Eneko Atxa Azurmendi (born September 14, 1977) is a Spanish

Basque cuisine Basque cuisine refers to the cuisine of the Basque Country and includes meats and fish grilled over hot coals, '' marmitako'' and lamb stews, cod, Tolosa bean dishes, paprikas from Lekeitio, '' pintxos'' (Basque '' tapas)'', Idiazabal shee ...

chef, known for his

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

practices.

Career

Eneko started in the

culinary Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

world at the age of 15 at the Culinary School of

Leioa Leioa () is a municipality in Biscay, Basque Country, in northern Spain. It is located south of Getxo and Berango delimitating east and south with Erandio, Portugalete and Sestao. Today it is part of the Bilbao conurbation. Its population in 2019 ...

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, Basque Country, but was initially trained by his mother and grandmother. He combined his study time with work at restaurant where he learned traditional Basque cuisine. Later he worked for several restaurants. After this apprenticeship, he moved on to the most prestigious restaurants consolidating his own personality and style. In 2005, after several head chefs in renowned restaurants, he decided to open his own restaurant: Azurmendi*** (also known as Azurmedi***). In 2012, Azurmendi*** was awarded 3 Michelin stars, becoming the first and only restaurant in Biscay to obtain this distinction. This makes Eneko Atxa, at 35, one of the youngest chefs in Spain to achieve three stars. Azurmendi, with three Michelin stars and one green star, has twice been awarded the "most sustainable restaurant" in The World's 50 Best list. In 2012, he finished a bioclimatic building for his restaurant using

recycled Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

materials (

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

, glass, plastic and

slag The general term slag may be a by-product or co-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and recycled metals depending on the type of material being produced. Slag is mainly a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. Broadly, it can be c ...

) and

renewable energy systems The RES Group (Renewable Energy Systems) is the world's largest independent renewable energy company, having been in the sector for more than 40 years. , the company had established more than 23 gigawatts of renewable energy projects wor ...

(which has resulted in 50% energy savings).

Geothermal energy Geothermal energy is thermal energy extracted from the crust (geology), crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for m ...

and photovoltaic solar panels provide the power, and

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

water is used for all

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

/bathroom needs. In conjunction with the Alicia Foundation and

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...

, he is working on germplasm bank, which is expected to host 400+ local

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

seed varieties, with an emphasis on teaching about the value of

genetic diversity Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It ranges widely, from the number of species to differences within species, and can be correlated to the span of survival for a species. It is d ...

preservation. Located in the Interpretation Center for Sustainability of Azurmendi it was promoted by the City Council of

Larrabetzu Larrabetzu is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territ ...

as a way of establishing a circular economic system, with the use of a generated

compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by Decomposition, decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and man ...

by local

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s that acts as a land fertilizer. In 2016, Atxa created JAKI(N), an "incubator of innovative ideas" used to promote actions related to people, the environment, health and society. In 2019 he created, together with Xabi Uribe-Etxebarria, the Bestfarmers initiative: a project to give visibility and value to producers, encouraging and rewarding sustainable farming practices

Awards

*Signature Cuisine Champion of Spain for Young Chefs in 2003 * The Haute Cuisine for Young Chefs Award (Lo Mejor de la Gastronomia) in 2004 * Opening of Azurmendi in 2005 * Best Newcomer Restaurant in Madrid Fusión in 2006 * First Michelin star for Azurmendi in 2007 * Euskadi Award for Best Chef of the Year in 2007 * Healthy Cuisine Award from the Galician Gastronomic Forum in 2008 * Second Michelin star for Azurmendi in 2010 * The Prix du Chef L'Avenir (International Academy of Gastronomy) in 2010 * 3 Michelín Stars for Azurmendi (2012) * Azurmendi is named the Best Restaurant in Europe by Opinionated About Dining (OAD) in 2015 * Young Chef of the Year (Elite Traveler) in 2015 * World's Most Sustainable Restaurant Award (World's 50 Best Restaurants/Sustainable Restaurant Association) 2014 and 2018. * Eneko Atxa wins the 2015 National Gastronomy Award for Best Chef in 2016. That year Azurmendi is named tenth best restaurant in the world by

Tripadvisor Tripadvisor is an American company that operates online travel agency, travel agencies, comparison shopping websites, and mobile apps with user-generated content. Its namesake brand, Tripadvisor.com, operates in 40 countries and 20 languages, and ...

and also received the National Award for Hospitality Company committed to Sustainability by the Federation of Hospitality Companies of Spain. The publication 'Fuera de Serie', from the 'Unidad Editorial' group, has chosen Eneko Atxa as one of the people of the year 2016, in the

gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between Human food, food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well ver ...

category. * ENEKO restaurant is recognized with a Michelin star (2017). Azurmendi is the Best restaurant in the world according to Elite Traveler magazine Eneko Atxa wins the GQ Businessman of the Year Award. * 2019: Westholme Highest Climber Award (World's 50 Best Restaurants) 14th place. Eneko Atxa wins Best Chef Award 2019 in Europe by Madrid Fusion. Eneko Atxa wins the National Prize for Healthy Gastronomy to the Most Outstanding Personality 2018. * 2020: Azurmendi and ENEKO win a Green Michelin star * 2021: Eneko Atxa wins the first 'Sustainable Sun' Award from the Repsol Guide. Azurmendi wins the Sustainability Award from Madrid Fusión. * 2022: Eneko Atxa receives the 'MadBlue Cinco Océanos' 2022 Award for his work in sustainability and the Sustainability award from Gentleman magazine.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atxa, Eneko 1977 births Living people Basque cuisine Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants People from Amorebieta-Etxano Spanish chefs