"Raised in Canada, the son of Catalan emigres, chef Jordi Artal spent 10 years working in Silicon Valley before returning to his ancestral home and teaching himself to cook. He has since been awarded two Michelin stars at Cinc Sentits, the restaurant he opened in 2004 with the help of his mother and sister. A pioneer of the Catalan slow food movement, Artal works exclusively with locally sourced meat and seafood and organic, seasonal and local fruit and vegetables. His food pays homage to great produce, like in the 'sardinada,' simple sardines and tomatoes celebrated in a pair of dishes: first a torched sardine atop fermented, long-braised tomatoes and bread; then, a hollowed-out tomato stuffed with tomato tartare and tomato sorbet and decorated with garlic flowers. This is simplicity with a two-Michelin-star twist." - Isabelle Kliger