ECKART 2017 Award for Innovation goes to María Marte and Luisa Orlando. From dishwasher to Michelin-starred chef.

Munich. The Eckart 2017 Award for Innovation has been
presented to two individuals at the two-Michelin-starred restaurant El
Club Allard in Madrid: head chef María Marte and managing director
Luisa Orlando. The renowned Eckart Witzigmann and his international
jury awarded the accolade in honour of Marte’s extraordinary career
path from dishwasher to Michelin-starred chef, and of Orlando’s bold
decision, as a manager, to support her from the very beginning.

María Marte’s cuisine stands for an innovative concept that melds
contemporary cooking methods with Caribbean elements to create a
fascinating Mediterranean-Latin-American fusion. Outstanding flavour
combinations and original presentation are her trademark and, in
collaboration with her sponsor Luisa Orlando, managing director of El
Club Allard, she is realising her dream of young, exciting cuisine
coupled with superior dining culture.

Born in the Dominican Republic, María Marte is linked to Spain’s
Luisa Orlando by a unique story. After immigrating to Spain in 2003,
Marte took on a job as a cleaner and dishwasher at El Club Allard,
though her ambition from the outset was to become a chef. Defying
hurdles and prejudices, she managed to fight her way into a job as
kitchen assistant. Already in 2006, she became the right-hand woman to
chef Diego Guerrero, who was awarded the restaurant’s first Michelin
star in 2007 and its second in 2011. However, in the wake of
Guererro’s unexpected departure in 2013, managing director Orlando
decided to take a bold and unprecedented step: defying all doubts, she
appointed the erstwhile dishwasher María Marte to head chef. Their
success is a testimony to the credentials of both women: together,
they have successfully defended the two-Michelin star rating of El
Club Allard. Moreover, Marte is the only female in Latin America today
to hold two Michelin stars.

“This story is like a fairytale. But it’s also much more than that:
these two ladies have shown that innovation and quality will always
prevail. Today, we would like to honour the courage and unbending will
with which María Marte and Luisa Orlando have pursued their goals by
presenting them with the ECKART 2017,” said Eckart Witzigmann, after
whom the awards are named, as he explained the reasons for the jury’s choice.

 

Eckart 2017

In 2017, the international Eckart Witzigmann Awards (ECKART) are to
be presented in three categories – Art of Cookery, Innovation and Art
of Living – plus one further category – Creative Responsibility and
Enjoyment – in which it is accompanied by prize moneys provided by the
BMW Group.

Following the announcement of Alain Ducasse as the winner of the
award for the Art of Cookery, María Marte and Luisa Orlando have now
been declared top in the Innovation category. Further winners will be
announced during the course of the summer.

This year, the ECKART awards will be presented outside Germany for
the very first time, at a gala event in Versailles, near Paris, in
September 2017. The international convention of figures from the world
of culinary arts will be hosted by ECKART-winner Alain Ducasse and
marks the beginning of a world tour that will continue in the US,
where the ECKART awards will be presented in 2018.

As partners since 2012, the BMW Group and the Witzigmann Academy are
committed to a common goal of providing an international platform for
healthy eating, sustainable food culture and responsible use of
resources. Award winners to date include Daniel Boulud, HRH Charles
Prince of Wales, Elena Arzak, Anne-Sophie Pic, Harald Wohlfahrt,
Dieter Kosslick, Ferran Adrià, Marc Haeberlin, Joël Robuchon, Alex
Atala, Jon Rose, Mick Hucknall, Massimo Bottura, Dominique Crenn and
Andreas Caminada, to name just a few.

At the BMW Group, sustainability has long been an integral part of
the corporate strategy, and sustainable business is an established
corporate goal. It encompasses a broad spectrum of aspects ranging
from the development of fuel-efficient and alternative vehicles and
the use of environmentally compatible production processes to
eco-friendly recycling techniques.

 

If you have any questions, please contact:

 

BMW Group Corporate Communications
Julian
Hetzenecker, BMW Group Business and Finance Communications
Tel.:
+49-89-382-39229
E-Mail: julian.hetzenecker@bmw.de

E-Mail: presse@bmw.de
Internet: www.press.bmw.de 

 

Witzigmann Academy press contact:

Otto Geisel
Lachner-Straße 18
80639 Munich
Phone: +49
89 139 260 26
office@ottogeisel.de

 

For more about the Eckart Witzigmann Awards, go to:

www.eckart-witzigmann-preis.de

 

 

The BMW Group

With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW
Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and
motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services.
As a global company, the BMW Group operates 31 production and assembly
facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than
140 countries.

In 2016, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.367 million cars and
145,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax was approximately
€ 9.67 billion on revenues amounting to € 94.16 billion. As of 31
December 2016, the BMW Group had a workforce of 124,729 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term
thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established
ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain,
comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to
conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

 

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