Carme Ruscalleda (Barcelona, 1952), an extraordinary self-taught cook, opened her first restaurant, Sant Pau, in 1988, together with her husband Toni Balam in her native town, Sant Pol de Mar. The restaurant has maintained three Michelin stars since 2005. In 2004, she opened a replica of the Sant Pau in Tokyo, which has achieved two stars. She has achieved another two stars with the restaurant Moments, which she has directed since 2009 with her son Raül Balam. She was the first Spanish female chef with three Michelin stars and has been the world’s leading female chef for several seasons. She has published a dozen or so books, including the bestselling Cooking for Happiness, Anti-Aging Recipes and The Magic of Cooking. She has been a lecturer at Harvard Science and Cooking Conferences and has received numerous awards, among them the National Gastronomy Prize, the Cross of Sant Jordi of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Gold Medal of Merit for Fine Arts awarded by the Ministry of Culture, the Medal of Merit for Work and the Keicho Award for her career by the Japan-Spain Business Circle.
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