Eneko Atxa. Azurmendi

Pushing boundaries. For Eneko Atxa, science has been a force of good to push us forward, and this is what he does as head chef of 3-Michelin star Azurmendi, in Larrabetzu named Most Sustainable Restaurant in the World 2014 by The World’s 50 Best Restaurant. He collaborates with the University of the Basque Country and with hospitals and R&D companies in the realm of both food and healthcare. He uses food science to experiment with flavours and textures in his cuisine. Perched on a hillside 9 km from Bilbao, the impressive Azurmendi is a unique contemporary building housed within sustainable architecture: it recycles its own waste, harvests rainfall, and heats and cools itself using geothermal energy. It houses the biggest seed bank provided by the Institute of Agricultural Research and Development Neiker Tecnalia. The centre has over 400 varieties of native seeds from the Basque Country and it also features a panel explaning how the gastronomic was built. It is probably one of the most unique contemporary buildings when it comes to sustainable architecture. It also has a charging station for electric cars.