For the first time in its history, The Best Chef will travel outside Europe to celebrate its seventh edition on 18, 19 and 20 November. The announcement of the world’s best chef will be the highlight of the event, during which incredible talks, debates, demonstrations and show cooking will take place under the topic “Origins & Future”.
After the great apotheosis of Madrid, the identity of the destination that will take over and host the seventh edition of The Best Chef Awards is finally known. Yucatan State, in Mexico has been designated the venue for this great international meeting which culmination will be the enthronement of The Best Chef in the World. On the night of November 20, the city of Merida will be the stage where we will find out who will add his/her name to a brilliant list of awards that already includes those of Joan Roca (El Celler de Can Roca, the best in 2017 and 2018), Björn Frantzén (Frantzén, 2019), René Redzepi (Noma, 2020) and Dabiz Muñoz (DiverXO, 2021 and 2022).
For three days the gastronomic universe will focus its attention on Merida, the capital of Yucatan, a state famous for spectacular Mayan archaeological treasures as Chichén Itzá, Uxmal, Ek Balam, Dzibilchaltún and Mayapán, besides an extraordinary cultural and architectural history, stunning beaches and cenotes, and a first-class gastronomy, which goes from the ancestral to the contemporary. Different spaces in the city will serve as the setting for this long-awaited and glamorous final gala and two previous days of debate and reflection (Area Talks and Food Meets Science) that will take place throughout the weekend.
The choice of Yucatan State marks Mexico as a great world gastronomic power, offering all possibilities: from amazing Mayan traditional food, market-based loncherías, street food and contemporary as well as fine dining restaurants. As not surprisingly, four Mexican chefs are currently on the list of the 100 best chefs in the world: Jorge Vallejo (Quintonil, #57), Elena Reygadas (Rosetta, #73), Karime López (Gucci Osteria, #82) and Santiago Lastra (Kol, #84). Likewise, Francisco Ruano (Alcalde) appears in the list of firm aspirants to join the new ranking that will be made public during the gala on November 20.
The annual classification of the best chefs in the world is the result of the opinion and voting of 380 people; It is decided by the 100 chefs that appear in the current ranking, the 100 new candidates chosen for the occasion and a selection of 180 experts (journalists, critics, connoisseurs, photographers…) who are previously responsible, in turn, for indicating these candidacies.
The previous face-to-face editions of The Best Chef Awards were held in Warsaw, Milan, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Madrid. Yucatan State now adds its name to this particular selection of gastronomic powers, so that gourmets and food lovers from all over the world have the opportunity to enjoy the most culinary delights of this beautiful southeastern Mexico region. Among them will be seasonings such as achiote, habanero bell pepper, melipona honey and sour orange, in addition to typical Yucatecan dishes such as cochinita pibil, papadzules, black stuffing, salbutes, fish in tikin-xic, lime soup, poc chuc, mucbipollo, panuchos, motuleño eggs, beans with pork, stuffed cheese or products such as longaniza de Valladolid, and many more.
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