Versailles/Paris. The BMW Group and the Witzigmann
Academy welcomed the who’s who of international high-end gastronomy
yesterday to the Palace of Versailles, outside of Paris. The two
partners presented the international Eckart Witzigmann Award (ECKART)
for outstanding services to the culinary arts, nutrition and
responsible use of resources together for the sixth consecutive year.
For the first time, the ECKART was endowed with €50,000 of prize money
for each category, to reflect the prestige and importance of the award
among top international culinary prizes.
Around 150 guests from the international gastronomy scene came to the
Palace of Versailles yesterday to pay tribute to the winners of the
ECKART 2017. The combined culinary expertise of more than 80 Michelin
stars was gathered in the “Galerie Basse”. The evening was hosted by
ECKART 2017 award-winner and three-star chef Alain Ducasse, who served
guests a world-class gala dinner following the awards ceremony.
In the sixth year of collaboration, the ECKART reinvented itself once
again to become even more international and more diverse. This was the
first time the awards ceremony has been held outside Germany, as the
ECKART embarks on a world tour to visit culinary experts around the globe.
For the first time this year, all four ECKART award categories were
endowed with a cash prize of €50,000 each. The sum provided by the BMW
Group will benefit a charitable cause or innovative project chosen by
the award-winner.
The BMW Group will provide a further €50,000 to support a
yet-to-be-named project by a recent ECKART award-winner that has
continued to grow. The jury of the ECKART together with the BMW Group
is responsible for selecting the project. In this way, the BMW Group
can ensure that its commitment to ECKART contributes to long-term improvements.
“Social responsibility, sustainability and cultural and international
diversity – that is what both the ECKART and the BMW Group stand for.
We want our award-winners to be able to continue with sustainable
projects,” said Dr. Nicolas Peter, member of the Board of Management
of BMW AG, Finance, and patron of the ECKART 2017, in his speech. “But
sustainability is about more than just paying attention to a topic one
time. In recent years, we have got to know a number of fascinating
award-winners and projects. Together with the jury of the Witzigmann
Academy, we will select a project we feel is so important that we want
to continue to support it.”
The BMW Group’s total endowment of €250,000 means that the
international prestige and importance of the ECKART is now also
reflected in the prize money. The ECKART is hereby positioning itself
in the very top tier of international culinary awards.
Eckart Witzigmann expressed his thanks at the evening event: “Thanks
to the BMW Group, the ECKART can get actively involved and make a real
difference”. He continued: “My name stands behind this award and my
greatest wish is to give an opportunity to projects that are trying to
make the world a better place. Responsible behaviour in all aspects of
nutrition is top priority for me.”
ECKART 2017 award-winners.
ECKART 2017 for “Art of Cookery”: Alain Ducasse.
Alain Ducasse represents the revival of haute cuisine unlike any
other and makes the product the focal point in a radical way. He is
the first chef to create and serve an all-vegetarian menu worthy of
three stars. Ducasse thinks far beyond the plate. Food is for him a
fundamental need with the status of a civil liberty.
Alain Ducasse is the only chef to have earned the highest accolade of
three Michelin stars for three different restaurants: “Le Louis XV” in
Monte Carlo; “Le Plaza Athénée” in Paris and the “Alain Ducasse at the
Essex House” in New York City.
ECKART 2017 for “Innovation”: María Marte and Luisa Orlando.
An extraordinary career path from dishwasher to
Michelin-starred chef and a manager with the courage to support her
from the very beginning: 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 a job as a cleaner and
dishwasher at El Club Allard, though her ambition from the outset was
to become a chef. Overcoming hurdles and prejudices, she managed to
earn herself a job as kitchen assistant. By 2006, she had become the
right hand of 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 as 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 since 2014. Marte is the only female from Latin
America to hold two Michelin stars.
ECKART 2017 for “Art of Living”: Michel Guérard. The
name Guérard is synonymous with nouvelle cuisine. In 1974, Michel
Guérard and his wife, Christine, opened the “Les Prés d’Eugénie” hotel
and restaurant in the spa town of Eugénie-les-Bains. Many of the
visitors to the spa were actively looking to lose weight, so Guérard
began observing how and what they ate. He soon recognised that diet
meals were optimised for their nutritional benefits, without any
attention to pleasing the palate. Guérard therefore decided to combine
his ideas for healthy cuisine with classic French dishes. His recipes
focused not only on reducing calories, sugar and fat, but also on enjoyment.
Guérard set out his new way of cooking in his book, “La grande
cuisine minceur” (English: Light gourmet cuisine), published in 1976:
Today, it is considered the first description of nouvelle cuisine. By
1977, Guérard had earned three Michelin stars for the “Les Prés
d’Eugénie”, which it has retained to this day.
ECKART 2017 for “Creative Responsibility”: Tiffany Persons.
In 2006, well-known marketing and music-video director
Tiffany Persons travelled to Sierra Leone for the first time to film a
documentary. Impressed by the enthusiasm and cheerfulness of local
people facing the most adverse conditions, Persons founded Shine On
Sierra Leone (SOSL) in 2007 to raise money for building
urgently-needed schools. The organisation has continued to grow ever
since: Today, the non-profit SOSL is committed to promoting wider
access to education, healthcare, microfinancing and regional culture,
and providing sustainable building and agricultural programmes for the
communities of Sierra Leone and its people.
Her success speaks for itself: The Muddy Lotus Primary School founded
by SOSL, which was built using the revolutionary sustainable earthbag
construction method, is one of the best in the country. More than
20,000 people across the country were also able to improve their
future prospects by attending computer classes. In just five years, by
focusing on microloans for women, the organisation has enabled more
than 3,500 female small-business owners to earn their living. SOSL
worked with the ecotourism company Tribe Wanted to build an
ecovillage, using the CalEarth earthbag method and creating many new
jobs. The aim is always to develop sustainable change from within
society, instead of relying on outside intervention as an act of
charity.
The ECKART
The BMW Group and the Witzigmann Academy have been partners since
2012 and are committed to their joint aim of creating an international
platform for healthy eating, sustainable cuisine and responsible use
of resources. Previous award-winners 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, Andreas Caminada and many others.
Sustainability has been an integral part of the BMW Group’s corporate
strategy for many years, with sustainable development firmly
established as a corporate target at Group level: from the development
of alternative, fuel-saving vehicle concepts through
environmentally-compatible production processes, to eco-friendly
recycling methods.
If you have any questions, please contact:
BMW Group Corporate Communications
Julian Hetzenecker, BMW Group Business and Financial Communications
Tel.: +49-89-382-39229
Email: julian.hetzenecker@bmw.de
Email: presse@bmw.de
Media website: www.press.bmw.de
Press contact Witzigmann Academy Otto Geisel
Lachner-Straße 18
80639 München
Tel: +49 89 139 260 26
office@ottogeisel.de
Further information on the Eckart Witzigmann Award can be
found at:
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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