June 4-8
Tokyo,
Japan
Few countries have been able to move, influence, and inspire like Japan: a veritable cradle of traditions, knowledge, and visions that impact, expand horizons, and transcend borders.
Basque Culinary Center has selected Tokyo as this year’s destination for the XIII International Board meeting, as a way to honor one of the biggest gastronomic cultures of the world, by fostering exchanges that further develop gastronomy during a special and unique event in such a stimulating city. Together with standout players in contemporary gastronomy, this gathering aims to cultivate knowledge, sow debate, and harvest joint initiatives for the future.
Yoshihiro Narisawa, one of today’s most influential chefs and a member of the International Board of Basque Culinary Center, will host and guide this experience.
Program
JUNE 7 / 13:00 – 17:15 / Meiji Shrine, Sanshuden
Basque Culinary Center and Narisawa invite you to be a part of “Traditions in Motion”, a Gastronomy Summit that will gather some of the most prominent individuals in the sector of Gastronomy on June 7 at Meiji Shrine (Tokyo). Inscriptions are open, sign up here!
Introduction
Yoshihiro Narisawa (Narisawa) & Joxe Mari Aizega (Basque Culinary Center)
BCWP’s 2023 Winner Announcement
Bittor Oroz (Basque Government), Manu Buffara (Manu), Elena Reygadas (Rosetta) & Joan Roca (Celler de Can Roca)
Initiative promoted by Euskadi Basque Country & Basque Culinary Center
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Joan Roca (Celler de Can Roca), Gaston Acurio (Astrid & Gastón), Michel Bras (Le Suquet) & Richard Geoffroy (IWA)
Prints of a new generation
Josh Niland (Saint Peter) & Elena Reygadas (Rosetta)
Living ecosystems
Narda Lepes (Narda Comedor), Pía León (Kjolle) & Yoshihiro Narisawa (Narisawa)
Countdown to the future
Trine Hahnemann (Hahnemanns Køkken), Dominique Crenn (Atelier Crenn) & Thitid Tassanakajohn (Le Du, Nusara & Baan)
Master of ceremonies: Andrea Pompilio
Participants
Yoshihiro Narisawa
Read bioYoshihiro Narisawa
Yoshihiro Narisawa is the chef-proprietor of two-Michelin-starred restaurant Narisawa in Tokyo, Japan. It has also been chosen as one of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. Returning to Japan in 1996, Narisawa opened his first restaurant, which – combining classical French cooking techniques with a poetic use of Japanese ingredients – received instant critical acclaim. Narisawa is known for his reverence for organic, seasonal ingredients and has won awards for his commitment to sustainability and conservation. He dishes experiment with ‘true’ Japanese ingredients (tree sap, sea snake, wild herbs and flowers…) via innovative cooking techniques (such as charred, carbonized vegetables used in seasoning), which create a haiku-like dining experience putting guests ‘under the spell of the season.’ In 2018, he opened BEES BAR by NARISAWA, a concept based around the ingredients that define Narisawa’s Satoyama cuisine. In 2021, he published Satoyama Cuisine a deep dive into Narisawa's cuisine.
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Joan Roca
Read bioJoan Roca
Joan Roca was raised in the family restaurant in Catalonia, where he now runs his own three-Michelin-starred restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca, with his two brothers Josep and Jordi (a brilliant sommelier and patissier respectively). The three siblings have also been made UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, advocating for better nutrition and food security to promote sustainable development. Roca is passionate about culinary research, and is known for applying technical innovation to traditional cuisine, and for his love of local produce. In 2020, Casa Cacao and Casa Cacao Boutique Hotel were inaugurated, an extension of the sweet world and the hospitality of the Roca Brothers in the same historic building located in the old town of Girona. Also in 2020, the new Ágora Mas Marroch Restaurant was born. Under the semi-open sustainable dome of the Mas Marroch event space, the Roca Brothers pay tribute to the first courses of their history under the stars in this new seasonal restaurant.
