A competition that trained young talents and an International Gastronomic Research Meeting: two events, one week, in Manabí, Ecuador.
TWO EVENTS, ONE WEEK
It was the competition that chose, for the first time in the Americas, the Young Chef of 2026. Young people from the United States, Honduras, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Martinique, Peru and the Bahamas took part. Six international judges evaluated the traditional dish and the innovative dish.
See the podium
It brought together researchers, chefs, scientists, journalists and representatives of international organizations linked to gastronomy, sustainability and food heritage, at the Iche Ecosystem, San Vicente.
See the galleryRESULTS
Young people from seven countries cooked their ideas in two tests —the traditional dish and the innovative dish— before six international judges.
Honduras
Dish: Arroz del Sol
Peru
Dish: Los Castigos
Costa Rica
Dish: Recuerdos del Caribe
Ecuador
Roots of transmutation
United States
Journey to Freedom
Bahamas
Soil to Stomach
Martinique
As a child
Esperanza Peláez Navarrete
AYCA Judge · Meeting Moderator
Spain · Madrid
Spanish journalist, director of the gastronomy website 7 Caníbales. Formerly at El País and Vocento Gastronomía; founder of the Kilómetro Cero Gastronomic Club.
Nneka A. Nurse
AYCA Judge
Caribbean Region
Founder of Best Dressed Plate LLC. First Caribbean Academy Chair for World’s 50 Best Restaurants North America.
Laura Rosano
AYCA Judge
Uruguay · Canelones
Cook specializing in regional and Mediterranean cuisine. Director of Verde Oliva and certified agroecological producer of native fruits.
Edgar Gustavo León Ordóñez
AYCA Judge
Ecuador · Quito
Author of “Sopas la Identidad de Ecuador”. Gastronomic ambassador and international judge in the Americas and Europe.
Pia Sorensen
AYCA Judge · Meeting Panelist
United States · Boston
Directs Harvard’s Science & Cooking program. Researcher in fermentation, food chemistry and culinary science.
Eduardo "Lalo" Plascencia Mendoza
AYCA Judge · Meeting Panelist
Mexico · Mexico City
Founder of elcig.mx. Author of the book Método CIG; Académicien of the Académie Culinaire de France (2019).
CHRONICLE
The full story of the Meeting: the session at the museum, the workshop and launch at the market, and the panelists’ talks.
The Co-Lab Culinaria network shared its research agendas in a museum that holds more than four thousand years of history.
Read the chronicle Sunday San Vicente MarketA food-use workshop with the market’s cooks and the launch of the campaign.
Read the chronicle Monday 12 talksThe panelists’ talks, one by one, with a summary of each presentation.
Read the chronicleGALLERY
86 photos from the day of October 11, when the contestants cooked and defended their innovative dish before the jury. Choose a moment to see it in full.
Chronicle of the Meeting:Saturday 10Sunday 11Monday 12
A wood-and-glass building among gardens welcomed the participants.
Knives, steam, herbs and focused hands: this is how the innovative dish was prepared.
Ideas served on ceramics, shells and leaves: every dish told a story.
Six international voices observed, tasted and deliberated.
Local produce, an open kitchen, music and dance to close the day.
PARTNERS AND SPONSORS
PANELISTS
Researchers, chefs, scientists and cultural managers from different countries, gathered to think together about the future of food from its origins.
Pere Castells Esqué
Meeting Panelist
Spain · Barcelona
Led scientific research at elBulli and Fundación Alícia. President of the Science & Cooking World Congress Foundation.
Alejandra Brenes
Panelist · Working Tables Moderator
Costa Rica
Psychologist specializing in neuromarketing. Research Coordinator at Iche and founder of Gastronomy Research LATAM.
Luciana Bianchi
Meeting Panelist
Ecuador · Galápagos
Director of the Galapagos Foundation. Created MUYU, the archipelago’s first “farm, forest & sea to table” restaurant.
Tatiana Rodríguez
Meeting Panelist
Ecuador · Cuenca
Founder of La Chichería. Works with more than 400 families of the Austro Agroecological Network and gives new meaning to chicha de jora.
Martha Echavarría and Juan Manuel Arcos
Meeting Panelists
Ecuador · Amazon
Researchers and managers at Canopy Bridge, where they combine their commitment to impact with a joyful celebration of the diversity of resources and cultures that make the Amazon a region of endless possibilities and surprises.
Fanny Vergara
Meeting Panelist
Ecuador · Tosagua, Manabí
Farmer, cook and cultural manager at Gasan.ec. Winner of Sabor a Manabí 2018 with a cacao ceviche.
Diego Gutiérrez
Meeting Panelist
Ecuador · Cuenca
Chef and owner of La Caleta Nueva Cocina Ecuatoriana: zero waste, seasonal national produce.
Ana Lobato
Meeting Panelist · USFQ
Ecuador · Quito
Professor and coordinator of the gastronomic research lab at Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Trained at the Basque Culinary Center, with experience in Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain.
Valentina Álvarez
Chef and director of Iche
Ecuador · San Vicente, Manabí
Self-taught chef born in San Vicente. Directs Iche, a restaurant-school-laboratory, and works with Fanny Vergara to have the Manabí oven recognized as cultural heritage.
Young people of the “Qué rico es Manabí” campaign
Guest panelists · North Pacific Commonwealth
Ecuador · Manabí
Qué Rico es Manabí is a campaign created collectively by cooks, farmers, young people and fishers of the Manabí territory. It seeks to encourage the consumption of what is ours: for the community to choose and value the flavors and knowledge of its own land, strengthening the local economy and the bond among those who produce, cook and share food.
Lourdes Delgado Farfán
Cacao and chocolate entrepreneur
Ecuador · Guayaquil
Founded Chchukululu, the first fine chocolate bar made in Ecuador (2004), with Nacional cacao from the Arriba region. Designs tourist routes through historic cacao estates of the Coast.
MEETING PROGRAM
From October 9 to 13, five days of cooking, research and territory; the central day was Monday 12 at Iche, San Vicente. Choose a day and tap an activity to see its detail.
How each day went:Saturday 10Sunday 11Monday 12
PRESS AND DOWNLOADS
Press releases and graphic material of the Americas Young Chef Award and the International Meeting, ready to download and publish.
