Joan Roca

Joan Roca (Girona, 1964), chef at the restaurant El Celler de Can Roca, is considered one of the best chefs in the world, with three Michelin stars. El Celler de Can Roca is recognized as the second best restaurant in the world by the British magazine The Restaurant Magazine.

Roca studied at the Girona School of Hospitality Management, where he would later teach. He worked in his grandparents’ and parents’ family restaurants, a diner and a Catalan restaurant, respectively.

Roca runs his own restaurant with his two brothers, Josep and Jordi. The restaurant specializes in Catalan cuisine using cutting-edge techniques. To achieve this, he combines research into modern techniques and innovative applications with traditional dishes. This style of cooking is known as “techno-emotional.”

Some of the culinary techniques they employ include vacuum cooking, perfume cooking, distillation, and the use of smoke as an ingredient in the dish and part of its preparation, among others.

In 2013, Joan Roca, along with his brothers and artist Franc Aleu, created the “gastronomic opera,” a multisensory creation that combines various artistic genres with gastronomy.