The World’s 50 Best Restaurants organisation and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) have partnered to create the 50 Best BBVA Scholarship aimed at would-be chefs from around the world.
The annual scholarship scheme will identify talented chefs and seek to develop their potential with the aid of internships in the kitchens of some of the world’s best restaurants. For the inaugural scholarship in 2018, the recipient will be invited to work at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain, and Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, USA, over a three-month period. He or she will also be flown to Spain to attend The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018 awards in Bilbao next June, where they will be presented on stage in front of the world’s leading chefs and media.
Culinary students and aspiring chefs with less than three years’ experience in a professional kitchen are invited to apply online. The scholarship is open to chefs aged 18 and over from any part of the world and the three-stage judging process will be overseen by the 50 Best team with input from host chefs Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz and Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn, as well as representatives from BBVA. Full details of the terms and conditions of entry are outlined on the scholarship entry website.
Mugaritz chef-owner Andoni Luis Aduriz said: “We are so happy to be part of the 50 Best BBVA Scholarship. My parents didn’t have the resources to pay for my culinary studies and I couldn’t access the knowledge I was hungry for. Sometimes you need for those doors to be opened in other ways. That’s why initiatives like the 50 Best BBVA Scholarship are important, because they help democratise the idea that we need to support talent regardless of the resources they have access to. If you’re working to create a different world, you need to open new roads for those that want to do the same.”
Atelier Crenn chef-owner Dominique Crenn added: “Life is about inspiring people, but also being inspired by others; about being curious, but also offering the next generation what you have learned. Being a part of this mentorship is really a gift for us, helping us understand where we are today and where we can be tomorrow.”
In a statement, The World’s 50 Best Restaurants group editor William Drew said: “We are very excited to be launching our first scholarship scheme in partnership with BBVA. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants naturally celebrates the elite of the restaurant world, but this gives us a chance to help nurture the next generation of great chefs. We have been overwhelmed by the support this initiative has generated from the global restaurant community and we particularly want to thank Andoni and Dominique for offering to host the first 50 Best BBVA scholar in the summer of 2018.”
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