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Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas and Eduard Xatruch, from Disfrutar restaurant, National Gastronomy Award for Best Chef 2023

The Disfrutar chefs, who have been working together since elBulli, have been awarded 'ex aequo' with the National Award for Best Chef in 2023.

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The Royal Academy of Gastronomy continues to unveil the winners of the National Gastronomy Award 2023 in the different categories. The award gala will be held on October 3 at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and the chefs Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas and Eduard Xatruch, from the restaurant Disfrutar, will also take the stage to receive the National Gastronomy Award for Best Chef 2023.

The jury was chaired by the National Gastronomy Award winner Joan Roca and comprised Lourdes Plana Bellido and José Mª Sanz-Magallón, President and Secretary General of the RAG, National Award winners Jesús Sánchez and Mario Sandoval, and Academicians Cuchita Lluch, Julia Pérez, Miguel Loya and Alfonso Rodés.

On this occasion, the jury valued the professional trajectory of the three chefs that began in 1996 when they became head chefs at elBulli until the restaurant closed in 2011, where they led the creative team alongside Ferran Adrià. With Adrià they continued to collaborate on the conceptualization of Bullipedia until the end of 2014, but decided to partner up to open their first restaurant together, Disfrutar. In 2022, they also opened Compartir Barcelona in the spirit of its big brother in Cadaqués. And they also run a gastronomic consultancy.

They have highlighted “their impeccable track record, immense creativity and the excellence of all the projects they undertake. Their cuisine has its own authentic identity, which together with their overflowing creativity and unsurpassed technical level, result in a unique experience that is enjoyed from start to finish. The combination of their talents has created one of the best restaurants in the world and their cuisine is the heritage of our gastronomy”.

The three prestigious chefs join other names such as Sara Fort, winner of the 2023 National Gastronomy Award for the Best Dining Room Manager.