Spanish chef, Francesc Rovira Canudas, from the Michelin-starred ?La Fonda Xesc? in the Catalan Pyrenees, is set to delight diners at InterContinental Bali Resort over three days in November 2017 with a series of gourmet dinners and an exclusive cooking class.
Born into a farming family, Francesc Rovira was taught how to cook at a very young age by his mother so that he could help out at the family-owned village inn, ?La Fonda?, an 18th century building in the small village of Gombrèn, specialising in traditional Catalan cuisine. This early exposure to restaurant life inspired him to enrol at the ?Escola d?Hosteleria? culinary academy in Barcelona. After this, Francesc worked in a number of prestigious restaurants alongside many famous chefs, most notably the late Santi Santamaria, a leading figure in the huge boom in Catalan cuisine over the past 20 years, and the first Catalan to be awarded three Michelin stars. Santamaria was a major influence on Chef Francesc?s own passionate adherence to locally sourced traditional Catalan cuisine, and the simple preparation of organic seasonal ingredients, which is at odds with the high-tech molecular style of cooking that has also come out of Catalonia. Francesc returned to La Fonda and began introducing new dishes while the kitchen was still in the hands of his mother. He and his sister later took over and elevated the village inn into an acclaimed restaurant, which was awarded a Michelin star in 2009. Here, authentic, rural, farm...