Writer and journalist, Sarah Jane Evans, one of the world’s top wine experts, wins the Pau Albornà Journalism Award

British chefs Simon Rogan (L’Enclume***), Daniel Clifford (Midsummer House**) and Roberta Hall-McCarron (The Little Chartroom) will be among the speakers

In just two months’ time, San Sebastián Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country will open its doors at the Kursaal to hold its 24th edition, from 2 to 5 of October. We already know who some of the top awards will go to at this doyen of world gastronomy conferences. José Polo, sommelier at the restaurant Atrio in Cáceres, will receive the Golden Gueridón, an award that distinguishes the best front-of-house service. Polo, who runs Atrio together with chef Toño Pérez, is now among the esteemed list of award winners. The wine cellar at this restaurant in Extremadura is considered one of the most spectacular in the world, with over 40,000 bottles representing some 2,700 different wineries. A selection based on insightfulness and good taste.

Highlighting journalism that promotes gastronomic culture, SanSebastián Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country will confer the Pau Albornà Award on Sarah Jane Evans. An English writer and journalist expert in Spanish and Sherry wines, she is a Master of Wine, has been Associate Editor of the BBC’s Good Food magazine, is a founding member of the Academy of Chocolate and is fourth woman to be awarded the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino. Evans, who writes the section on Spanish wines for the Hugh Johnson Guide, is a top expert on wines from around the world.

New at this edition – that begins this coming 2 of October – are British cooks from outside London who will come to Donostia (San Sebastián). Roberta Hall-McCarron, from the restaurant The Little Chartroom (Edinburgh); Daniel Clifford, from the two-Michelin-starred restaurant Midsummer House (Cambridge); and the extraordinary Simon Rogan from L’Enclume (Cartmel), which has three Michelin stars. These cooks, from different parts of the United Kingdom, will talk about their experiences and the idiosyncrasies of a cuisine that has been enriched by its history and links with countries making up the Commonwealth, such as India and Pakistan, as well as contributions from French, Chinese, Italian and Turkish cuisines.

You won’t only hear English accents at the congress. In addition to the Spanish chefs Quique Dacosta, Ricard Camarena, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch, Benito Gómez, Lucía Freitas, Nando Jubany, Begoña Rodrigo and Albert Adrià, Donostia will also welcome cooks from around the world: Gastón Acurio – the Peruvian chef who convinced an entire country that gastronomy would be the instrument to allow national pride and identity to be recovered, lighting a fuse that ended up propelling Latin American cuisines to rival other cuisines of the day; and Pablo Rivero – an Argentinian chef who turned a modest neighbourhood steakhouse in Buenos Aires into the best restaurant on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2020 list. Rivero, considered to be the best Latin American grill chef, will join a group of cooks at the San Sebastián grill symposium to show the magic achieved by fire and flames.