Sol Meliá is proud to announce that Dani García has been awarded the National Gastronomy Prize given each year by the Royal Academy of Gastronomy. Dani was given the news by Rafael Ansón, president of the Academy, who phoned him in Miami, where Dani is due to prepare a course at a dinner that forms part of the Southern Wine & Spirits Festival. At the dinner Dani will be produce his renowned cherry gazpacho for, among others, the King and Queen of Spain, guests of honour.
The ‘Best Chef’ award given by Spain’s highest gastronomic authority is in recognition of not only Dani’s achievements in 2008 but also the entire career to date of this young Andalusian chef.
On hearing the news Dani said: “It is a great honour to receive the National Gastronomy Prize. It’s something every chef hopes to obtain. It comes in recognition of the hard work and huge enthusiasm that not only I but also my team put in each day.”
Dani first began working for the Gran Meliá hotel brand in 2005, when he was given the reins of the Calima restaurant at the Gran Meliá Don Pepe hotel in Marbella. In July of last year he opened the restaurant of the same name in the Gran Meliá Palacio de Isora hotel, located on the Canary Island of Tenerife. And on 28 February coming he will embark on his newest project, which is to head the latest stage of the restaurant now named El Burladero, Tapas & Tintos by Dani García, located in the Gran Meliá Colón Hotel in Seville.
According to joint vice-chairman and md of Sol Meliá, Sebastián Escarrer, “For us it is a great pleasure to be able to count on Dani García as one more member of the Sol Meliá family. It makes us especially proud to see a chef of Dani’s calibre, who has grown in stature with us over the last few years, receive this wonderful recognition, which he thoroughly deserves.”
Dani García began studying as a chef at the age of 18 at the Málaga catering school La Cónsula, completing his apprenticeship at the restaurant run by the famed Martín Berasátegui in Lasarte, in the Basque province of Guipúzcoa.
This young Andalusian has blazed his name on the roll of Spain’s greatest chefs. Dani now has two Michelin stars to his credit. The first he gained at the tender age of 24 when he was in charge of the Tragabuches restaurant in Ronda, Málaga. The second came in 2007, when he headed the team at the Calima, in the Gran Meliá Don Pepe.
Spain’s Royal Gastronomy Academy and the ‘Cofradía de la Buena Mesa’ have been giving these awards since 1974. Previous winners include such famous names as Arzak, Subijana, Ferrán Adriá and Santi Santamaría.
Cherry gazpacho for Their Majesties
At the celebratory dinner to be held this evening, dubbed “Viva España! The Wines and Foods of Spain”, part of the Southern Wine & Spirits Festival, Dani will prepare a starter comprising ‘Cherry gazpacho with a snowing of cheese, anchovies and pistachios. The dinner, to be attended by the Spanish monarchs King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía, will be served by other Spanish master chefs, too: Pedro Subijana, José Andrés and Paco Torreblanca.
Dani García chose his cherry gazpacho, one of the highlights of his repertoire, to freshen diners’ palates before the main event. It is liquid salad based on ripe tomatoes, cherries and basil, the whole given an crystalline down of fresh cheese.
“It is challenge to prepare food outside Spain and an ideal opportunity to show what we are capable of outside our frontiers. It’s also a great opportunity to learn from others wherever you go. In the States I’m a keen fan of Nobu with his westernised vision of oriental food and his techniques for seasoning foods; of Willy Dufresme in Nueva York; Grant Achatz in Chicago and Ken Oringer in Boston, to name but a few…”, says Dani.
While in Miami Dani will give his views on good food at one of the seminar session of the Southern Wine & Spirits Festival.
