New York. The BMW Group and the ECKART Academy
yesterday presented the 2018 Eckart Witzigmann Award, named after chef
Eckart Witzigmann (ECKART) for sustainable enjoyment and culinary
delights. Approximately 200 guests from sectors of internationally
renowned gastronomy, culture and business celebrated the merits of
Suzanne Cupps and Danny Meyer (Lifestyle), Astrid Gutsche and Gastón
Acurio (Innovation), Christopher Kostow (Great Culinary Art) and the
Union Square Greenmarkets (Creative Responsibility) in the Spring
Studios in Manhattan. As a surprise, Günter Seeger, pioneer of
Greenmarkets, also received the award. The 2018 Eckart Alumni Prize
went to Alice Waters.
“At the BMW Group, we firmly believe that diversity in all its facets
is the key to new ideas and innovative, sustainable concepts. That is
why we support ECKART,” said Dr. Nicolas Peter, BMW AG Management
Board Member responsible for Finance, and patron of ECKART, in his
welcoming speech. “With the ECKART, we assume social responsibility
and, not least through the endowment, we want to initiate lasting change.”
“The ECKART is our thanks to all chefs and restaurateurs and all
people who go beyond tasteful creations and set a global example with
their visions: They take responsibility and combine enjoyment with
sustainability at all levels. Thanks to the BMW Group, it is possible
to honour this commitment and motivate other creative minds to follow
this example,” says century chef Eckart Witzigmann, the patron of ECKART.
The ECKART recognises outstanding achievements in terms of
responsible and sustainable cuisine and healthy nutrition. This year
it was awarded for the seventh time in cooperation with the BMW Group.
The BMW Group will donate €50,000 per category to a social or
sustainable project on behalf of the award recipients. The total
endowment of €250,000 reflects ECKART’s place among the absolute top
culinary prizes and testifies to the award’s reputation and
international significance.
ECKART once again showed its international commitment and continued
its world tour: This year’s focus was on culinary achievements on the
American continents. Maximilian Schöberl, Head of BMW Group Corporate
Communications and Politics and Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO of
BMW North America, welcomed the guests on the roof terrace of Spring
Studios in the heart of Manhattan. The Farmers Market, which was set
up there as a tribute to the famous New York markets, spanned a
culinary arc between the New World and the Old World, providing a
stage for local, original specialities from the USA and Germany.
German winegrowers presented their rare creations. Tiffany Persons,
winner of the 2017 ECKART Award for Creative Responsibility, moderated
the evening.
The top chefs Daniel Boulud, Anna Bolz, Suzanne Cupps and Günter
Seeger then invited guests to a first-class dinner. Hardly elsewhere
in the world can culinary fans enjoy a menu in which each course was
created and cooked by a different top chef. To the surprise of the
guests, the cooks gave insights into their craft by completing serving
plates on live cooking stations around the audience.
Another surprise came from two unannounced award recipients: The
ECKART for Creative Responsibility also went to Günter Seeger – the
German top chef, who always finds his haute cuisine in New York worth
a visit at Union Square Greenmarket. Seeger is one of the founders of
“New American Cuisine” and promotes the highest culinary art with
regional and fresh products. He also collaborates with regional
farmers for his enjoyable creations and brings the trend of Union
Square Greenmarket from the street to star cuisine.
Alice Waters received this year’s Alumni Award for her project
“Edible Schoolyard”. Waters, winner of 2009 ECKART for Innovation,
opened the first slow food restaurant with local and sustainable
products in the USA in 1971 and is Vice President of Slow Food
International. The pioneer in her area founded the “Edible Schoolyard”
program in 1995 with the aim of improving nutrition education in
American schools. Since then, more than 5,000 school gardens have been
built, through which Waters introduces students worldwide to the topic
of healthy nutrition and the sustainable use of resources.
The recipients of the 2018 ECKART
2018 ECKART for Lifestyle: Suzanne Cupps and Danny Meyer, New
York
Danny Meyer is an entrepreneur with a flair for
strong concepts and quality. He leads the successful Union Square
Hospitality Group, which includes some of New York’s most popular and
successful restaurants such as Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern and
The Modern at MoMA. In his restaurants he offers more than good food –
he provides his guests with an extraordinary experience. He succeeds
in doing this for all generations, not just for a “target group”. His
restaurants are places of enjoyment and encounter. He also finds and
opens up spaces and possibilities: He was a leading force in bringing
contemporary, attractive cuisine to the museum restaurants and cafes.
One example is the Whitney Museum. Suzanne Cupps has been head of the
restaurant “Untitled” there since 2017. As the only female chef in the
Union Square Hospitality Group, Cupps brings an invigorating breeze to
the museum and kitchen. In a casual and elegant atmosphere, she
presents subtly aromatic dishes based on fresh and sustainably grown
seasonal products. As an aspiring cook, she initially wanted to become
a mathematics teacher after her studies. She has brought her sense of
clarity and precision into the kitchen and this characterizes her
gentle and respectful handling of the basic products to an inimitable style.
