From 4th May, a major online gastronomy event will bring together more than 50 chefs and restaurant professionals from all over the world.

csoriano
April 30, 2020
The first week will feature speakers including Mauro Colagreco, Ángel León, Ferran Adrià, Alex Atala, Eneko Atxa, Pitu Roca, Quique Dacosta, Najat Kanaache and the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas.
  • Ten weekly activities, with morning and afternoon sessions
  • Presentations, live interviews, panel discussions and other webinar-based activities
  • An ambitious, free online programme designed to be listened to, interacted with and shared from home
  • A foretaste of San Sebastián Gastronomika – scheduled in October 

San Sebastian Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country is taking on the new Covid-19 induced context by adapting and growing into a new project – Gastronomika Live –, a major online meeting point for gastronomy professionals. This coming Monday, Spain’s oldest food conference is launching an ambitious online webinar programme designed to promote gastronomy’s role as a social closening device in these difficult times. “It’s the most ambitious professional gastronomy event presented to date, and it’s only the beginning of what’s to come. We want to bring added value by helping the industry keep training and stay up-to-date just like we’ve been doing over the last 20 years and until cooking activities recover”, explains Benjamín Lana, president of Vocento’s Gastronomy Division. He adds “to do this, we’ve planned a series of webinars with fifty of the world’s best cooks as well as professionals and experts from other disciplines with interest in the industry. We want to drive a global conversation about the future of post-Covid gastronomy, but not just that. We must make use of this time to learn and improve our skills, to grow and create”.
Workshops, debates, talks and interviews about food creativity, techniques, future keys, company finances, new business and social models under the guidance of the field’s most prominent figures, both national and international. All these activities will be free and held daily, with morning and afternoon sessions. To sign up, people just need to visit www.sansebastiangastronomika.com – the new website for Spain’s longest-standing gastronomy conference – and fill in a short access questionnaire in the Gastronomika Live section. In addition to webinars, San Sebastián Gastronomika’s new web portal will now post news content such as articles, reports, opinions and interviews.

50 Top Chefs

Over 50 top chefs from all over the world have already confirmed their participation in the San Sebastian Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country webinars. They include Mauro Colagreco, Dan Barber, Ferran Adrià, Alex Atala, José Andrés, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Carlo Cracco, Ángel León, Carme Ruscalleda, Pitu Roca, Quique Dacosta, Jesús Sánchez, Eneko Atxa, Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, Albert Adrià, David de Jorge, Álvaro Garrido, Óscar García, Najat Kaanache and Ricard Camarena.

Speakers from other related fields will also contribute to some sessions. They are, for instance, the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas; the director of Fundació Alicia, Toni Massanés; the trend analyst Fernando Gallardo, the sommelier Ferran Centelles and journalists such as José Carlos Capel, president of Madrid Fusión, or Carlos Maribona, food critic at ABC newspaper. For now, the programme of virtual activities Gastronomika Live has no expiry date. Every day, two 30-minute sessions will be held — one in the morning (10.30am) and one in the afternoon (5pm), with some excepcions.

Live Interactive Webinars

All the webinars will be announced beforehand on the San Sebastián Gatronomika website and social media accounts. A moderator will facilitate the session and guide delegates on how to participate. All the activities will let the audience interact through polls and questions. “We want this to be an open forum, where everyone who wants to is able to put questions to the speaker from home, and generate a lively debate” says Roser Torras, director of San Sebastián Gastronomika.

After each webinar, a text summary will be posted on the San Sebastian Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country website, along with the full videos of the session which will be available for watching. “This is another way of holding an event. We are adapting to the new circumstances with custom solutions that allow us to continue promoting and defending the industry as we always have” Roser Torras adds.

Week 1 Programme:

Monday 4th May
10.30am
Mauro Colagreco
(Restaurante Mirazur, France)
‘Mirazur, the day after. What will my restaurant be like when it opens again?’

5pm
Interview with…
Luis Planas Puchades 
(Spain’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food)
Moderators:
Benjamín Lana
(President of Vocento’s Gastronomy Division)
José Carlos Capel
(President of Madrid Fusión)

Tuesday 5th May
10.30am
Ángel León
(Restaurante Aponiente, Spain)
‘The fish store cupboard beyond fish. Cooking sea food without fish’

5pm
Ferran Adrià
‘How to take on the new revolution’

Wednesday 6th May
10.30am
Eneko Atxa 
(Azurmendi Restaurant, Spain)
‘Simplicity and visual poetry in the kitchen’

7pm
Alex Atala  
(D.O.M. Restaurant, Brazil)
‘Teachings from the Amazon. Store cupboard and kitchen’

Thursday 7 May
10.30am
Pitu Roca 
(El Celler de Can Roca Restaurant, Spain)
‘How to facilitate the integration of a sommelier into a restaurant’s team’

5pm
Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas
(Disfrutar Restaurant, Barcelona, Spain)
‘The most noteworthy techniques created by Disfrutar’

Friday 8th May
10.30am
Najat Kanaache
(Nuur Restaurant, Morocco)
‘European influences in Moroccan cuisine and vice versa’

5pm
Quique Dacosta
(Quique Dacosta Restaurant, Spain)
‘Reinventing businesses’