ECKART 2012 – Award ceremony at BMW Museum

Followed by gala dinner at BMW Welt: 12 chefs – 22 stars – 6 dialogues

Munich.The ECKART 2012 was awarded on Monday evening at the BMW Museum. From this year on, the International Eckart Witzigmann Award, which has been presented since 2004, will be known by its founder’s first name, ECKART. This year, it was presented for the first time in cooperation with the BMW Group. The jury of the International Eckart Witzigmann Award Society announced the winners of the ECKART 2012 on 3 September, honouring their outstanding achievements in the culinary arts. The three award winners are Shalom Kadosh, Andoni Luis Aduriz and Peter Kubelka.

Shalom Kadosh, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, received the International Eckart Witzigmann Award for Cuisine 2012. Shalom Kadosh works with great passion in Israel, which numbers among the countries with the most diverse cuisine, bringing together influences from 70 cultures. His dream is to create peace with good food. Andoni Luis Aduriz, San Sebastian, was presented with the International Eckart Witzigmann Award for Innovation 2012. Andoni Luis Aduriz is considered one of the best avant-garde chefs. He uses the achievements of modern technology to his advantage in his cuisine in a most impressive way. He is also renowned for his sensitive handling of herbs and vegetables. Peter Kubelka, Vienna, received the International Eckart Witzigmann Award for Lifestyle 2012. Peter Kubelka, the Austrian experimental filmmaker and artist, is the first person to have specifically taught cooking at an art academy as an art. For him, cookery is the oldest fine art of all.

The award ceremony opened with a welcome from Eckart Witzigmann and Friedrich Eichiner, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Finance. Yesterday evening’s event was a very special premiere for the BMW Welt, the BMW Group’s delivery and experience centre: For the ECKART 2012 award ceremony’s gala dinner, the auditorium was transformed into a first-class restaurant. Twelve top international chefs created a refined six-course menu exclusively for the evening. With 22 Michelin stars between them, the chefs included: Andoni Luis Aduriz, Jonnie Boer, Thomas Bühner, Martin Fauster, Tanja Grandits, Hans Haas, Marc Haeberlin, Shalom Kadosh, Claus-Peter Lumpp, Tohru Nakamura, Jörg Sackmann and Harald Wohlfahrt. The menu can be viewed on the ECKART website: http://www.eckart-witzigmann-preis.de/news/

Eckart Witzigmann emphasised the responsibility of gourmet cuisine today: “In recent years, many people have come to realise how important food is. It matters where products come from and how they are prepared. The quality of the products and their preparation is essential to their taste – and, not least, to the wellbeing of people and nature. As chefs, we have considerable skill in this area, as well as a significant responsibility.”

Dr. Friedrich Eichiner welcomed the fact that the ECKART will have scientific support in the future. The expert symposium held in September focused on quality sustainable food at the workplace – a topic which is also important for the BMW Group with its more than 100,000 employees. The first results of the symposium included theses on the “canteen of the future”, written by students at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University under the direction of Prof. Sabine Woydt. The results can also be found on the ECKART website: http://www.eckart-witzigmann-preis.de/news/

If you have any questions, please contact:

BMW Group Corporate Communications

Martina Napoleone, Business and Financial Communications, Marketing
Martina.Napoleone@bmw.de

Telephone: +49 89 382-14908, Fax: +49 89 382-24418

Alexander Bilgeri, Head of Business, Financial and Sustainability Communications

Alexander.Bilgeri@bmw.de

Telephone: +49 89 382-24544, Fax: +49 89 382-24418

Media website: www.press.bmwgroup.com

Email: presse@bmw.de

Press contact for International Eckart Witzigmann Award Society:

Rainer Knubben

Verlag für Kunst und Lebenskultur

Blumenstraße 9  in  73630 Remshalden

07151/9948530   / rainer.knubben@rainerknubben.com

Photos: rainerkwiotek, fotografie [mail@rainerkwiotek.de]

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