The auditorium of the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic) hosted on Monday the fifth awards gala of the Academia Cántabra de Gastronomía (Cantabrian Academy of Gastronomy), which recognized the work of Café Dromedario, Rafael Prieto of Restaurante El Serbal (El Serbal Restaurant), Samuel Fernández of Restaurante el Remedio de Ruiloba (el Remedio de Ruiloba Restaurant), Restaurante Los Machucos (Los Machucos Restaurant), and Antonio Pérez of Ultramarinos Antonio.
UNEATLANTICO, which is represented in the Academia Cántabra de Gastronomía, was the setting for an event in which the Cantabrian Academy of Gastronomy presented its annual awards. The first to be awarded was the recently established Best Traditional Cuisine Restaurant Award, a recognition that went to the Los Machucos restaurant, in Bustablado. Another of the awards, which was presented by Sandra Sumalla, academic director of the degree in Gastronomy of UNEATLANTICO, was for the best Head Waiter or Sommelier, awarded to Rafael Prieto, from the Restaurante El Serbal.
Likewise, the Academy wanted to appreciate the work of the waiters, professionals of the dining room and bar, who are fundamental to enjoy the gastronomy. The award for Best Waiter was awarded to Antonio Pérez Oreña, of the Ultramarinos Don Antonio restaurants. The award was presented by the rector of the Universidad Europea del Atlántico, Rubén Calderón.
The gala continued to move forward listening to the words of the award winner, as a prelude to the presentation of the Award for best head chef, which was received by Samuel Fernández of Restaurante el Remedio de Ruiloba from the hands of the Honorary Academician, Javier López Marcano.
The fifth and last award was the Special Award of the Academia de Gastronomía de Cantabria, which went to El Dromedario. The award was presented by the Director General of Tourism of the Government of Cantabria, Gustavo Cubero, who presented the award to the CEO of El Dromedario, Charo Baqué.
Annual balance sheet
In parallel to the awards ceremony, the president of the Academy, Javier Hérnandez de Sande, stressed that “this year has been, in some respects, positive for the hotel sector and much better than previous years.” “This community has achieved full house in many restaurants during the summer, long weekends, and holidays; has experienced a very fruitful edition of the Año Santo Lebaniego (Lebaniego Holy Year) for gastronomy; and has been able to maintain the good gastronomic level that those who visit us value so much,” he said.
On the other hand, the president of the Academy regretted the loss of the Michelin star of the Restaurante El Molino de Puente (El Molino de Puente Restaurant), to whom he wanted to send his support, as well as to the restaurant La Bicicleta, which in its case lost the green star, linked to sustainability objectives and care for the environment.