As in previous editions, the Madrid Fusión team has scoured our country's culinary scene in search of promising young chefs. Chefs with solid training whose work has caught our attention for the clarity of their ideas, their enthusiasm, their technical preparation and their ability to anticipate the future. 

They are part of the precious human heritage on which our creative cuisine, one of the best in the world, is based. All in all, they are professionals of the highest calibre, only one of whom will join the list of 22 winners of previous competitions.  

Created in 2003, many of today's great names in Spanish gastronomy have received this award, such as Dabiz Muñoz, Ricard Camarena, Rodrigo de la Calle or Sara Peral and Jorge Muñoz from the OSA restaurant, winners of the previous edition. Most of the winners over the last two decades now have Michelin stars in their restaurants.

The candidates for the revelation chef of the next edition of Madrid Fusión Food from Spain are:

Beatriz Fernández and Rodrigo Fernández
Arsa Restaurant, Logroño

Success accompanies this pair of young chefs from Andalusia and La Rioja, in a restaurant with a striking interior as cheerful as their own recipes. Beatriz, from Seville and full of energy, and her husband, Rodrigo, from La Rioja, engage in an enthusiastic dialogue between distant flavours. With a carefree attitude, they cook unpredictable dishes that are not exempt from rules and ties, mixing recipes and flavours from their respective places of origin. In La Rioja, they are a breath of fresh air, presided over by daring and enthusiasm in abundance. 

Rita Llanes and Manu Lachica  
Restaurant Leartá, Seville

Every day, Rita and Manu demonstrate their sensitivity and knowledge. They cook in a charming, intimate restaurant where they immerse themselves in the popular flavours of their land, reinterpreting them at the level of haute cuisine. In other words, Andalusia in bites, in complicity with a repertoire of small artisan suppliers who supply their pantry. His dishes combine textures, temperatures and flavours in a balanced way. Cold soups, salpicones, picadillos and pucheros allow them to demonstrate their imagination and technical mastery. A young cuisine that expresses a lot with a few elements.

Ausiàs Signes and Felicia Guerra
Restaurant Ausiàs, Pedreguer (Alicante)

Ausiàs Signes offers a different interpretation of savoury cuisine. In 2022, at the age of 26, he won the Pastelero Revelación award at Madrid Fusión in the desserts category, while working in the pastry department of the Tatau restaurant in Huesca. He now runs a charming restaurant in Pedreguer with the help of his wife, Felicia Guerra, who is also a chef and pastry chef. In his dual role, he creates light dishes that combine cured meats, aromatic herbs, sausages and offal with the same boldness as yeast, pickles and fruit. Dishes that convey immediacy and enhance everyday products with the precision of a pastry chef. 

Lucía Gutiérrez
Lur Restaurant, Madrid

Lucía Gutiérrez, a pupil of the great chef Hilario Arbelaitz, has begun to attract attention in her quiet restaurant in the Legazpi district.

A 22-year-old chef with a small team serving just over ten people. Twelve months after her inauguration, in her new stage, she shows a maturity in her savoury and sweet dishes that is beyond her years. He prepares calm, recognisable dishes with carefully prepared ingredients and an undeniable sparkle. Despite his young age, Gutiérrez takes risks and shows boldness with his cooking points, which he controls to the millimetre. A meticulousness that reaches the sweet moment. 

Àngel Esteve
Restaurant Sisé, Lleida

The dishes of the smiling Àngel Esteve reveal details of his experiences. He brings to life a cuisine that alludes to family memories, casseroles and hotpots in equal measure. Close, heartfelt and modern reinterpretations, derived from the recipes of his environment and his childhood. In his daily vicissitudes, he is supported by Marc Chic, with whom he shares affinities and criteria. They both work in a space open to the public. Our way of working is to give different applications to well-known products," he says. Their professional backgrounds reveal both sensitivity and technical knowledge. The finishing touches are provided by large-scale desserts such as their chocolate cake.

Icíar Pérez Cejas and Juan Carlos Pérez  
Moral Restaurant, Santa Cruz de Tenerife

After working together at the Padrón brothers' restaurant Poemas in Las Palmas, Icíar and Juan Carlos moved to another island to open Moral in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. A secluded place with only six tables, where they make the most of a menu that, although it shows a weak commitment to the island's products, opens up to wider horizons. A tasty and highly technical cuisine, supported by their creativity and desire for perfectionism. We make delicious dishes with good products, without following any particular style,' says Icíar. From skate with mussels and parsley sauce to beef fillet with Café de Paris butter. A promising gastronomic venture in the Canary Islands. 

Claudia Merchan and Áxel Smyth
Restaurant Simpar, Santiago de Compostela

Claudia and Áxel's light, contemporary dishes show their strong Galician roots. In their modern restaurant, they serve a unique menu that alternates seasonal creations with others that reformulate traditional recipes from their land. Always with surprising details, such as his tuna marinade with lemon, baked fish with the classic ajada (garlic sauce), or the deconstructed Santiago cake, examples of his sensitivity and technical mastery. Áxel's knowledge of popular recipes is also evident in his monumental croquettes and Galician-style tripe, with which he has just won first prize in the San Sebastian Gastronomika Euskadi Basque Country championship.