Najat Kaanache
After rapidly rising through the ranks of some of the world’s finest restaurants, Najat Kaanache “The Pilgrim Chef” continues to demonstrate her culinary skills not only with her creative restaurant concept but also with her tireless passion for culinary innovation, education, and clean food advocacy.
Kaanache worked in the kitchens of Rene Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen, Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in Napa and Per Se in New York City, and Ferran Adria’s El Bulli in Spain. While at the El Bulli, Kaanache seized the opportunity to learn creative freedom from Ferran Adrià which provided her the resources and ambition to create her own spectacular style of artistic Basque-Moroccan cuisine. In February of 2013, Kaanache established her own world-class restaurant in Dallas, Texas. To date, the most prestigious of Kaanache’s recognitions was her recent invitation to prepare a magical dinner at the James Beard House in 2013. She has traveled the globe to teach national level seminars on the juxtaposition of science and the culinary world from Limassol, Cyprus to Sydney, Australia and has collaborated with White House executive pastry chef, Bill Yosses, to deliver dynamic presentations for Harvard University’s “Science and Cooking” program and NYU’s “Experimental Cuisine Collective”.