Labar and Lua Bistro are the winners of the Gastronomic Restaurants Incubator by Culinary Action!
Labar, the gastronomic proposal by Ander Ausin and Ainara Etxeberria, under the slogan "atzokoa, gaurkoa" ("yesterday, today") will offer a classic recipe book of recognizable dishes to be shared and enjoyed in a new gastronomic space in the historically restored building of the Casino de Deba, has been selected as the idea that has progressed the most in the Gastronomic Restaurants Incubator of Euskadi, the initiative of Culinary Action!
Meanwhile, Lua Bistro, by Lucía Rave and Aarón Castillo, a gastronomic proposal based on the use of raw materials and resources through a restaurant, has been chosen as the most innovative idea of the incubation program.
Ander López, responsible for entrepreneurship at the Basque Culinary Center, highlighted the level of the projects and explained that "we have tried to cover all the areas that play a key role in the process of creating a restaurant."
In 2022, the first edition of the Euskadi Restaurant Incubator chose Soto del Prior, the gastronomic proposal by Carlos Jordán Lasheras, as the idea that progressed the most in the Incubator. Meanwhile, the Kiska project by the brothers Andoni, Julen, and Xabi Pérez Cuadrado was chosen as the most innovative idea in the incubation program. Also present at the final in Donostia-San Sebastián were My Private Chef by José Ignacio Apostegui de la Torre, Vardul Gastrobeer by Ignacio Aguirre, Muy top by Pablo Odriozola, Bihurri (Miniature Cuisine) by Itoiz Urreta, and Kalejira Gastroteka by David Estévez and David Martín.
The "demo day" held on November 29 at LABe–Digital Gastronomy Lab in Donostia-San Sebastián was a day in which each participant presented and defended their project before a panel of experts. Carlos Jordán from the Soto del Prior restaurant, chosen as the project that progressed the most in the first edition of the Restaurant Incubator in 2022, shared his experience and trajectory in the program with the attendees, emphasizing that "Culinary Action! is the best opportunity you will have to develop your business. This is more than education; it's an ecosystem, and you have to draw from everything."
Labar and Lua Bistro, the winning projects of this edition, were selected by a jury composed of Ander López Delgado, responsible for entrepreneurship at the Basque Culinary Center; Aitzol Zugasti, AZ Gastronomia; Mentzia Otxoa de Zuazola, director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Hazi Fundazioa; Ramón Gómez, corporate director of Onnera Group; and Asier Mijangos, market manager of the northern area of Mahou San Miguel.
Additionally, during the process, they had the entrepreneurial expertise of Culinary Action! and the entire Basque Culinary Center ecosystem, as well as the support provided by collaborators and other institutional partners such as the Association of Hospitality Entrepreneurs of Gipuzkoa and AgroBank through different services. It's worth mentioning the support in advice and equipment from La Salve, which provided €1,500 in personalized mentoring, as well as Araven, which made an economic contribution of up to €2,000 in advice and equipment. Similarly, Fagor Professional provided the two winning proposals with an economic contribution of €2,500 and also offered mentoring for the design and development of their projects. Lastly, tSpoonLab donated a one-month trial of the restaurant management software for each participant.
Previously, for 9 weeks, the participants were able to train in various areas such as marketing, sales, finance, and management through weekly mentoring sessions with sector experts, including professionals such as Aitor Elizegi (Bascook), Eduardo Serrano (ESMA), Romina Afonso (PerretxiCo), Mariasun Ibarrondo (Boroa Restaurant), Enrique Fleischmann (Fleischmann’s cooking group), Gonzalo Parras (Basque Culinary Center), Paulo Airaudo (Amelia Restaurant), Aitor Arregi (Elkano Restaurant), Manuel Rodríguez (Araven), Ibon Leunda (Gipuzkoa Hospitality Association), Felipe Ruiz (TspoonLab), Naiara López (Elkargi), Asier Mijangos (Mahou), and Julio Cerezo (SABEER).
Culinary Action! aims to empower entrepreneurial talent by developing new proposals that reinforce the innovative character of the territory. The Gastronomic Restaurants Incubator has the institutional support of the Department of Economic Development, Sustainability, and the Environment of the Basque Government, the Association of Hospitality Entrepreneurs of Gipuzkoa, and the collaboration of La Salve and Araven. Culinary Action! is the gastronomic entrepreneurship program of the Basque Culinary Center and Hazi, framed within The Food Global Ecosystem. Culinary Action! is part of the lines of action and initiatives that will be developed in GOe (Gastronomy Open Ecosystem).
Participants
The participating ideas and projects were: El Point, by Edgard Bastidas, provides a high-quality fast food option in Bilbao, focusing on customer satisfaction and a variety of available options. Ander Ausin and Ainara Etxeberria, both alumni of the Master's in Innovation and Restaurant Management at Basque Culinary Center, have created Labar, a restaurant with classic origins in Deba but contemporary in both its food and service execution. Meanwhile, the Talo Ega Crepe project, by Anastasia Orlova, offers a project that combines talo and crepe to create tasty, quick, and accessible dishes.
Chef Jon Gil, with Azala, aims to highlight the ancient culture and gastronomy of our ancestors in a 19th-century farmhouse with roots and traditional nuances in both the decoration and more avant-garde cuisine with traditional products from the Alava area and the Aiala Valley. Finally, Lucia Rave Guerrero and Aarón Castillo Telleria with the Lua project propose a gastronomic proposal based on the use of raw materials and their discards. They propose a restaurant and market where they will offer a menu of meals, appetizers, and dinners, designed based on seasonal products.