Carme Ruscalleda is chef-owner of Carme Ruscalleda - Sant Pau S.L. She was born in Sant Pol de Mar in 1952 into a peasant and merchant family who passed on the values of the land and "Kilometer Zero" cuisine to her. With artistic inclinations, from an early age she was attracted to cooking, but agreed to study commercial trade and train as a butcher to take charge of the family business. Thanks to the unconditional support of her husband, Toni Balam, Carme transformed her parents’ shop, a supermarket with a butcher’s section, into a local delicatessen. In 1988, they moved their business across the street into the old Hostal Sant Pau, which they turned into a gastronomic restaurant open until October 2018. Carme is a self-taught and perfectionist chef. Her gastronomic discourse is articulated in a constant dialogue with traditional recipes, which she reinterprets with imagination and a scrupulous respect for the product. She has published several cookbooks and is tireless in spreading healthy eating habits in schools. Her restaurant Sant Pau in Sant Pol de Mar has won the highest professional awards. In 2004 she opened a restaurant in Tokyo and obtained the St. George's Cross. In 2009, together with her son, Raül Balam, she opened the Moments restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, Barcelona, where since 2017 she has also been responsible for the gastronomy area. Under the auspices of the CR "brand", she has obtained seven Michelin stars: three in Sant Pol, two in Tokyo, and two more in Barcelona. Carme firmly believes that cooking is culture, in 2019 she received the National Culture Award. Carme also believes that gastronomy projects us to the world. Her commitment to healthy cooking, in tune with the landscape and the environment, reflects her commitment to society. (Sant Pol de Mar, Spain) @carme.ruscalleda