50 Best judge in Spain
A two‑star Michelin chef has been announced to judge the dish of a young finalist in the Cordon Bleu Prize — and the chef is linked to the World’s 50 Best 'Discovery' network, showing the brand’s reach beyond its flagship ranking. (granadahoy.com)
Paco Roncero, the Madrid chef behind a two-Michelin-star restaurant in the 50 Best Discovery network, is presiding over the jury for Le Cordon Bleu Madrid’s 2026 young-chef final. (granadahoy.com) The final of the XIV Premio Promesas de la Alta Cocina is set for April 14 in Madrid, where 10 students from 8 Spanish provinces and 10 schools will cook for the top prize. Two study scholarships worth more than €24,000 and €9,000 are on offer, and the winning school also receives €1,500. (prnoticias.com) One of those finalists is Óscar Moreno Gutiérrez of CFP La Inmaculada in Granada, who reached the last round after a five-minute video-recipe stage built around stuffed quail, pommes soufflées, sauce and a free-choice garnish. Public voting on Facebook was added to the professional assessment in the selection phase. (granadahoy.com) (prnoticias.com) Roncero’s presence puts one of Spain’s best-known fine-dining names at the center of a student competition that Le Cordon Bleu has used for more than a decade to spot young talent. The school said past jury presidents have included Joan Roca, Martín Berasategui, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Diego Guerrero, Jesús Sánchez, Nacho Manzano and Eduard Xatruch. (prnoticias.com) The 50 Best link comes through Roncero’s restaurant in Madrid, which is listed in 50 Best Discovery, the extended guide run by the organization behind The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Michelin’s 2026 guide also lists Paco Roncero with two stars. (theworlds50best.com) (guide.michelin.com) The rest of the main jury also ties the contest to Spain’s upper tier of restaurant cooking. Le Cordon Bleu said Roncero will be joined by Rafael de Bedoya, the Jerez-born chef at Aleia in Barcelona, and Adrián Delgado, gastronomy director at SpainMedia. (granadahoy.com) Aleia is listed by Michelin with two stars in the 2026 Spain guide, and the restaurant says De Bedoya leads a menu built around Andalusian roots and Mediterranean produce. Le Cordon Bleu also counts him among its alumni who retained Michelin stars in the 2025 guide cycle. (guide.michelin.com) (aleiarestaurant.com) (cordonbleu.edu) For Le Cordon Bleu Madrid, that closes a familiar loop: a former Premio Promesas winner, De Bedoya, returns as a judge alongside Roncero, while a new class of finalists cooks for scholarships and a foothold in Spain’s restaurant pipeline. (granadahoy.com)
