Finally, the announcement that you have all been waiting for…the winners of the II Rising Stars Sammic  Scholarships for BasqueStage.

The jury from Sammic and the Xarma, through careful consideration of experience, communication skills,  and recipe submitted, has chosen the following cook to receive the Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage:

Justin Legaspi : II Rising Stars Justin Legaspi is a graduate of the Art Institute of Seattle.  He has several years of experience in kitchens under his belt, many of which include cooking at The Harvest Vine, an authentic pintxo bar in Seattle, Washington. His winning dish was a braised pork belly with calamari in a blood ink sauce. Follow Justin: Justin’s Blog Justin’s Twitter

Here’s wishing Justin the best of luck!  Thank you so much to all who applied for this round.