Gastronomy And Beyond

19 October, 12pm EDT 

Joxe Mari Aizega -General Manager Basque Culinary Center 

Discovering Joxe Mari Aizega, the General Manager Basque Culinary Center.

Basque Culinary Center is a unique ecosystem where training, innovation, research, and entrepreneurship coexist with the aim of developing and promoting gastronomy, the latter understood as reasoned knowledge about what we eat and how we eat. Located in Donostia - San Sebastian since 2011, it is a pioneering institution made up of the Faculty of Gastronomic Science and BCC Innovation, the Gastronomy Technological Centre.

21 November, 12pm EDT

Luciana Bianchi - Director of Galapagos Foundation Development Chef/Owner of MUYU. 

Time to meet Luciana Bianchi. 

Luciana is the director of the Galapagos Foundation focusing on gastronomy, conservation and sustainability. Her latest project is MUYU - the first farm, forest & sea to table restaurant in the Galapagos Islands, supporting organic farmers, and empowering women, and youngsters to become hospitality professionals.

14 December, 14pm EDT

Elena Arzak, a family. 4 generations of Arzak

The history of the Arzak Restaurant begins in 1897 when Juan Mari Arzak's grandparents built the house where his restaurant is still located today.

It was first a wine cellar and tavern. Later, Juan Mari Arzak's parents turned it into a restaurant of some importance and refinement. In 1966 Juan Mari Arzak took over the restaurant with his mother. She was his teacher in traditional Basque cuisine, to which he added his great curiosity and desire to innovate, which led him to create his own recipes. Traditional Basque dishes to which he added his own personal touch.

His great talent was soon noticed, and at the age of just 32, he was awarded the National Gastronomy Prize, and the Arzak Restaurant was awarded its first star by the prestigious Michelin guide in 1974.

From the mid 1970s onwards, he began to receive awards and recognition that made the Arzak Restaurant a benchmark in national and international gastronomy. In 1976 Juan Mari Arzak, together with a group of chefs, revolutionised cuisine and created a concept and a movement: New Basque Cuisine. In 1977 he was awarded the second Michelin star and in 1989 he was awarded the third star in the Michelin Guide. He was the second to receive the triple recognition in Spain and has held it ever since.

In the 1990s, Elena Arzak, Juan Mari Arzak's daughter, joined the family restaurant. Elena studied Hotel Management in Switzerland and then went on to work in the great kitchens of Europe, including Maison Troisgros, Pierre Gagnaire, Carré des Feuillants and Le Vivarois in France, Louis XV in Monte Carlo, Le Gavroche in London, Antica Osteria del Ponte in Italy and El Bulli in Spain.

In May 2001 he received the Chef de l'Avenir award from the International Academy of Gastronomy. In 2010, the Spanish Academy of Gastronomy awarded him the National Gastronomy Prize. And in 2012 she was crowned Veuve Clicquot World's Best Female Chef.

Today, Juan Mari Arzak shares with his daughter Elena his cooking, knowledge, passion and desire to continue making history at Arzak. History of the Arzak family.

SESSION 2 -  Spring 2024

23 January, 9am EDT

Sandoval Family.

After more than 40 years and three generations in the same building located in Humanes de Madrid, the old Sandoval family restaurant has continued to grow by taking a step forward and emerging on a new scene. With its two Michelin stars, three Ms from the Guía Metrópoli and three Repsol Suns, Coque has now opened its doors in the heart of Madrid, in a space of 1,100m2 where hopes, dreams and mutual respect are the order of the day. Mario, Rafael and Diego Sandoval, third-generation restaurateurs, have imagined their ideal space into being, each applying his own signature touch, led by designer Jean Porsche.

The result is a place that "draws on our collective strengths," explains Mario Sandoval. With an interior design and layout meant to delight diners, the venue offers an original and unique culinary experience, with a sensory journey through four spaces: the cocktail bar, wine cellar, kitchen and dining room, spaces through which you’ll wend a path, as you enjoy personalized service and take in the attention to detail in every space. In each room, the guest gets the chance to savor the fruits of Mario's imagination, creator of an evolved yet humble cuisine, which is as agile as it is well-researched, created to delight the palate.

https://www.restaurantecoque.com/en/

15 February, 9am EDT

Kent Larson - Director and Professor of the Practice, City Science

Kent Larson is the Director of the City Science group at the MIT Media Lab. The group proposes that new strategies must be found to create and understand communities, the places where people live and work, and new systems related to mobility, energy, health, and food in order to meet the profound challenges of the future. Kent has researched food systems since 2014, including the MIT CityFARM project and personal hydroponic experiments in his home basement. He enjoys cooking at home with his wife, Maria.

19 March, 12pm EDT

Pia M Sorensen - Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Pia is a Senior Preceptor (faculty position with PI status & voting rights) in Chemical Engineering and Applied Materials at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. She co-teaches and manages the General Education course Science and Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science (SPU 27), which explores how everyday cooking and haute cuisine can illuminate basic principles in chemistry and physics. She is the developer and co-instructor of Science & CookingX, an online version of the college course and one of the largest courses on Edx.

23 April, 9am EDT

Álvaro Garrido and Lara Martin - Mina

Mina is a gastronomic restaurant located in the heart of Bilbao in La Vieja neighborhood. It is in a pedestrian promenade near the river and from the windows you can see the San Anton Bridge and The Ribera Market. In order to provide the best dining experience Mina only welcomes 25 guests per service. “Our culture is based on food,” says Álvaro Garrido, chef and owner. 

Original idea and Coordinator of Gastronomy And Beyond: Adela Balderas Cejudo