Marco Bahena
Hometown: Vernon Hills, IL Current Job: Teaching Assistant at Kendall College The Lowdown: Marco Bahena is a recent graduate of Kendall College in Chicago, Illinois, where he pursued a Culinary Bachelor of Arts. Over the course of his studies, he learned on the job at The Peninsula Hotel Chicago, where he had a six-month stage. Marco is also an active participant in competition cooking, winning contests at Chicago’s Greenmarket and regional awards in the San Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef competition regionals. He was also chosen as a U.S. representative for the International Student Tapas competition in Valladolid. Favorite Meal. Ever: Hands down, the tasting menu at WD-50. The menu was innovative, playful and of course delicious. The passion fruit filled foie gras with celery was my favorite course of that dinner. Every bite brought an almost giggling smile to my face, I loved it. First Thing He’ll Eat in Basque Country: Jamón ibérico. Love it, miss it, can’t wait to eat it. More Marco: |
Category : BasqueStage, Winners
Category : Winners
We’ve got the lowdown on the winners of the II Sammic Scholarship by BasqueStage coming your way soon. To whet your appetites until then, we present the videos the winning candidates, Marco Bahena and Cameron Rolka, that helped them garner the prestigious scholarship. They will be joining the team at Martín Berasategui in July, and you’ll be able to follow their every dice, slice and chop. For now, though, check out these awesome videos!
marco bahena:::
cameron rolka:::
Category : BasqueStage, Sammic Scholarship, Winners
Congratulations, to already announced winner Marco Bahena and our latest winner, Cameron Rolka!
Due to a scheduling conflict with our previously announced winner, Jane Tran, we had the pleasure of nominating Cameron Rolka for the next Sammic scholarship with the BasqueStage project.
Cameron Rolka is finishing his culinary studies at the Art Institute of Portland. He has taken the initiative in putting his education to action– in addition to creating the first student employee position, he assists with cooking classes and moonlighted as a baker, making award-winning baguettes in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
You can get a sneak peek into Cameron’s cooking sensibility at his blog. Marco’s blog, Journeys in Food, can be read here.
Yesterday we unveiled the first half of the jury that has judged the II Sammic BasqueStage winners.
The second half of the jury is made up of three more great chefs, plus one (unmistakable) media personality. Together, they have helped decide the two lucky winners that will be announced later today.
Hilario Arbelaitz
At Zuberoa Restaurant, Hilario Arbelaitz offers a flavoursome, imaginative cuisine with strong contrasts, using the finest local products. Hilario sets out to woo diners with his exquisite creamy dishes and his cuisine might be considered to mark the highest level of gastronomic craftsmanship.
Philippe Labbé
Philippe Labbé is a French chef that cooked at the two-Michelin-star Chevre d’Or before being recruited to Paris last year. He now oversees the dining at the luxurious Shangri-La Hotel, at the restaurants La Bauhinia and L’Abeille. He manages to unite tradition and modernity, respecting local techniques and adapting them in order to create new flavors.
Jean-François Piège
Jean-François Piège is a French chef who used to be at the helm of Les Ambassadeurs in Paris, a two-star Michelin in Hotel Crillon. He has recently opened a 20-seat restaurant to showcase his simple and elegant French cooking above his other eatery, La Brasserie Thoumieux. Michelin awarded his new venture 2 stars within months of his opening.
David de Jorge
David de Jorge is the right hand man of Martín Berasategui and a genuine media beast. He promotes a natural and -in his words- “no-bullshit” cooking style for everyday’s life. He also hosts one of today’s most promising Spanish cooking TV shows, from right behind the Berasategui restaurant.
Also on the jury are Sammic’s Managing and Marketing directors Jon Markina and Amaia Altuna.
Come back later today for the announcement…
Joan Roca. Pedro Subijana. Quique Dacosta.
Besides being celebrities in the culinary field, these chefs share another common thread.
These three star chefs form the first half of the second 2011 Sammic Scholarship. They have helped decide which two lucky winners get an all-expense paid stage at Martín Berasategui’s restaurant in Lasarte, Spain.
Joan Roca
Joan Roca is head chef at El Celler de Can Roca, the restaurant in Catalunya currently ranked number two in the world. He and his brothers founded the restaurant, which is in Girona, Spain, in 1986. They create a cuisine based in nostalgia, childhood aromas and flavors, but very much of today.
Pedro Subijana
Student of the renowned master of chefs Luis Irizar, Pedro Subijana has created a restaurant in San Sebastián, Akelarre, that has been endowed with highest honors by prestigious gastronomic guides. He is recognized as a s culinary master, by audiences around the world. He also has a prolific television career, having recorded more than 1400 shows since 1992.
Quique Dacosta
Quique Dacosta’s restaurant, of the same name, is located in Denia, near Valencia, and boasts two Michelin stars. Dacosta is a widely-recognized and rewarded Spanish chef, with national and international culinary accolades under his belt, including chef of the year by Lo Mejor de la Gastronomia.
