El Celler de Can Roca on tour this summer
El Celler de Can Roca will travel with 40 staff members from its kitchen and dining room.
The second annual collaboration between BBVA and El Celler de Can Roca will bring the trio of brothers who own the famed Spanish restaurant to three countries on three continents: Buenos Aires in Argentina ; Miami, Houston and Birmingham, Ala. , in the U.S.; and Istanbul in Turkey . The Roca brothers and 40 of their staff members will embark this summer on the five-week journey to recreate the experience from their Girona,Spain-based restaurant, preparing meals exclusively for bank clients at each stop.
The 2015 tour beginsAug. 1inBuenos Airesand will come to a close the first week in September inIstanbul, the cosmopolitan city that joinsEuropewithAsia.Josep Roca, sommelier and head maitre d’ of El Celler de Can Roca, departs Friday forBuenos Airesto formally kick off the preparations for the tour. He plans to explore local Argentine products and ingredients and find inspiration for the summer tour. In the coming weeks,Joan and Jordi Rocawill make stops inTurkeyandthe United Statesto do the same.
By the end of the 2015 summer tour, 100,000 plates of food will have been served in six countries and more than 74,500 miles covered over the two years of the tour, the equivalent of circumnavigating the world three times.
«We want to do more each year, and for this second edition of the tour, together with BBVA, our goal is really ambitious. We are excited and aware of the huge responsibility of this challenge, which my brothers and I came up with as a sincere tribute to extraordinary and different kinds of cuisine», saidJoan RocainSan Sebastian,Spain, where he shared the first details about the new tour and where he will be receiving a «Genius» innovation award from Spanish media group CMVocento tonight during a conference that recognizes innovation in gastronomy.
ElCeller de Can Rocamuscled its way to the top of the high-end restaurant world through the Rocas’ wondrous techniques that honor tradition and push culinary boundaries. It has claimed one of the top two spots on Restaurant magazine’s influential World’s 50 Best Restaurants List for the past four years.
Joan Rocais considered a pioneer in sous-vide, a cooking process where food is vacuum-packed and cooked in water. He developed the Roner, a professional sous-vide cooking device.Josep Roca, the sommelier, meanwhile, has won over critics with his unorthodox wine pairings and techniques. AndJordi Roca, the pastry chef, won the World’s Best Pastry Chef Award 2014. The judges called him «part chef, part architect, part magician» and an «eccentric but modest genius», citing his work recreating famous perfumes in edible form.
