The restaurant Tonel de Colloto winner of the first edition of the Best Barbecue Contest in Spain with Asturian Beef

The restaurant El Tonel de Colloto, in Colloto, Oviedo, has won the first prize in the Best Barbecue Contest in Spain with Asturian Beef. It was in Cangas de Narcea, where 12 finalists competed to be the best in cooking the different cuts over the coals and reaching the optimum point of the meat in each piece.

The Tonel de Colloto, winner of the contest, has taken 1,500 euros. For Iván Suárez, owner of the restaurant, the secret has been in "the team behind it, working every day in the restaurant to surprise each diner, as today, as a first-class product such as beef, and our proposal maintains the same essence, the same work that we have been doing for many years".

Samuel Álvarez, defending the restaurant Amares (Celorio, Llanes), has won second place and a prize of 500 euros, and recalled that "we have defended a barbecue, where a Tataky with chimichurri and barnacle, together with a braised entrecote with creamy potato and morel, and a charcoal steak tartare on marrow with crispy seaweed bread,  has shown the richness of Asturian Beef" 
The Braseria Aurrera, has come third, with a prize of 300 euros, combining in its proposal Asturian Beef Tenderloins, Machine Cut Chop TBone, Onion Black Pudding and Chosco de Tineo.

In the category of best pairing with PDO Cangas wine, the Leitariegos Restaurant  has won with a prize of 500 euros, recognizing the quality of these wines for the grill for several reasons. "It enhances the flavor, intensity and complexity of the meats served on a grill, and the PDO Cangas wines combine perfectly with the smoky aromas of the meat," said Héctor Cosmen.

The technical direction of the contest has been carried out by the Chef and director of Gastronome 360, Juan Pozuelo, who has recognized the important level of the finalist restaurants and how they have "highlighted the quality of Asturian Beef and have been able to combine the oldest cooking technique in the world, with the current demands of gastronomy. It is exciting to see how with scarce means and the same resources, the proposals have been able to become so different and rich in nuances and even daring, combining Asturian beef and barnacles in the same barbecue"

The participating chefs have prepared their proposals live, with the meat of the PGI Ternera Asturiana as the main ingredient, before a jury made up of gastronomic critics, renowned chefs and great professionals from the world of meat, such as Iñigo Urrechu, Sergio Fernández, Pepe Chuletón, Sergio Rama, Eufrasio Sánchez, Pepe Ròn, Juanjo Suárez, Rubén Díaz and Mónica Longo,  who have valued the technical realization, presentation (plating), the handling of the embers, the carving, the flavor, the quality, the cooking point, the interior temperature of the product and the accompaniments, among other parameters.
 

Today we have once again confirmed how it is possible to flavour raw materials of the highest quality only with embers in a simple, elegant and delicate way, and using exclusively an ancestral technique, where times, temperature and observation of the reaction of the products gives rise to being considered the best grill in Spain with Asturian Beef", said Nacho Sandoval,  director of Nacho Sandoval Estrategias and Marketing, after the awards ceremony.

Finalist restaurants

The twelve finalist restaurants are: Abrasas Albir, (El Albir), and Braseria Aurrera, (Benidorm), from Alicante, Mesón Abuela María, (Iznajar), from Córdoba, Casa Aurelia, (Villaralbo), from Zamora, and from Asturias, Restaurante Leitariegos, (Puerto de Leitariegos), Sidrería Suiss, (Cangas del Narcea), La Montera Picona, (Gijón), Llagar El Quesu, (Bobes, Siero), El Tonel de Colloto, (Colloto, Oviedo), Amares Restaurant, (Celorio, Llanes), La Posada de Bacus, (Mieres) and La Nueva Dorada, (Tineo).

A gastronomic festival that will be repeated every year

At the end of the event, the Local Board of Hospitality has prepared a popular meal on the grills, based on meat from the PGI Asturian Veal where more than 600 diners have been able to enjoy this unique raw material, accompanied by Cangas wine, Tineo chosco or Asturian honey, all of them endorsed by quality brands that guarantee the origin of the product. To these are added the bread from Cangas del Narcea and the cowboy yogurt from Central Lechera Asturiana.

"After the success of this first edition, we are already working on the Best Barbecue Contest in Spain with Asturian Beef 2025," confirmed José Luis Fontaniella Fernández, mayor of Cangas de Narcea.

The Brasas del Narcea Festival and the Best Barbecue in Spain contest are an initiative of the City Council of Cangas del Narcea, in collaboration with the Local Board of Hospitality of Cangas del Narcea and Nacho Sandoval Estrategias and Marketing, with the sponsorship of IGP Ternera Asturiana.