The announcement, coming tomorrow, will be made from Restaurant Martín Berasategui, by chef himself. Stay tuned for the big day!
Kaixo!
The selection process for the 2011 Sammic BasqueStage is nearly finished. Candidates labored over applications, sending us resumes, essays, and even creating a cooking video to show us a bit about their personalities and show off their abilities.
The announcement will be made by Chef Martin Berasategui on Wednesday, May 11. Stay tuned for more details!
While we pore over all the materials, you, reader, can do your own opinion-forming.
These cooking videos made by this year’s candidates are available to the public for viewing, and they are quite entertaining! View them for yourself on our website. Warning: probably not the best idea if you are starving…these videos contain a high proportion of delicious dishes, from tuna tartare to braised meats. Get some gastronomic inspiration today, courtesy of our BasqueStage candidates.
And decide who you think should be the next lucky stagiere in kitchen Martin Berasategui.
Less than one week remains until the April 15 deadline for entries in the 2nd Sammic BasqueStage.
As you probably already know, it’s an unbeatable opportunity for America’s brightest young chefs to win a six month paid stage in Restaurant Martín Berasategui, located in Lasarte, Basque Country, Spain.
Now’s the time to forward the opportunity, and meanwhile we would like to answer a few questions we’ve gotten from upcoming candidates.
Q: Who is behind BasqueStage?
A: The BasqueStage scholarship is a collaboration between Sammic, a European company that manufactures equipment for professional kitchens, and Martín Berasategui, one of the most renowned chefs in the world with seven Michelin stars to his name.
Q: Why isn’t my candidacy showing up on the website?
A: This year’s candidacies, visible here, do not represent all of our applicants. Your candidacy is NOT VISIBLE until you upload your video (in addition to the other required documents). The deadline of April 15 is when the majority of our candidates become visible.
Q: Do I have to make a video? Why?
A: Yes, you have to make a video. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, though. It just needs to show our judges your personality, culinary prowess, and communication abilities.
Q: Can I turn in my application materials in Spanish?
A: You can. However, there is no advantage to doing so. And, as the blog is an important component of the scholarship, we need to see that you can write well in English.
So, feel free to email us at info (at) basquestage (dot) come with any other questions you have. We look forward to seeing your applications and videos!
Category : BasqueStage, Registration, Sammic Scholarship, Selection Process
The second round of BasqueStage opened to applications last week, and the interest shown has been incredible. We are receiving the first wave of candidate applications as we speak. You will be able to keep up with the applicants just like last year on our webpage, www.basquestage.com. The first step to applying is registering your basic information: name, email and the like. Then, you must submit your resumé and an essay. The last step is filming a video that shows us your communication skills and personality. It is only after THIS video is uploaded that your name will be visible on the Candidate section of our website. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date on the recent developments, too.
So remember: your candidacy will not show up on the Candidate List until you submit both registration AND video. But don’t worry, we have your information and you are registered. So get filming!
Category : Sammic Scholarship
We’ve been going on and on about the Basque stages, and the incredible experiences they’re having here in Basque Country and in chef Martin Berasategui’s kitchen. But it’s time for a quick briefing for anyone who is curious to know more about the program.
The Basque Stage scholarship is a unique, experimental exchange in which two young American culinary professionals are invited to stage (kitchen talk for ‘intern’) with all their expenses paid in a three-star restaurant in Basque Country, Spain. During their six months at Martin Berasategui’s flagship restaurant in Lasarte, just outside San Sebastíán, they cook full time and gain experience in a foreign kitchen of the highest caliber. They also chronicle their experiences on their personal BasqueStage blog, an important part of the Scholarship. See what we’re talking about at Tracy and Athena’s blogs.
The BasqueStage Scholarship is a collaboration between Sammic, a European company that manufactures equipment for professional kitchens, and Martin Berasategui, one of the most renowned chefs in the world with over a dozen Michelin stars to his name.
It’s a program that carries on the tradition of nurturing young chefs, which is one of the peculiar characteristics of the culinary community of Basque Country, and one of the principal reasons it is home to more Michelin stars per person than anywhere else in the world. This first edition, which started in January 2011 and running through June, is a collaboration with Michelin-starred, world-acclaimed Chef Martín Berasategui. The stages work at his three-star restaurant in Lasarte, Spain, just outside of San Sebastián in the Basque Region of Spain. The jury that chose the two winners included such culinary luminaries as Daniel Bouloud, Thomas Keller, and Pedro Subijana. BasqueStage winners receive a 6-month, all-expense-paid stage, working under the direction of Chef Berasategui. They also have an instant platform to share their experiences with other chefs and lovers of food, through blog, video and social media.
To keep up with BasqueStage, you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook, in addition to keeping up with blog.
Sign up for our newsletter for the latest in BasqueStage news, in the kitchens at Martin Berasategui, and in Basque Country.
News coming pronto about the next round of BasqueStage competition, so stay close!