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The Catalan chef Santi Santamaría i Puig,
l'enfant terrible of the Spanish kitchen, nonconformist and rebel, was born in Sant Celoni, province of Barcelona on 26 July 1957.
In 1981 he inaugurates, together with his wife Àngels, El Racó de Can Fabes, in his hometown and in 1988 he wins his first star from the Michelin Guide (in total he has six).
In 1991 he was admitted as a member of the Relais & Châteaux, in quality of Relais Gourmand, during the worldwide congress that the association celebrates in Quebec, Canada. Currently he is the vice president of the Spanish delectation.
Two years later he joins the reduction club of Traditions & Qualité (Traditions and Quality), Les Grandes Tables du Monde (The Great Tables of the World); at present being the delegate for Spain.
His book goes out on sale, La cocina de
Santi Santamaria, la ética del gusto (The Kitchen of Santi Santamaria, the Ethic of Taste) in 1999, that gained him the Best Publication of 1999 for the Spanish Academy of Gastronomy, Gastronomy Bookshop Prize for the best gastronomy publication of 1999 from Montagud Editores and the Circle of Gold prize in 1999 and The Best Chef Book 1999 de Versailles World Cookbook Fair.
The Michelin Guide for Spain and Portugal in the year 2000 renews the third star of El Racó de Can Fabes and is awarded four red forks, in where it is converted the best restaurant in Spain. Also in this year, he signs a contract of collaboration with the chain Hesperia to project the Sant Celoni restaurant in Madrid.
One year late he has a weekly collaboration in
La Vanguardia. The culinary world of Santi Santamaria. El gusto de la diversidad (The Taste of Diversity), his new book.
The Sant Celoni restaurant obtains its first Michelin Guide star and is renewed the third Michelin star. He collaborated with Telenotícies TV3 Online and launches another book, La cocina es bella (The Kitchen is Beautiful).
In 2003, he publishes El restaurante (The Restaurant), and in 2004 the cava and wines of Can Fabes are born. Santamaria writes the prologue to the Gastronomic Larousse.
In 20058 he collaborates with La Vanguardia for the elaboration of 24 volumes of the collectable "La nostra cuina" (Our Kitchen).
In 2006 he inaugurates Evo, in Barcelona, fruit of the joint project together with the Hesperia group.
In 2008, he publishes La cocina al desnudo (The Kitchen to Nudity), where he launches the polemic of new cuisine and his colleagues
Ferran Adrià and
Sergi Arola.