This Sunday, the Sequial 20 restaurant in Sueca (Valencia) won first prize in the 62nd edition of the Sueca International Paella Valenciana Contest, which included the participation of 45 chefs from 16 countries.
The award credits the winner - in this case chef Juan José San Bartolomé Grau and his assistant Daniel Jesús Vidal Ortells Ripoll - as the author of the 'best paella in the world' and means that after thirteen years the first prize will once again remain in the municipality that hosts this international contest, sources from the organization have reported.
The Sequial 20 Restaurant in Sueca has collected the first prize, worth 2,500 euros and a commemorative scroll; the PaellaGuys Restaurant in Vancouver (Canada) has achieved the second, with 1,500 euros and parchment; and the Bon Aire Restaurant, in El Palmar (Valencia), which won the contest in 2018, took third, with 1,000 euros and parchment.
"We never get a paella that is the same as the other, cut and paste doesn't exist here," said the winning chef of the contest, Juan José San Bartolomé, who expressed his pride at having won the award and his happiness that the prize has stayed in a place in Sueca.
His assistant, Daniel Vidal, has assured that "there are no secrets" to making the best paella in the world, but rather "practice" and "not giving up", so you have to cook "again and again" without giving up, because how many "The more you do, the better you get."
The 62nd Valencian Sueca International Paella Competition, affiliated to the gastronomic brand L'Exquisit Mediterrani, and with the collaboration of the Provincial Tourism Board, Valencia Turisme, has had a great turnout of visitors, who have filled the Paseo de la Estación to see the participants.
Regarding the award for the best paella cooked by a restaurant nationwide, the award went to Los Reyes Restaurant in Malaga, and the award for the best paella cooked by a restaurant in the Valencian Community went to Restaurante Paco Santa Pola Dance (Alicante).
The award for the best paella cooked by a restaurant in Sueca went to the Galiana Restaurant, and the award for the best paella cooked by a restaurant outside of Spain went to Paella loca_personal chef Sofía, from Sacile (Italy).
The mayor of Sueca, Dimas Vázquez, has assured that they feel "truly privileged" to be able to experience this event in first person and has been "very proud" that the name of the city is "forever linked to excellence, professionalism and the defense of our culture".
In the section on awards such as Paelleros de Honor, the organization has recognized the "vital role" played for the whole of society by workers in the primary sector, people who work in agriculture and livestock, since without them "it would be impossible" holding events like this contest.
The decorative paella, the work of Teresa Roig, who presides every year at the entrance to the room where the awards are presented, has been dedicated to the triumph of the women's soccer team in the world championship and to what this important feat symbolizes for the women in sports, according to the same sources
