Eneko Atxa, chef of the year
He is the Chef of the most sustainable restaurant in the world according to The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2018 (and it was also in 2014). Eneko Atxa (Amorebieta, Vizcaya, 1977) created Azurmendi in 2005 and in a short time it has become the world reference not only for his gastronomic proposal, but also for his commitment to sustainability.
After years of international recognition, Eneko Atxa now receives the award Chef of the year at Reale Seguros Madrid Fusión 2019.
Chef of the year at Madrid Fusion 2019.
With 3 Michelin stars (2007, 2010 and 2012, the year in which the bioclimatic building was also inaugurated), Azurmendi advocate for sustainability from its beginnings and from all its angles: built with sustainable technology, it uses renewable energy, recycles rainwater and all kinds of materials, and produces compost with the organic waste it generates.
But all this goes further and does not remain on the surface, like so many other empty and ephemeral projects that we see born and die in the world of gastronomy: Eneko Atxa's latest sustainable commitment is to promote the consumption of local products, through close collaboration with local producers "to give visibility to a sector that deserves more".
And that is why he has shaped the idea of him, along with Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria, founder of the artificial intelligence company Sherpa, in the ambitious and necessary project BestFarmers, a digital platform that aims to highlight the history and peculiarities of the best producers to give them visibility and recognize their work.
Azurmendi
"We believe in what we're doing," he says. And he shows. In this altruistic initiative, which will see the light of day in April, Atxa will collaborate with several chefs from around the world to select local suppliers, until now in the shade, those who recognize his talent and his efforts. They will launch the project with a database of more than 300 producers, which will be alive and will be expanded periodically.
“We want this to be a tool so that other people, in this case small producers, can also feel valued and receive the recognition they deserve by all of us, both culinary professionals and journalists or amateurs who are curious to know who is behind everything we consume and who are the best farmers in the world”, he explained to Traveler after collecting the award. For this, they will take into account aspects such as the organoleptic, traceability, packaging or the type of products or breeds.
Eneko Atxa, the chef of the most sustainable restaurant in the world
Haute cuisine and the best artisan producers will thus join forces in this who's who that promises to become a movement that transcends the consumer. At last.
“It seems that sustainability is something that is being invented now, but all this already existed. It is common sense, it is something that has always been done but now, and in our case, we are doing it more conscientiously and professionally. This is just the answer to the cry of the planet”, he adds.
Eneko Atxa, who at the award ceremony recalled his first participation in Madrid Fusión ("It was in 2007, when no one knew me"), wants to revolutionize the kitchen and, incidentally, the world. Or vice versa.
Eneko Atxa (Azurmendi), Chef of the Year