The World’s No. 1 Chef, Latin America’s No. 1 and two Asia’s No. 1 ALL coming to Manila for Madrid Fusion Manila 2016!!!

Madrid Fusion Manila 2016 is all set with this Memorandum of Understanding signed just this morning between the Philippine Department of Tourism (in photo is Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.) and the ICEX España Exportacion e Inversiones (public export promotion agency belonging to the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Kingdom of Spain).

Madrid Fusion Manila is scheduled on April 24-26 with the theme The Manila Galleon: East Meets West.

And here’s the line up of celebrity chefs – and I mean WOW – can’t believe they are all coming to Manila!!

The following have been confirmed by the Tourism Dept as either as speaker or presenter for Madrid Fusion Manila 2016:

• Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca in Catalonia.  El Celler de Can Roca is currently No. 1 in the list of World’s 50 Best Restaurants
• Yoshihiro Narisawa of Les Creations de Narisawa in Tokyo. Narisawa is a culinary genius who was included in the World’s 50 Best list way before the majority of the jury took a notice of Asia. He has been a real trailblazer in culinary creativity. He was recognized as No. 1 chef in the first ever Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards. He is currently ranked at No. 8 on the World’s 50 Best list.
• David Thompson of Nahm in Bangkok. Thompson beat Narisawa at the second Asia’s 50 Best Awards to nab the No. 1 spot. He was in the Philippines a few years ago, hosted by Leisa Tyler of the World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards to give a talk at the Nespresso Forum.
• Virgilio Martinez of Central Restaurante in Lima, Peru. Martinez is among the chefs credited for boosting culinary tourism in Latin America and putting the world spotlight on dishes like ceviche. His restaurant currently holds the title No. 1 in Latin America’s 50 Best list.
• Enrique Olvera of Pujol in Mexico. This is currently ranked No. 16 in the world.
• Jose Andres is a Spanish American chef honored with Outstanding Chef accolade by the James Beard Foundation
• Paul Qui, a Filipino chef based in the US, was also awarded Best Chef by the James Beard Foundation
• Dani Garcia of Bibo Andalussian Brasserie in Malaga, a 2 Michelin star restaurant

At the signing today, the DOT also presented this list of speakers:

This list is just BEYOND. My jaw dropped. Props to DOT for taking it to the next level. Can’t wait!!!