2018 ECKART for Creative Responsibility: Union Square
Greenmarket and Günter Seeger, New York
Union Square
Greenmarket is part of the GrowNYC initiative, which provides
sustainable resources in the city of New York. Various markets –
called “greenmarkets” – offer fresh and untreated products from local
farmers throughout the city. The Union Square market was the first of
its kind and was already taking a step against the American fast food
mainstream in 1976. Today, the market can be called a trendsetter: The
conscious handling of food has established itself in the modern
kitchen. Union Square Greenmarket receives the well-deserved award for
its mission of giving regional agriculture, and thus over a hundred
small farmers from the local area, the chance to sell their
high-quality food directly to customers. The ECKART jury also praised
the claim to make healthy nutrition accessible to all New Yorkers.
Günter Seeger is one of the founders of “New American Cuisine” and
promotes the highest culinary art with regional and fresh products. He
also collaborates with regional farmers for his enjoyable creations
and brings the trend of Union Square Greenmarket from the street to
star cuisine.
2018 ECKART for Innovation: Astrid Gutsche and Gastón Acurio,
Lima
Since 1999, after his wife Astrid Gutsche opened
his eyes to the local cuisine, Gastón Acurio has been committed to his
culture, experimenting with local ingredients: a recipe for success.
Since then, both have been looking for interesting new products for
the original and creative creations that made their way from faraway
Peru and brought the taste of their homeland to the world. Gastón and
Astrid started a gastronomic revolution that fundamentally changed Peru.
As entrepreneurs, both recognised their social and ecological
responsibility early on: in 2007, they opened the first Peruvian
cooking school with a heavily subsidised and therefore only symbolic
tuition fee in a low-income district of Lima and gave young chefs from
their home country the chance of professional success. The use of
regional products for their extraordinary creations shows a deep
understanding of sustainability, which is not only a sign for Peru,
but also for the worldwide use of resources.
2018 ECKART for Great Culinary Art goes to Christopher Kostow,
St. Helena
Christopher Kostow is the third youngest chef and the second
from the United States to receive three Michelin stars. For Meadowood
he cooked an impressive list of prizes, all of which prove one thing:
He is a master of his craft, which he developed as an autodidact. But
what makes the award-winning chef so special are not the awards, but
the reasons for which he received them: Kostow cooks discerningly,
treats the products carefully and selects only the best for his
extraordinary creations. Traditional combinations meet culinary
inventiveness and are combined with regional products from the Valley
as well as seasonal ingredients grown in the garden and selected by
hand. Kostov’s boundless curiosity in particular enriches his work,
the constantly changing map and the result of his work, which captures
the charm of the Napa Valley.
ECKART 2018 Alumni
Alice Waters opened the first Slow Food restaurant with local
and sustainable products in the USA in 1971 and is Vice President of
Slow Food International. The pioneer in her area founded the “Edible
Schoolyard” program in 1995 with the aim of improving nutrition
education in American schools. Since then, 5,625 school gardens have
been built, through which Waters has introduced students worldwide to
the topic of healthy nutrition and the sustainable use of resources.
The ECKART
The BMW Group and the ECKART Academy
have been partners since 2012. The partnership is based on the common
goal of providing an international stage for healthy nutrition,
sustainable cuisine and the responsible use of resources. Together,
the BMW Group and the ECKART Academy present the Eckart Witzigmann
Prize for outstanding achievements in the categories “Great Culinary
Art”, “Innovation”, “Lifestyle” and “Creative Responsibility”. In
addition, one project of a former prize winner is awarded each year.
The total endowment of €250,000 reflects the reputation and the
importance of the award in the absolute top field of international
culinary awards. On behalf of the BMW Group, the sum is intended to
support social and sustainable projects based on the prize recipients’
proposals. The BMW Group wants to set an example and assume
responsibility with the ECKART. Previous award recipients 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, Tiffany Persons, María Marte, Alain
Ducasse and many others.
Please contact us if you have any questions:
Corporate Communications BMW Group
Julian Hetzenecker, Business and Financial Communications, julian.hetzenecker@bmw.de
Phone: +49 89 382-39229
Internet: www.press.bmw.de
E-Mail: presse@bmw.de
Press Contact
ECKART Academy
Otto Geisel
Lachner-Straße 18
80639 Munich
Phone: +49 89 139 260 26
office@ottogeisel.de
Additional information on the Eckart Witzigmann Awards 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.
The BMW Group production network comprises 30 production and assembly
facilities in 14 countries; the company has a global sales network in
more than 140 countries.
In 2017, the BMW Group sold over 2,463,500 passenger vehicles and
more than 164,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax in the
financial year 2017 was € 10.655 billion on revenues amounting to
€ 98.678 billion. As of 31 December 2017, the BMW Group had a
workforce of 129,932 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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