A conference on “Gastronomy, Professionalisation and the Future” was held, featuring experts in the field as well as renowned chefs and gastronomy professionals

The Foundation has held the final event in its ‘New Professions’ series, dedicated on this occasion to ‘Gastronomy, its professionalisation and future’. The event had to be moved to the CEV building on Hernán Cortés due to the large number of registrants. The event featured contributions from leading professionals in the field of gastronomy, including the renowned chef Ricard Camarena, the gastronomic director of @begoistas.Begoña Lluch, her sister and co-founder Cuchita Lluch, the head sommelier at the El Poblet restaurant, Hernán Menno, and Antonio Crespo, director of the Alicante Tourism Development Centre. Together, they shared their knowledge and experiences on the subject, offering insights into the present and future of gastronomy. This event provided an opportunity to learn from experts in the field and explore the trends and challenges facing the gastronomy industry. This event brings to a close the series dedicated to ‘New Professions’, which, coordinated by Nico van den Brink, a patron of the FPRJ, has sought to introduce the public to the possibilities offered by different professions in today’s society, as well as their future and prospects.

During the interview conducted by food journalist Almudena Ortuño with Begona Lluch, the latter explained some of the key aspects of her cutting-edge nutrition platform, @begoistas.oficial, which she has been developing alongside her sister, Cuchita Lluch, for the past year. For his part, chef Ricard Camarena acknowledged that his greatest failure had been the closure of the restaurant “Food”, from which he gained his “best lesson, one of incalculable value, as it is just as bad to arrive too early as it is to arrive too late.” For Camarena, “you mustn’t give people more than they’re willing to receive”, and he stated with conviction that “the value of what you offer, the atmosphere, the music, the way the waiter addresses you… all of that counts”. The renowned chef—owner of restaurants including Canalla Bistro, Habitual and Ricard Camarena itself, which also boasts two Michelin stars and a Sustainability star—was very clear in his arguments when referring to “the proper management of the resources we have, economic sustainability and, most importantly: human resources – what one person brings to another.” For Camarena, “the hospitality industry is demanding if you don’t enjoy what you do, but if you foster a sense of well-being and passion, and if you love the profession – which is very demanding – it is not a sacrifice in itself.”

Later, during the round-table discussion, in which Begoña Lluch and Camarena were joined by Hernán Menno, head sommelier at the El Poblet restaurant, and Antonio Crespo, director of the Alicante Tourism Development Centre, the conversation centred on the demands and sacrifices involved in running a restaurant and their profitability. Hernán Menno stated that “I’d like to see better offerings, fewer imitations and better-trained staff”, and acknowledged that before becoming a sommelier, “I felt like a robot in the hospitality industry until I discovered the world of wine”.

Cuchita Lluch, co-founder of @begoistas.oficial and a member of the Academy of Gastronomy, as well as the event’s coordinator, highlighted two qualities which, in her view, are essential for a career in gastronomy: “skill and attitude, which do not always go hand in hand”, and she argued for the need for “reputable gastronomic critics, rather than just anyone being able to write about gastronomy”.

Camarena emphasised the training required to set up a restaurant nowadays and had harsh words for politicians “who are often completely clueless because they don’t even know what they’re negotiating, having never worked in this sector”, to which Antonio Crespo highlighted the importance of working groups and financial support, even though, he acknowledged, “being a restaurant owner these days is very difficult”. The regional secretary for Tourism, Cristina Moreno, was responsible for opening the conference.