David Andrés is Spain and Portugal’s Local Finalist

Chef David Andrés of ABaC Restaurant, Barcelona, has been named as the winner of the Spain and Portugal semi-final of S.Pellegrino Young Chef for a second consecutive year.

The young chef saw off competition from nine other regional semi-finalists at a live cook-off at the World Trade Centre in Barcelona with his signature dish of; sheep's milk, artichoke pistils, baby lamb meat and pine smoke.

The dish was enough to elicit a unanimous decision from the trio of top chef judges from Spain and Portugal, namely: Andoni Luis Aduriz, Joan Roca and Leonel Pereira.

Andoni Luis Aduriz, who will also now become the young chef’s mentor up until the grand finale in Milan, stressed that Andres dish was “technically well solved with its own very contemporary language”. The judges added that they really liked Andrés’ style of creating more of a gastronomic experience than just a dish, valuing risk and execution.