In September 19th, USMEF offered a dinner to a group of selected Spanish meat wholesalers with the kind presence of U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Mr. Krhrisna Urs and the Agricultural Counselor Ms. Rachel Brickyard. USMEF´s private dinner was held at the flagship store of PURIFICACIÓN GARCÍA in Madrid.
The dinner has been an excellent occasion to thank Spanish traders for their continued efforts to promote U.S. beef and to build closer relations with them. A good exchange of information took place during the dinner, where the wholesalers were updated about trade trends and U.S. production and supply for the coming months.
A special menu with different U.S. beef cuts prepared by chef Byron Hogan, chef to the U.S. Ambassador in Madrid. A selection of US wines, including some red and white California wines, was kindly offered by Castillo de Perelada.
This dinner was part of a bigger event organised by the Spanish NGO (Acción Contra el Hambre) in order to raise funds for different charity actions around the world. 17 top Michelin star chefs offered special menus in different luxury fashion stores in Madrid, where U.S. beef was protagonist.
Eleven out of seventeen of these celebrity chefs included U.S. beef in their menus and showed great interest in purchasing for their respective restaurants. All of them had previously received a carton box with selected prime US beef cuts. This 17-restaurant event, called Madrid Soul Food Nights, that took place for the 4th time, has had massive printed and online media coverage in previous occasions, what undoubtedly will help promote and push U.S. beef into the Spanish market.
The participating chefs at Soul Food Nights were the following:
- Ricardo Sanz (*** Michelin Kabuki Wellington, Kabuki Abama, Kabuki Raw, Kabuki Pte. Carmona)
- Paco Roncero (**Michelin, La Terraza del Casino)
- Óscar Velasco (**Michelin, Santceloni)
- María Marte (** Michelin, El Club Allard)
- Manolo de la Osa (* Michelin, Las Rejas)
- Iván Muñoz (* Michelin, Chirón)
- Iñigo Lavado (Iñigo Lavado)
- Luis Arévalo (Kena)
- Juanjo López Bedmar (La Tasquita de Enfrente)
- Javier Estévez (La Tasquería)
- Jesús Almagro (Canseco y Mesteño)
- Joaquín Felipe (Florida Park)
- Estanis Carenzo (Sudestada)
- Juan Antonio Medina (A´Barra)
- Andrea Tumbarello (Don Giovanni)
- Pedro Larumbe (38 del Larumbe)
- David García (Corral de la Morería)
- Byron Hogan (US Embassy)