Estrella Damm is proud to announce the return of its acclaimed Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress. The 2025 edition, Celebrating 10 years of Disfrutar, will take place on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at Dua Miami in Brickell, bringing together leading culinary voices for a rare and intimate dialogue. Headlining the program is Chef Eduard Xatruch, who founded Disfrutar with fellow chefs Oriol Castro and Mateu Casañas. Their Barcelona restaurant was named World’s No. 1 in 2024 by The World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards and holds three Michelin stars. In Miami, Xatruch alone will represent the team, sharing the story of Disfrutar’s rise and offering insight into the creativity and precision that define the world’s best restaurant.
Since its start in 2014, the Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress has traveled through cities like London, Melbourne, Lisbon, and Montreal, bringing together many of the world’s most influential chefs to exchange ideas and advance the craft. Along the way, its stage has featured culinary icons such as Ferran Adrià, Joan Roca, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Virgilio Martínez, and Henrique Sá Pessoa.
The last Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress in Miami was in 2018, welcoming 350 guests and headlined by Joan Roca. This year, Chef Eduard Xatruch will join Miami’s chefs and industry leaders to build on that legacy, focusing on how collaboration and creativity can drive innovation, tackle challenges, and continue moving gastronomy forward.
“Bringing the Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress back to Miami with Chef Eduard Xatruch marks an important milestone for our brand,” said Marjanne Kalf, Miami Market Manager for Estrella Damm. “Estrella Damm is brewed at the highest quality standards using the best ingredients allowing us to work with and support the hospitality industry. Disfrutar represents the very highest standard of what is possible in dining today, and Miami is the perfect city to host a conversation about what comes next.”
A Rare Glimpse Into the World’s Best
In just ten years, Disfrutar has grown from an ambitious idea into one of the most influential restaurants in the world. Its climb to the No. 1 spot is rooted in careful discipline, technical precision, and a spirit of constant creative tension. Three visionary chefs, partners and artistic equals, have sustained this momentum under one roof. Now, Chef Eduard Xatruch brings Miami a rare opportunity to reflect on the principles that shaped their ascent.
At the Congress, Chef Xatruch will lead a presentation exploring Disfrutar’s ten-year journey, from its beginnings in Barcelona to becoming the world’s best. His talk will set the tone for a moderated Q&A with Miami chefs and industry leaders, opening a conversation about how creativity, rigor, and collaboration shape the future of gastronomy.
“Sharing our journey is about more than recounting milestones,” said Chef Eduard Xatruch. “It is about opening windows to possibilities. At Disfrutar, we believe creativity grows from dialogue, from questioning our own limits, and from the perseverance to keep pushing forward. Coming to Miami is not just about presenting our story, but about joining a city with its own dynamic culinary voice.”
The Congress will highlight Miami’s own culinary titans through a panel discussion featuring Chef Eduardo Lara (Wolf of Tacos), Chef Alejandra Espinoza (Cotoa), and Chef José Mendín (Pubbelly Sushi). Together they represent a cross-section of talent, from Espinoza’s perspective as a powerful female chef, to Mendín’s 15-year legacy with Pubbelly, to Lara’s rapid rise as Miami’s “real Wolf of Tacos.” Following the discussion, these chefs will join others including Chef Guillermo Perez Eleicegui (Ossobuco), Diego Oka (La Mar), Chef Victor Rosado (Quink Culinary Firm) and Jhonny Delgado Richard Ortega (To Be Determined Restaurant) and Chef Ahmad Aleikish (Ahumar at Dua Brickell) at a celebratory reception showcasing the diversity and strength of Miami’s dining scene.
Film Screening: Blank Plate: Creating the Best Restaurant in the World
The program opens with the exclusive Miami screening of Blank Plate: Creating the Best Restaurant in the World, the official documentary on Disfrutar produced by ABACUS. Known in Spanish as Plato en Blanco, the film premiered in May 2025 and has been shown only at select food and film festivals worldwide. It follows the journey of Disfrutar and its three chefs, Eduard Xatruch, Oriol Castro, and Mateu Casañas, capturing the discipline, sacrifice, and imagination that turned ambition into the pinnacle of achievement. The film conveys what sociologists call “collective effervescence,” portraying not just the science of fine dining but the passion that sustains it.
An Exclusive Invitation
The Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress has traditionally been invitation-only, reserved for chefs, restaurateurs, and industry leaders. This year, for the first time, a limited number of VIP tickets will be available to the public. The Congress will extend beyond its traditional guest list, giving the public a chance to experience it firsthand. These tickets include access to the documentary screening, Chef Xatruch’s presentation, the Q&A, and the rooftop reception at Dua Miami. Availability is extremely limited. [link] total price of $175 per person inclusive of taxes.
Estrella Damm has partnered with FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, affirming its support for the future of hospitality and the culinary arts by giving students the chance to participate in the Congress and to compete for access to the program and its evening events.
Dua Miami: Proud Host in Brickell
As the venue and co-host, Dua Miami, Autograph Collection, will welcome guests to its spaces in Brickell. “Partnering to host the Estrella Damm Gastronomy Congress reflects exactly what Dua Miami stands for,” said Alan Di Leo, General Manager of Dua Miami Brickell. “Brickell has become one of Miami’s most dynamic dining neighborhoods, and our hotel is proud to be part of that story. This event is the perfect setting that encourages connection and creativity, and we are delighted to provide the space for those conversations to thrive.”
ABOUT ESTRELLA DAMM
The Mediterranean Beer: Since 1876, Estrella Damm has been synonymous with Barcelona, its taste infused with the city’s unique cultural expression of food, art, and Mediterranean pace of life. 149 years ago, a young August K. Damm emigrated from Alsace to escape the Franco-Prussian war. The journey took him to the Mediterranean to realize his dreams of doing what he did best: brewing beer. In 1876 he established his own brewery, having crafted a distinctive and evolved beer, suitable for warmer climates, so different to existing central European beers: The Mediterranean Lager. To this day, Estrella Damm is brewed using the original 1876 recipe and only the best 100% natural ingredients: barley malt, rice and hops. The quality of our ingredients is of the utmost importance and as such, we work closely with local Mediterranean farmers, supplying them with our carefully selected pure seed varieties. Our yeast is unique and it is stored under high security measures and our malt is processed to the strictest standards in our own malthouse, La Moravia. It takes a minimum of 3 weeks for Estrella Damm to complete the fermentation and production process. This level of care and attention has been recognized through acclaim and numerous awards won across the globe. Issues such an Oxidation and Microbiological Contamination are overcome by using the most modern packaging technology. And our can and brown bottle protects against ultraviolet radiation, this combined with appropriate cold storage ensures that the beer can be enjoyed as was intended: Mediterráneamente. Visit EstrellaDamm.com to learn more.
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