#News • 14 November 2024

We now know the candidates for Revelation Chef Madrid Fusion Award Balfegó 2025

Young chefs from Logroño, Seville, Alicante, Madrid, Lleida, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Santiago de Compostela have been selected as candidates for Revelation Chef Madrid Fusion 2025. These talented chefs with their own projects hope to win the Revelation Chef Award Balfegó.The winner will be revealed at Madrid Fusion 2025 on January 29. To select them, the Madrid Fusion team scoured the culinary scene in Spain on the trail of young promises. These are chefs with solid training whose work stands out for its clarity of vision, enthusiasm, technical skill, and forward-thinking. They are part of the valuable human heritage that underpins our creative cuisine, one of the best in the world. Together, they represent an impressive group of professionals, only one of whom will go on to join the list of 22 past award winners.

Presenting the candidates:

 

 

BEATRIZ FERNÁNDEZ and RODRIGO FERNÁNDEZ – Arsa Restaurant, Logroño

Success follows this young couple of chefs—she from Andalusia and he from La Rioja—at a restaurant with a striking interior design that’s as lively as their recipes. Beatriz, a spirited Sevillian, and her husband Rodrigo from La Rioja, create an enthusiastic dialogue between distant flavors. They cook with a freedom unfettered by rules or constraints, crafting unpredictable dishes that are technically skilled, interweaving recipes and flavors from their respective homelands. In La Rioja, they bring a breath of fresh air marked by boldness and boundless enthusiasm.

 

 

RITA LLANES and MANU LACHICA – Leartá Restaurant, Seville

Every day, Rita and Manu showcase their sensitivity and expertise. They cook in a charming, intimate restaurant where they explore the popular flavors of their homeland, reinterpreted with the finesse of haute cuisine— in other words, a taste of Andalusia, in harmony with a selection of small artisan suppliers who stock their pantry. Their dishes bring together textures, temperatures, and flavors, balanced with finesse. Cold soups, seafood salads, chopped dishes, and stews let them exhibit their imagination and technical skill. It’s youthful cooking that speaks volumes with just a few elements.

 

 

 

AUSIÀS SIGNES and FELICIA GUERRA – Ausiàs Restaurant, Pedreguer (Alicante)

Ausiàs Signes takes a unique approach to savory cooking. In 2022, at just 26 years old, he won the Best New Pastry Chef award at Madrid Fusión in the restaurant desserts category, while working in the pastry section of Tatau restaurant in Huesca. Now, in Pedreguer, he runs a charming spot with the help of his wife, Felicia Guerra, who is also a chef and pastry chef. In his dual role, he crafts light dishes that boldly combine cured fish, aromatic herbs, charcuterie, and offal with bakery yeasts, pickles, and fruits. His dishes convey immediacy and elevate everyday ingredients with a pastry chef’s precision.

 

 

 

LUCÍA GUTIÉRREZ – Lur Restaurant, Madrid

In her serene restaurant, Lucía Gutiérrez, a protégé of renowned chef Hilario Arbelaitz, has begun making a name for herself in the Legazpi neighborhood. At just 22, this chef manages a tiny team that serves just over ten diners. Twelve months after opening, she is showing a maturity beyond her years in both savory and sweet dishes. She creates calm, recognizable plates with deeply developed flavors and an undeniable spark. Despite her youth, Gutiérrez takes risks, displaying boldness with cooking times she controls down to the millisecond— a meticulousness that extends to her desserts.

 

 

ÀNGEL ESTEVE – Sisé Restaurant, Lleida

The dishes of the cheerful Àngel Esteve reflect glimpses of his life experiences. He brings a fresh touch to a style of cooking that evokes family memories, blending pots and open flames in equal measure. His close-to-home, heartfelt, and modern reinterpretations are inspired by the recipes of his surroundings and childhood. He is backed daily by Marc Chic, with whom he shares affinities and standards. Both work in an open kitchen, facing their diners. “Our approach is to give familiar ingredients a different twist,” he explains. His professional background shows as much sensitivity as technical skill, with a strong finishing touch in desserts, like his impressive chocolate cake.

 

 

ICÍAR PÉREZ CEJAS and JUAN CARLOS PÉREZ – Moral Restaurant, Santa Cruz de Tenerife

After working together at the Padrón brothers’ restaurant, Poemas, in Las Palmas, Icíar and Juan Carlos moved to a new island to open Moral in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This cozy spot, with only six tables, boasts a menu that, while showing a subtle commitment to island ingredients, embraces a broader range of influences. Their flavorful, highly technical cuisine supports their creativity and pursuit of perfection. “We make delicious dishes with quality ingredients, without sticking to a specific style,” says Icíar. From skate with mussel and parsley sauce to prime beef loin with Café de Paris butter, they represent a promising culinary venture in the Canary Islands.

 

 

 

CLAUDIA MERCHAN and ÁXEL SMYTH – Simpar Restaurant, Santiago de Compostela

The dishes created by Claudia and Áxel—light, contemporary, and rooted in Galician tradition—highlight their deep connection to their regional roots. At their modern restaurant, they offer a single menu that blends seasonal creations with inventive takes on Galicia’s traditional recipes. Their approach is full of surprises, like citrus-marinated bonito, baked fish with their own twist on the classic ajada sauce, or a deconstructed tarta de Santiago, all showcasing their sensitivity and technical skill. Áxel’s profound knowledge of traditional recipes is evident in their exceptional croquettes and Galician-style tripe, which recently won first prize at the San Sebastian Gastronomika Euskadi Basque Country competition.

 

 

Established in 2003, this award has recognized many of the top names in Spanish gastronomy, including Dabiz Muñoz, Ricard Camarena, Rodrigo de la Calle, and, most recently, Sara Peral and Jorge Muñoz of restaurant OSA. Most of those honored with this distinction over the past two decades now boast MICHELIN stars at their establishments.

We will see all the candidates interpret their cuisine with Balfegó bluefin tuna the day before the winner is revealed during the lively and culinary session, Upcoming Chefs take on Tapas with Balfegó.