Massimo Bottura to be awarded the ECKART 2015 prize

01 Oct 2015
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2 min read
Massimo Bottura, family Troigros, Claus Meyer, Ulrike Thieltges, Klaus Erfort and Melanie Wagner are all going to be honoured in a ceremony by “Chef of the Century” Eckart Witzigmann later this month at the BMW museum in Munich.

ECKART 2015 award for Great Cuisine

Family Troigros: The magical gift

The Troigros family has influenced the great cuisine like no other. They have the magical gift to pass on tradition from generation to generation by keeping the fire going but at the same time showing innovation and a view towards the future.

Their restaurant Les Frères Troigros has been receiving three Michelin stars since 1968, serving modern, seasonal and cosmopolitan cuisine without falling for any trends.

The ECKART jury says: “Without any compromises in quality, innovative in their methods and respecting the guest, the family Troigros combines the skill and the virtue which makes them unique.”

ECKART 2015 award for Innovation

Massimo Bottura: Humanist at the stove

Massimo Bottura’s unique approach to the art of cooking is fascinating and exciting, but also irritating and polarixing – just like good art and strong stories.

Bottura opened his Trattoria de Campazzo in 1987, when Alain Ducasse noticed him. Five years later he went to New York, where he met his later wife, Lara Gilmore, who greatly influenced his cooking.

“Massimo Bottura tells stories. He sees pictures, has a certain smell in mind, a special taste, or he recalls a scene while other chefs have a philosophy or believe in a system,” says the jury of ECKART. Opened in 1995 in Modena, theOsteria La Francescana, for which he received three Michelin stars in 2011.

ECKART 2015 award for Creative responsibility and enjoyment

Claus Meyer: Fighting poverty with pleasure

“Good food should be shared,” thinks Claus Meyer. With this motto, Meyer changed the culinary world.

The co-founder of Noma in Copenhagen grew up in a family in which food had to be cheap and fast. But as a teenager he discovered a completely new attitude to enjoyment and nutrition at a bakery and caterer, who became his second father.

In Copenhagen he launched several restaurants and food businesses. Together with René Redzepi he opened Noma in 2003 – the birth of Nordic Cuisine. “Whether in Denmark, Bolivia or soon in the USA, Claus Meyer combines responsibility, creativity and enjoyment in an unprecedented way,” says the ECKART jury, because food has the potential to bring people to a higher level.

ECKART 2015 award for Life Culture

Pillars of the new German cuisine

Hospitality, culinary arts and wine culture are the pillars on which the current German gastronomy rests. The award, therefore, is representatively given to Ulrike Thieltges, Melanie Wagner and Klaus Erfort, who all embody the best virtues of the new German gastronomy.

Ulrike Thieltges: soul of hospitality

She is the soul of Waldhotel Sonnora, which has received three Michelin stars since 1999.

Melanie Wagner: Advocate of wine culture

The professional competence of Melanie Wagner is second to none. Arestaurateur’s daughter, she learned everything there is to know at Kaiserstuhl winery.

Klaus Erfort: Truth on a plate

With great passion Klaus Erfort connects both traditional and modern elements in a perfect balance. His guesthouse Erfort (Saarbrücken), which he in opened in 2002, was awarded with three Michelin stars in 2008.

Among the previous ECKART winners are Daniel Boulud (New York City), HRHCharles Prince of Wales (Highgrove), Elena Arzak (San Sebastian), Anne-Sophie Pic (Valence), Harald Wohlfahrt (Tonbach), Dieter Kosslick (Berlin), Ferran Adrià(Barcelona), Marc Haeberlin (Illhaeusern), Joël Robuchon (Paris), Mick Hucknall(London), and many more.

The awardsceremony will take place on 20 October at the BMW museum in Munich.

For more information, please visit: www.eckart-witzigmann-preis.de

Image Massimo Bottura by Paolo Terzi