Juan Carlos García

Chef at Vandelvira* (Baeza, Jaén, Spain)

Juan Carlos García is committed to haute cuisine, recovering the deep-rooted flavours of his homeland and interpreting the essence of inland Andalusia.

Passing on his love of cooking from his parents, Juan Carlos García studied at the Basque Culinary Centre (his parents ran a restaurant in a Renaissance building in the historic centre of Baeza) and then trained in the kitchens of Azurmendi and the Adrià brothers' 41st Experience. He then travelled to Japan, where he worked at the two-star Narisawa.

He returned to Barcelona, where he continued to work with the Adrià brothers at Hoja Santa and Enigma. In 2020, however, he took a turn in his professional and personal life and decided to return to his hometown of Baeza to start a personal project with his brothers.

In 2022 he reopened Vandelvira Restaurante and in 2023 Juan Carlos was a candidate for chef of the revelation at Madrid Fusion (he came second in the competition).