelona gain visibility with the unanimous recognition of the Academy members. Always forming a tandem with her partner, the esteemed chef Carles Gaig, Navarro quickly understood the sensitivity and rigor of the language of a dining room and has executed it ever since with passion and respect, knowing that her counterpoint was the mainstay of Gaig's cuisine.

The Premi Especial de l'Acadèmia Catalana de Gastronomia i Nutrició 2024 goes to Toni Massanés for his dedication to research and teaching in gastronomy, accrediting the influential role he has played as a communicator and gastronome. At the head of the Alicia Foundation, the first gastronomic R&D laboratory with scientific rigor and social commitment, he has developed important work in knowledge and awareness around sustainable and healthy eating from its most pleasurable aspect. A lifetime dedicated to dissemination that has crystallized in countless books, guides, strategic plans, and exhibitions, in addition to recognitions such as the Premi Ciutat de Barcelona and the Juan Mari Arzak de Gastronomía y Medios de Comunicación. He is, to this day, considered one of the 35 main gastronomic communicators in Spain. A grateful Massanés collected the distinction from Ramon Agenjo, academic and treasurer of the Academy, and Maria Alsina, territorial director in Barcelona of CaixaBank, the official sponsoring company of the gala.

The list of awards and their recipients is completed with the awarding of the Premi Néstor Luján de Periodisme Gastronòmic 2024 to Empar Moliner, gastronomic journalist and author of La tria de l'Empar, a series of twenty-two articles on viticulture published throughout 2023 in the Diari ARA. In them, Moliner's renowned voice gives visibility to producers and elaborators from an approach of knowledge and personal enjoyment, mixing the sensibility of music with technique and the human dimension, both of those who elaborate and those who consume. Moliner, in addition to having an extensive literary career, is a passionate communicator who also directs and presents Tast Vertical on Catalunya Ràdio, where she explores the culture of wine in Catalonia along with the prescription of a reading and a song. Moliner collected the award from Lluïsa Moret, president of the Diputació de Barcelona and mayor of Sant Boi de Llobregat; Joan Font, vice-president of the Acadèmia, and Eduardo Mendoza, member and representative of the jury composed of 9 academics who unanimously decided to award the distinction to Moliner, endowed with 10,000 euros.

The winners of the Premis Nacionals de Gastronomia are the result of a secret voting process that the nearly 65 Academics carry out throughout the year, resulting in a selection of chefs, professionals, institutions or collectives for the excellence in their work and for their contribution to the cuisine and gastronomy of our country. In turn, the ACGN annually provides a summary of forecasts on trends in the sector, such as the consolidation of vegetables, the interest in giving a plus of sustainability to healthy food and the commitment to technology facilitating the relationship between the restaurant and the client. With the closing of the gala, Vilarrubí invites attendees to once again enjoy this celebration of gastronomy in the territory in 2025, which has been held for more than three decades, thanks to the fact that journalist Nèstor Luján promoted the creation of the ACGN. An opportunity for meeting, dialogue and recognition that the entire sector eagerly awaits.