Chef of the year 2009: Ferran Adria

The Culinary Institute of America last night recognised the work of the Spanish chef, Ferran Adria, who was awarded the prize Chef of the Year for the second time last night. The prize which is entitled ‘Augie’ honours the memory of the French chef Auguste Escoffer (1846-1935), for his innovations in traditional cuisine.
Ferran Adrià said that the prize of chef of the year which he was awarded last night in New York at an awards ceremony held in the exclusive restaurant Cipriani en Manhattan is confirmation that Spanish cuisine is one of the best and most innovative in the world.

Adrià also said that his prize was also recognition for his brother Albert who is the second head chef in his restaurant 'El Bulli' in Roses, Oriol Castro in Catalonia. In his acceptance speech Adrià said that honesty and passion were the two characteristics that differentiated a good chef from an excellent one.

Spanish chef José Andrés Puerta who owns five restaurants in the US said that Adriá’s success was down to his innovations and said that in the world of cuisine there was a before and after with regards to Ferrán Adrià who had in his words ‘revolutionalized’ the world of cuisine.