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Pía León
Read bioPía León
With a three-year run at the top of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list and five years in a row as one of the ten best restaurants in the world in the 50 Best Restaurants list, Pía León co-owned Central, running the kitchen alongside her husband Virgilio Martínez for a decade before branching out on her own with Kjolle. This solo venture of Pía’s debuted on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2019 at number 21, claiming the list’s Highest New Entry Award. In 2021, Pia León was selected as the best chef in the world by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
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Josh Niland
Read bioJosh Niland
Chef Josh Niland from Sydney Australia has transformed the way we cook, transport, age and store fish. His ethical, sustainable and revolutionary approach to zero waste whole fish cooking has received global recognition. He is a multi-award-winning chef, restaurateur and James Beard winning author. Josh now has four venues; Saint Peter, Charcoal Fish, Fish Butchery Paddington, and newly opened Fish Butchery Waterloo. He is an author of two books; The Whole Fish Cookbook, and Take One Fish.
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Narda Lepes
Read bioNarda Lepes
Narda is a chef, a communicator, and an entrepreneur. She is also the author of several books: Comer y Pasarla Bien (Eat and Have a Good Time), Ñam ñam: Manual para alimentar a un pequeño omnívoro (Yum yum: Manual for feeding a small omnivore), and 201 Tips para no comer como el or** (201 Tips to not eat like sh**). In 2017 she opened her restaurant Narda Comedor, which debuted on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurant list in 2020. She has played a key role in creating associations and projects such as A.C.E.L.G.A., M.I.G.A. and the Masticar Fair. Through all of these initiatives, she promotes the shift towards more plant-based eating habits. She also works with the Union of Land Workers (la Unión de Trabajadores de la Tierra , UTT) to boost their direct sales capacity. In November 2020, the World's 50 Best Restaurants awarded her the prestigious title of Latin America’s Best Female Chef.
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Dominique Crenn
Read bioDominique Crenn
Dominique Crenn transforms memories into food in her modernist and imaginative restaurant, Atelier Crenn, which was the first restaurant with a female head chef to be awarded three Michelin stars in the USA. Currently Crenn vision is to create a kitchen that stands for modernity, high quality craftsmanship and seasonal food. She was the winner of the Icon Award in 2021, a recognition of her professional career by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and has announced that she will soon open her first restaurant in France.
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Elena Reygadas
Read bioElena Reygadas
Elena Reygadas is a key player on Mexico’s gastronomy scene. She is chef and owner of various successful restaurants and bakeries: Rosetta, Panadería Rosetta (Rosetta's Bakery), Lardo, and Café Nin. As a chef, she is deeply committed to advocating for local Mexican ingredients and social causes related to healthy and sustainable eating. Her first book, Rosetta, was published by Sexto Piso in 2019. In 2023, Elena was named the world’s best cook 2023 by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Rosetta has been included in eight editions of the list of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, and also made its first appearance in 2022 on the extended list of the '50 Best Restaurants in the World' at number 60.
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Manu Buffara
Read bioManu Buffara
Manu Buffara is one of the most promising chefs in Latin America. As an award-winning chef, she has created Manu (Curitiba, Paraná), to showcase her culture and identity. Her passion for cooking is deeply rooted in her upbringing. As a farmers’ daughter she learnt to appreciate the land and its produce, and harnessed this knowledge to shape her culinary style. She is also deeply committed to the development of projects with social aims. Manu Buffara has been recognized as Best Female Chef in Latin America 2022. In 2023, her book Manu: Recipes and Stories from my Brazil was published.
