These are Spain’s most promising young chefs

This will be the closing day of the next edition of the great gastronomic conference, No. 24, which starts on January 26 and will be held, as usual, in Ifema. This time the slogan will be “Customer takes control”.

Javier Ochoa and Garicowitz Arruparena They are the chefs masta tavern, Traditional food house from Zarautz. His nomination for the Newcomer Chef Award at Madrid Fusión 2026 says about them: “From their hands come succulent recipes, dressed like the poor, with the spirit of haute cuisine. Proposals based on stir-frying, low money and slow preparations. Its concise menu, which evolves daily, includes eight delicious specials and two desserts. All are served in generous portions. Dishes designed for sharing depending on the informality that accompanies them. “Much more than it seems at first glance.”

Kiko Rocher and Loly Sambal They are in Terrain Cholera, where he manages cooking and pastry, respectively. The chef draws inspiration from his father’s experience at Casa Rocher, who makes the famous paella from the Valencian lake there. Madrid Fusión 2026 says of these nominees that they are: “a breath of fresh air in the field of ‘terreta’”, as they prepare “dishes with popular roots firmly established on two concepts: the high quality of the products and the finer points of cooking. Recipes that are a mirror of the region, among which are family dishes that both – the cook and the pastry chefs – interpret in a modern way.

They cook and she is the pastry chef. Sun PostIn Formentera. Mauro Rivas and Armando Vidal They were nominated because they “have not stopped developing throughout their intense career. They cook in a gaming restaurant for 12/14 guests on the ground floor of the hotel with a single menu that reveals, from appetizers to desserts, their sensibility and technical knowledge. Its cuisine, modern, Mediterranean and seasonal, “It assumes a journey through the island’s places.” In addition to her talent is Clara Campoamor’s talent“Who interprets nature in a beautiful key.”

Alejandro Ibanez He works in the restaurant of the Murcienne winery BarahondaIn the dining room which enjoys panoramic views of the vineyards. He is a nominee for the Newcomer Chef 2026 award because he creates “recipes that reflect his sensibility and extensive knowledge that he honed in the restaurants where he trained. A cuisine that is modern, innovative and full of artistic details, where cuisine and wine play in similar circumstances.

Iñaki Gomez and Lola Palacio They are the soul of the restaurant AlindaWhere he cooks — with produce from his garden — she serves the 12-seat room. Madrid Fusión says of them that it “has improved significantly over the past year and surprises with unprecedented harmonies and creative proposals”, while it “devotes itself in every service”.

Borja Pineiro and Elia Pereira

Borja Piñeiro and Elia Pereira left their Lado restaurant in Lugo to end up at Casa as Fontes, a rural property in Muiños, a remote village in Ourense. On the other side of the road is an empty area, where nature offers nothing but vegetables from one garden or another. “We bring everything from abroad,” Pineiro says. “Seur Frío is our daily resource.” Thanks to these wickers and the support of their family, they make their way daily in a dining room with four tables seating 12 people where they serve one menu. Modern cuisine, full of thought and enthusiasm, appeals to Galician traditions from a contemporary perspective.

Ruben Suarez and Aaron Berenguer

Youngsters Ruben Suarez and Aaron Berenguer cook with great ease. Dishes that cover, in each season, the flavors of the coast and Vieja Baja in Alicante in particularly attractive detail. Its presentation is demonstrated through two tasting menus in which the sense of use and its ability to transform the common into the modern is demonstrated. Technicians and designers revise tradition in an exciting, natural way. With the help of Marta Alfaro, a sommelier and bartender, they managed Orma, a simple space with a few tables that has consolidated itself in the short time since its opening.

Jose Maria Porras

José María Porras is a brilliant, restless, daring cook with an outstanding artistic background. He prepares most of his dishes in collaboration with his chef, Jonas García, and with the help of small producers surrounding the agritourism of Morvedra Nou. If there is one thing that defines their cuisine, it is their deep connection to the flavors of Menorca and all the ingredients that reach their kitchens. The same ones he later brings to the table, explaining their origin and the names of the producers. Dishes with a remarkable aesthetic sense, most of them from the coast and the countryside of Menorca in which it is located. A work that is as promising as it is exciting.

Mark Perez and Tanya Duplass

At the small restaurant run by Mark Pérez and Tania Doblas in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, the word cuisine takes on a different meaning. It’s no less. At a time when the cost of ingredients is rising everywhere, they both manage to offer a nine-course daily menu, including appetizers and desserts, for 35 euros. Small bites, appetizers and half-portions, who periodically dig into old medieval recipe books to salvage concepts and sauces. Recipes that breathe with the pulse of stir-fries and stews, with family memories and usage habits. And also with modern technologies that transform inferior ingredients into exemplary solutions for a real urban bistro. A semi-hidden place worth discovering.

As in previous editions, Madrid Fusión once again toured the country in search of new talents in Spanish cuisine. A meticulous work tracking gastronomy that focuses on young promise: chefs whose technical skills, passion for the job, and ability to interpret the future of gastronomy make them emerging figures of enormous prospect.

These professionals represent the human heritage that underpins contemporary Spanish cuisine, which today is considered one of the most influential cuisines in the world. Although the overall standard is increasingly high, only one of them will join the list of 23 winners in previous editions.

This distinction, created in 2003, which was highly coveted in the national culinary scene, helped in its beginnings to promote figures that today represent an absolute reference for our gastronomy. Names such as Dápiz Muñoz, Ricard Camarena, Rodrigo de la Calle, Javi Estévez, Javier Sanz, Juan Sahuquillo and Pedro Aguilera feature in the winners’ gallery, all of whom are currently Michelin-starred and responsible for some of the most influential projects in Spanish cuisine.