Martin Berasetegui, Master Chef

We are honored to have Chef Martín Berasategui join us as a CCILU 2017 Ambassador, as his journey is the embodiment of our core belief that liberation of the spirit sets the course for progress on all fronts.

Chef Martín is a Basque chef and owner of an eponymous restaurant in Lasarte-Oria (Gipuzkoa), Spain, which has been awarded three Michelin stars since 2001. He holds eight stars in total, more than any other Spanish chef. He also has earned 17 Diamonds from the AAA (American Automobile Association).

“My parents fought very hard to get me to dedicate myself toward another occupation, because this life has always required great sacrifice,” says Chef Martín, who, at the age of 14, began to work in his family's restaurant, Bodegón Alejandro, in Donostia-San Sebastián, the capital of Spain’s Basque province. “But the ‘poison’ of the kitchen was already in my blood and all I wanted to do was cook.”

And cook, he has. Chef Martín opened his eponymous restaurant in Lasarte-Oria (outside San Sebastián) in 1993. It was awarded its third Michelin star in the 2001 Michelin Guide. The restaurant was voted 29th Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant (magazine) in both 2008 and 2011.

“I am very proud to be one of CCILU’s 2017 Ambassadors,” he says. “This campaign demonstrates our shared philosophy that we achieve excellence through perseverance. Our attitude, innovation, ethics and our work in the field help us achieve our aims, and it happens more quickly when we do it together. Additionally, his restaurant, Lasarte, in Barcelona, received its third Michelin star in the 2017 guide.”