Xavi Donnay, chosen as the best pastry chef at The Best Chef Awards 2020

Xavi Donnay has been awarded best pastry chef at The Best Chef Awards 2020. The pastry chef of the three Michelin star restaurant Lasarte in Barcelona is very grateful for this award “which I will undoubtedly remember my whole life and which in this hard year we are going through it has been a reason for even greater joy, which motivates me to continue growing and learning in this beautiful profession”. Furthermore, on his social media he wanted to congratulate the rest of the winners and recalled “all those anonymous chefs and pastry chefs who work every day to improve themselves and dignify this profession. Thank you all very much and Vive la pâtisserie! ”.

This year, the gala has been virtual because of the coronavirus. To guarantee everyone’s safety and taking into account current COVID-19 regulations, the Top100 was presented, headed by chef René Redzepi, within the framework of a high-quality online program that hosted hybrid conferences such as Area Talks and Food Meet Science. As Cristian Gadau, creative director of The Best Chef project, explains, “we decided not to cancel this year’s event, but to organize it #VIRTUAL2020. In this way, we hope to convey a message of strength and positivity to the entire sector. Canceling the night completely would mean demonstrating and highlighting the fragility of the world of haute cuisine and this is not the right message. We are far away from each other, we are all at home, at work, in our countries or cities, but at the same time we are even closer than we were before ”.

One of the peculiarities of these awards is that the chefs are selected, based on their skills, experiences and achievements, through a vote carried out by colleagues and a group of professionals. Additionally, this year the winners have decided to donate their prizes to an auction, which will allocate the amount raised to the charity Isabelo whose motto is “no child can learn on an empty stomach.”