- Jordi Cruz, MasterChef’s judge, also gets its first Michelin star at ‘Atempo’. The chef now has a total of six Michelin stars
‘MasterChef’ changes lives. A phrase that today is stronger than ever. Carlos Maldonado, winner of the third edition of the culinary talent produced by Shine Iberia A Banijay Company, has obtained the first Michelin star for his restaurant ‘Raíces’, in Talavera de la Reina. In addition to this award received at the 2021 Michelin Gala, he won the Sol Repsol in 2019.
Carlos Maldonado always knew that gastronomy was his passion. And today he can say loud and clear that he is the first MasterChef candidate to be awarded a Michelin star. Thanks to his victory in the third edition of the world’s toughest culinary talent, the Talavera chef was able to take the big leap in his training in the world of gastronomy by studying the Master’s Degree in Cooking, Technique and Product at the prestigious Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastian. From then on, he always had his formula clear: “work and dedication in the kitchen”.
His contact with television continued, always linked to Shine Iberia, with the programmes ‘Cocineros al volante’, where he travelled around Spain in a ‘foodtruck’, and ‘Cena con Mamá’, where he acted as presenter and culinary advisor. All this alternated with different interventions in later editions of ‘MasterChef’.
Atempo’, by Jordi Cruz, first Michelin star
At the Michelin 2021 Gala not only Carlos Maldonado has received good news. ‘Atempo’, a proposal by Jordi Cruz, created by the chef Ignacio Aldrey, has also obtained its first Michelin star. This new star joins those he already had: 3 in ‘ABaC’ and 2 in ‘Angle’. This is a new great recognition for Jordi Cruz, the ‘MasterChef’ judge member, who already has 6 Michelin stars.
The awards given by Carlos Maldonado and Jordi Cruz confirm that ‘MasterChef’ is much more than a talent cooking show. MasterChef’ is the perfect mixture of quality entertainment with the passion for the gastronomic dissemination so well explained edition after edition by the judges Pepe Rodríguez, Samantha Vallejo-Nágera and Jordi Cruz, always accompanied by a careful selection of the best chefs of our country. The category of the format is beyond all doubt. MasterChef’ continues to grow and achieve goals, inside and outside the screen.