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Michel Bras
Read bioMichel Bras
A forerunner of gastronomic naturalism, Bras is passionate about land as a creative concept. An advocate for sustainability and biodiversity, he also shuns hierarchy in the kitchen and prefers to treat members of his team as “creative collaborators”. In 1992 he made his dream come true by opening Le Suquet, a hotel restaurant nestled in the rugged landscape of Laguiole. Bras’s son Sébastien is now the chef there. In 2017 Bras declined the three Michelin stars his restaurant had received. Yet he remains as devoted as ever to the magic he continues to discover in his homeland and in the world of plants – ever faithful to the charm of the natural and authentic. In 2022 he received the Andorra Taste Award, the first award of the International Congress of High Mountain Gastronomy.
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Gastón Acurio
Read bioGastón Acurio
An icon of Peruvian cuisine, Acurio owns the renowned Astrid & Gastón. He fervently believes in cooking as a tool for social change. He is widely recognized for his philanthropic endeavours, such as the cooking school he founded in Pachacútec, a suburb of Lima, as well as his passion for cultural, social and environmental causes. For example, in 2011 Acurio led a campaign against genetically modified crops in Peru. The campaign was ultimately successful in Peru where these products were banned for 10 years.
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Trine Hahnemann
Read bioTrine Hahnemann
Trine Hahnemann is a Danish chef, owner of Hahnemanns Køkken, and food writer. As an activist chef, she devotes her cooking to organic and sustainable food, and has been promoting for many years a different way of living gastronomy based on diversity and social justice. Hahnemann has written 10 cookbooks in her native Danish and 7 in English, including Copenhagen Food (2018), The Nordic Diet (2009) and The Scandinavian Cookbook (2008). In 2023 she will publish Simply Scandinavian, an inspiring collection of recipes. She writes in magazines and newspapers in America and Great Britain, such as The Guardian and Time Magazine, in addition to being a regular guest on food programmes on BBC.
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Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn
Read bioThitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn
Growing Up surrounding by delicious home cooked meals, Thitid’s mother and grandmother’s flavors have contributed largely to his passion in cooking. Upon the completion of his Economics degree from Chulalongkorn University, he took off to USA to pursuit his dream at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA). The top score graduate continued to receive an MBA in Hospitality from Johnson Wales University. During his time in New York, Thitid has worked at several Michelin starred restaurants, including Eleven Madison Park, The Modern and Jean Georges. Not only does he has passion in food, but his enthusiasm in wine also led him to become a Certified Sommelier (CS) from the respect Court of Master Sommelier. He has brought home experiences and vision to elevate Thai cuisine and give it a stand among world’s leading cuisines. Now the rising young chef is running one of the most exciting kitchens in Bangkok, Le Du (1 Michelin Star and #4 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021) as well as Nusara (#20 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021), making him the only Thai chef that has 2 restaurants on the prestige of Asia’s 50 best restaurants list.
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Andrea Pompilio
Read bioAndrea Pompilio
Producer/Concept designer and TV/Radio host based in Tokyo, Japan. A Dutch citizen with a unique multi-cultural background, owner of a production company specialized in cross-cultural contents in the field of design, music, fashion, art, technology, and culture. Host of TV shows on Japan Broadcasting Corporation NHK, NHK World, and NHK Educational. Radio presenter and Co-founder of a new online Radio Station WAH Radio launched in December 2020.
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Richard Geoffroy
Read bioRichard Geoffroy
Richard Geoffroy’s pursuit of beauty propelled him to the highest reaches of his profession. Born in the heart of Champagne country, he became the fifth chef de cave for Dom Pérignon Champagne and charted the course of the legendary wine for 28 years. He is now launching into a new experiment, hoping to contribute to a story started in Japan a thousand years ago: Sake. To Richard Geoffroy, Japan has never been an abstraction. Following an initial spark in 1991, countless trips have stoked his love for the country, its culture and its people. IWA, therefore, could never be a project simply engineered from abroad, a Sake bereft of center. In order to be true to Sake, and become a fully international proposition, IWA has established strong roots in Japan, tracing a methodical yet adventurous throughline to Assemblage in a brewery of its own design.
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