Yesterday the gardens of Palau Pedralbes became the setting for the 22nd edition of the delivery of the National Gastronomy Awards of Catalonia awarded by the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition. This year the awards included a novelty, a splitting of the prize into two different categories: the first, to traditional cuisine and the second, to signature cuisine.
The best gastronomes of Catalonia, according to this recognition, have been Paco Solé i Parellada, of the emblematic restaurant 7Portes and recognized for his traditional cuisine, and Xavier Pellicer y Guallo, of the restaurant of the same name and winner of the award for signature cuisine.
This year, the Academy decided to split these two awards with the intention of continuing to value gastronomic innovation and signature cuisine, while at the same time keeping in mind that the Academy’s main objective was to promote preserving the culinary heritage that surrounds traditional cuisine. This novelty is intended to be maintained in the following editions of the awards.
7 portes, the best restaurant of traditional cuisine
As we said, the award for the best traditional cuisine went to the restaurateur Paco Solé Parellada, from the restaurant 7 portes. This place, with more than 100 years of history, is a true icon of Barcelona and, just for this reason, it is not surprising this award. This is one of the best restaurants to eat at authentic Catalan food the menu contains some dishes that are already considered legends.
These are its mythical Parellada rice, of which we already told you about in this article and its famous Pajama dessert. In addition to this, the menu “La Magdalena de Proust”, a proposal that aims to guide you on a journey through Catalan cuisine.
Xavier Pellicer, best cuisine d’auteur of Catalonia
The award for best signature cuisine went to Xavier Pellicer, a veteran chef with a long career in Michelin-starred restaurants. He currently runs his eponymous restaurant, Xavier Pellicer, and has established himself as one of the best restaurants focused on Verde cuisine with organic, local and healthy products.
A few years ago, in 2021, this restaurant was awarded the distinction of best “vegetarian” restaurant in the world. However, it is not limited to vegetarian offerings, but proposes a cuisine of conscience focused, above all, on ingredients of vegetable origin.
Other awards in this edition
In addition to the two main ones, in this 22nd edition, awards were also given to other culinary categories. The Revelation Award for 2024 went to Núria Bonet i Autet, owner of the restaurant Ca la Núria in Bellver de Cerdanya. On the other hand, the Special Prize has been awarded to Toni Massanés i Sánchez, for his career as a gastronome, teacher, writer and researcher.
Fina Navarro i Ballestero received the Cap de Sala Award for her 30 years of dedication in the restaurants Fonda Gaig, la Torre del Remei and el Petit Comitè in Barcelona and, finally, the Nèstor Luján 2024 Award was presented to Empar Moliner i Ballesteros, gastronomic journalist and author of the series “La tria de l’Empar” on viticulture.