Dani García began his time in Switzerland by visiting the Blancpain watch Manufacture located in the Vallée de Joux, accompanied by Alain Delamuraz, Vice-President and Head of Marketing. The Michelin-starred chef thus had an opportunity to discover the brand DNA and his reaction was enthusiastic: “I realize just how complex creating a watch truly is. In my cuisine, I create dishes from around four to five ingredients, whereas a watch movement comprises several hundreds.”

Blancpain remains loyal to its tradition of innovation, as testified by the countless horological complications invented over the years. This same inventive spirit continues to drive the master- watchmakers of the Manufacture. A spirit of creativity that has naturally woven a connection between the watch Maison and the Art of Living, as Alain Delamuraz pointed out: “Today, partnerships between watchmaking and the Art of Living are fashionable, but the Manufacture has been part of this world for more than 30 years.” Among the highlights of this relationship, Blancpain presented Frédy Girardet with a specially engraved watch when he was named “World’s Best Chef” in 1986. Three years later, the watch brand confirmed its commitment in similar fashion when the Swiss chef, along with Paul Bocuse and Joël Robuchon, were named “Chefs of the Century” by the famous Gault&Millau gourmet guide. These engraved watches celebrated the common denominators between the two worlds: a quest for excellence, passionate enthusiasm, expertise, precision, sureness of touch and meticulous craftwork. Ever since, Blancpain has nurtured special relationships with the the great names of haute cuisine, with over 100 Michelin stars studded around its circle of friends that includes Joël Robuchon and the young Andalusian chef Dani García.

Two stellar evenings

The ongoing friendship between chef Dani García and Blancpain was showcased at two stellar evening events organized in partnership with the Fairmont Le Montreux Palace as well as the Tourbillon boutique located in the establishment. On this occasion, Alain Delamuraz, Vice- President and Head of Marketing, Antonio Lopez, Vice-President and Head of Finance, HR & Administration, as well as Michael Smithuis, General Manager of Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, hosted a number of friends of the brand as well as representatives of the press. Guests enjoyed the opportunity to sample the gourmet world explored by the Spanish chef through a six-course menu inspired by Andalusian flavors. Notably featuring caviar with cauliflower, green asparagus and dill mousse, as well as Spanish anchovies, black truffle and fragrant flower emulsion, the dishes were skilfully prepared in the hotel kitchens by Dani García, wearing his trusty Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Chronographe Flyback.

Dani García’s career

After training at the Malaga Catering School, Dani García served his apprenticeship in the restaurant of Martín Berasategui. He then went on in 1998 to open Tragabuches, his first restaurant, in Ronda, which earned him his first Michelin star just two years afterwards. He was one of the first to use liquid nitrogen in the kitchen, along with Ferrán Adriá. This innovation won him the "Technical Award of the Year" in 2005, along with Raimundo García del Moral (a professor at the University of Granada), for his collective work in the development of cooking techniques using liquid nitrogen and Gellan gum. In 2014, he and an associate opened two new restaurants in the Puente Romano Beach Resort & Spa, Marbella. The first, Calima, is a Relais & Chateaux establishment, that not only enabled him to maintain his two Michelin-star rating, but also earned him three “Repsol Guide suns”. He defines his second restaurant, BiBo, as “the democratization of haute cuisine”. It involves a more informal concept that has also been picked up at another eponymous restaurant opened in August 2016 in Madrid. That same year, Dani García hosted at his Puente Romano Beach Resort & Spa in Marbella the third edition of the major "A 4 Manos" gastronomy event. During this congress, 18 of the world’s most prestigious chefs worked together in celebrating the cuisine of the 2016 guest of honor Joël Robuchon. In addition, this Michelin-starred Andalusian chef has just opened a third restaurant in 2017 in the town of Marbella, called "Lobito De Mar" and entirely dedicated to the maritime world.

Dani García’s culinary approach features an original mix of contrasts that combines traditional and contemporary flavors of Andalusian gastronomy, starring the cold and heat of nitrogen, along with broths, reductions and a whole wealth of textures and techniques. These atypical combinations highlight the chef’s great creativity with regards to haute cuisine.