Alberto Chicote del Olmo (born 23 June 1969), is a Spanish celebrity chef, restaurateur and TV presenter. He is known for mixing traditional cuisine with new technology, pioneering the so-called

fusion cuisine Fusion cuisine is a cuisine that combines elements of different cuisine, culinary traditions that originate from different countries, regions, or cultures. Cuisines of this type are not categorized according to any one particular cuisine style an ...

: mixing foreign, mainly Asian, products and techniques with

Spanish cuisine Spanish cuisine () consists of the traditions and practices of Spanish cooking. It features considerable regional diversity, with significant differences among the traditions of each of Spain's regional cuisines. Olive oil (of which Spain is ...

. He makes frequent appearances at gastronomic conferences (some as Madrid Fusion), as well as presentations, demonstrations and master classes around the world. As a TV host, he came to fame with the Spanish adaptation of ''

Kitchen Nightmares ''Kitchen Nightmares'', known in the UK as ''Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA'', is an American reality television series originally broadcast on Fox, in which chef Gordon Ramsay is invited by the owners to spend a week with a failing restaurant ...

'', titled ''

Pesadilla en la cocina ''Pesadilla en la cocina'' (English: ''Nightmare in the kitchen'') is a Spanish food reality television program hosted by chef Alberto Chicote. It airs on laSexta, and is the Spanish adaptation of the ''Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares'' franchise. ...

,'' on

LaSexta La Sexta (; ; stylised as laSexta) is a privately owned Spanish free-to-air television channel that was founded on 18 March 2001 as Beca TV and began broadcasting on 1 April 2001. By 21 July 2003, the channel ran into debt and was shut down, bu ...

. He has also had success with ''Top Chef'' on

Antena 3 Antena 3 may refer to: *Antena 3 (Portugal), a national radio channel produced by the Portuguese public broadcasting entity Rádio e Televisão de Portugal *Antena 3 (Romania), a Romanian television channel owned by Intact Media Group *Antena 3 (Spa ...

. He is also well known for hosting the

Twelve Grapes The Twelve Grapes () is a Spanish tradition that consists of eating a grape with each of the twelve Striking clock, clock bell strikes at midnight of 31 December to welcome the New Year. Each grape and clock bell strike represents each of the co ...

on Antena 3 every year since 2016/17, with

Cristina Pedroche Cristina Pedroche Navas (born 30 October 1988) is a Spanish presenter, TV reporter and model. Biography She was born on 30 October 1988 in Madrid, Spain. For a while she combined her studies in Business Administration and Management and Touris ...

Biography

At the age of 17, Chicote joined the Escuela de hostelería de Madrid in

Casa de Campo The Casa de Campo (, for Spanish: ''Country House'') is the largest public park in Madrid. It is situated west of central Madrid, Spain. It gets its name 'Country House' because it was once a royal hunting estate, located just west of the R ...

Spain. During the nineties he worked in the kitchens of some famous restaurants of the time, such as Lúculo, owned by Ange García; Zalacaín, by Benjamín Urdiain; and La Recoleta by Belén Laguía. After his apprenticeship in Switzerland he met Salvador Gallego who greatly influenced his cooking knowledge. For the next four years, he worked as the Chef of ''El Cenachero'' where he strengthened his career by making a new kind of Andalusian cuisine that earned him recognition and success. In 1987 he became the chef of the restaurant called NODE Benjamin Streets, with the aim of merging

with

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese language, Japanese: ) is based on rice with m ...

. This project made him a pioneer of this type of cuisine in Spain. In 1995 he started working as a chef at El Cenachero, where he won plaudits for his reimagining of Andalusian cuisine. In 2005 he won the award for 'best chef of the year' at the Madrid Fusion event. In 2006, he also began working as chef at Pan de Lujo, a local restaurant with a marked taste for aesthetics, continuing his formula of mixing cuisine from multiple cultures. He coordinated his position as executive chef at both restaurants. For a time he was responsible for the food section of the Sunday magazine of ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

''. He also presented a radio section on

Toni Garrido Antônio Bento da Silva Filho (born September 7, 1967, in Rio de Janeiro), known as Toni Garrido, is a Brazilian singer, TV presenter and actor. He is the lead singer of the reggae band Cidade Negra. Born in a poor background, Garrido was adopted ...

's RNE show dedicated to food, called ''Asuntos propios''. In 2012 he became the presenter of ''

'' on TV channel

, where he visits restaurants and helps their owners to sort their issues. Although he has been criticised by some of the restaurant owners featured on the show for heavy-handedness, the show became a hit and Chicote quickly became a network star. At the end of the year, he was chosen by

laSexta La Sexta (; ; stylised as laSexta) is a privately owned Spanish free-to-air television channel that was founded on 18 March 2001 as Beca TV and began broadcasting on 1 April 2001. By 21 July 2003, the channel ran into debt and was shut down, bu ...

to present the

with

Sandra Sabatés Sandra Sabatés (Granollers, 29 July 1979) is a Spanish journalist and TV presenter. She studied Audiovisual Communication at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. She attended the private Escola Pia in Granollers as a child. She began to work a ...

. He returned to host the bells in 2015/16 with journalist Andrea Ropero. In addition to ''Pesadilla en la cocina'', he is the judge and presenter of ''Top Chef'' on

. In 2014 he opened his own restaurant, called Yakitoro. Chicote's menu reinterprets Japanese cuisine, and its success on the Gran Vía led him to open a second restaurant on the

Paseo de la Castellana Paseo de la Castellana, commonly known as La Castellana, is a major thoroughfare in Madrid, Spain. Cutting across the city from south to north, it has been described as the "true structuring axis" of the city. History and description The street ...

. In 2016 he opened the Puertalsol restaurant with more conventional Spanish cuisine, in a partnership with department store

El Corte Inglés El Corte Inglés S.A. is a Spanish department store chain founded in 1940 by Ramón Areces and César Rodríguez. It is the last such remaining in Spain and Portugal, and has been a member of the International Association of Department Stores s ...

on the

Puerta del Sol The Puerta del Sol (, English: "Gate of the Sun") is a public square in Madrid, one of the best known and busiest places in the city. This is the centre ('' Km 0'') of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous ...

. Since 2016/17, Chicote has hosted the Twelve Grapes on

with

. Their partnership has brought steadily increasing ratings, and led viewership on the night from 2020/21 until 2023/24. Chicote left Yakitoro in November 2020 to focus on a new venture with Inmaculada Núñez, called Omeraki, where he would focus on more seasonal products and recipes with a more personal touch. The new restaurant opened on 7 June 2022.

Personal life

Aside from food, Chicote is a fan of rugby and archery, and had to leave the former when he took up cooking. He formed part of the Madrid rugby team in his youth, playing alongside

Javier Bardem Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. In a career spanning over three decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, tw ...

TV appearances

(2012–)

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo in March 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs ...

(2013–) Antena 3 * El precio de los alimentos (2015) laSexta

Awards

He has received several awards such as: * '' Chef of the Year '' in Congress Madrid Fusion * Chef of the Year 2006 by the

AMER Amer may refer to: Places * Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain * Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state ** Am ...

* AURA Award, the most innovative chefs * Chef of the restaurant in 2011 by

World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that Existence, exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk ...

* Madrid Fusion Award to the best artists of the decade. * Best TV presenter TV rioja * 2013 Nécora Award 2013 to gastroviajero character * 2013 Qemos Award * 2013 Festival Award for the program "Pesadilla en la cocina"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chicote, Alberto Living people People from Madrid Restaurateurs Spanish chefs Spanish television chefs 1969 births