On June 25, 2025, a Catalan made history. He went from having no Michelin stars to having three at once. And he did it with a restaurant called Somni, located in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, which had only been open for seven months. The Californian city had never had a restaurant with the highest distinction. No one with a Spanish passport had ever achieved it beyond the border. All this happened to a chef with a Basque name from Sicília Street in Barcelona. "I'm a kid from Arc de Triomf who ended up in Los Angeles serving food to Tom Hanks," he said. This is the story of Aitor Zabala (Barcelona, ​​1979) and how he made his dream a reality.

Cooking cannot be declared dead. Although it's declining at home, partly due to the avalanche of ready-made meals marketed as the antidote to lack of time, cooking is an eternal act that cannot simply disappear. This is the prediction of veteran cook, culinary scholar, and writer Rosa Tovar, who remains optimistic despite seeing the global outlook as "very bleak." She reminds us that "human life is impossible without food," that there's no need to resort to outlandish dishes—lentils or broth can be "a marvel"—and she has faith that cooking will endure.

René Frank (1984, Wangen im Allgäu) is the dessert chef. Or the pastry chef of the kitchen. His Berlin restaurant Coda, with two Michelin stars, opened in 2016, and since then, accolades have poured in. Among others, he's been named the World's Best Pastry Chef by 50 Best and Best Pastry Chef by Best Chef. But now he's somewhat reluctant to have his establishment described as a "dessert restaurant." He's against rigid categories, and that's why, coming from a much more conservative region of Germany, he found his place in the world in Berlin.

Last June, The World's 50 Best Restaurants list determined that The best restaurant in the world was in Lima and it was called MaidoThis is the title that Disfrutar in Barcelona held last year, but as the rules dictate, it cannot repeat and thus joins the ranks of those who have already occupied the number 1 spot. At the gala held in Turin, the competition had narrowed down to two restaurants: Maido, specializing in Nikkei cuisine (a blend of Japanese and Peruvian cooking), and Mitsuharu. Micha Tsumura (Lima, 1981), chef and owner of Maido, jumped for joy and let out a big shout when he learned that the first position was returning to Peru, as It had already happened with the Central restaurant"I knew the whole country was watching," he says. Tsumura had been pursuing him for some time: he'd been in the top ten for eight years. And this year, he'd visited Catalonia to promote his proposal, making a four-hands meal at El Celler de Can RocaMitsuharu Tsumura speaks to ARA in San Sebastián during the Gastronomika congress.

Massimo Bottura, Juan Roca, Debora Fadul, Zizi Hattab or Santiago Lastra. The most prestigious chefs have gathered to receive the Best Chef Awards. In fact, once again this year, Catalan chefs have demonstrated their global recognition within the industry: a total of 19 have been recognized. It's worth noting the inclusion of Pep Moreno from Deliranto and Rafa Peña from Gresca, and Jordi Vilà's move from one to two knives (the awards' yardstick). But it's not all roses and violets. Haute cuisine is experiencing a period of certain exhaustion. There are several questions looming in the sector. Have people grown tired of tasting menus? Are they too long? Too heavy? Are there enough diners for so many high-end restaurants? What will come next? the revolution that took place in CataloniaFor that, Modena chef Massimo Bottura has the answer.

The world of haute cuisine is measured by various lists and rankings. One of them is the Best Chef Awards, where there's always a Catalan presence. The nearly 1,000 voters decided how to distribute the one, two, and three knives, as well as the individual awards. At a gala held Thursday night in Milan, there were two entries in the one- and two-knife categories, proving that Catalan cuisine can be captured by influencers. First, Jordi Vilà: he and his restaurant Alkimia were recognized with two knives. And that means at least 40% of voters considered him. Last year, Vilà had one, so he's moved up a category.

The chef at Safor has no one to compare him. Because Ricard Camarena broke the mold. Just when you think you've got the hang of it, he surprises you. A note that might seem dissonant moves the game board, and you realize the score is going in a different direction. This is because he's a person with two very distinct melodies resonating within him. On the one hand, his head is a jazz quartet. Creative, he works from intuition, from what he feels will be right even if he can't verbalize it. He imagines flavors, textures, combinations. In his mind, it's very clear. And then, through a privileged sense of smell and taste—and hours and hours of development in the restaurant—they lead him to translate into the physical world what he feels inside tells him will be right. It's his artistic side.

Joan Roca says he doesn't celebrate his birthdays, but the day he turned 61 he will surely remember him. Yesterday in Leña restaurant in Barcelona by chef Dani Garcia There was an unusual density of chefs per square metre (71 Michelin stars in total). The aim was to pay an emotional tribute to Joan Roca, in the same way that the chef from Malaga had paid tribute to Ferran Adrià, Robuchon, Nobu and Arzak in Marbella. "I am not at the level of all the chefs to whom previous tributes have been paid," said the chef from Girona. In his usual modesty, he stated that the chefs present had "improved" their dishes. The tribute consisted of versions of 21 dishes created by El Celler de Can Roca. An ambitious menu that included creations from Disfrutar, Mugaritz, Atrio, Casa Marcial, Noor, Quique Dacosta, Miramar, Lasarte, Les Cols and Nandu Jubany, among others.