Gastronomy Open Ecosystem: The New Pioneer in Culinary Innovation
Gastronomy Open Ecosystem: The New Pioneer in Culinary Innovation
In October 2025, the Basque Culinary Center —a pioneering international institution— unveiled in San Sebastián a new hub designed for specialized training, research, and innovation: GOe – Gastronomy Open Ecosystem. GOe’s mission is to contribute to a delicious future through food that is flavorful, healthy, and sustainable, driven by talent and knowledge in close collaboration with public institutions and private companies. It is an open ecosystem conceived to address today’s food challenges through creativity and innovation.
This multidisciplinary space serves as a meeting point where students, entrepreneurs, researchers, companies, and the local community collaborate to develop projects in key areas such as health, sustainability, digitalization, sensory innovation, and the creation of new gastronomic products and experiences.
With an approach rooted in open innovation and citizen science, GOe fosters collective work and the exchange of knowledge, transforming gastronomy into a field of shared exploration. Active participation from society enriches the analytical process, accelerating the development of solutions and allowing progress to emerge not only from experts but also from direct interaction with the community itself.
The GOe building, designed by the prestigious Danish architectural firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), embraces sustainability and reimagines the dialogue between city life and gastronomy through architecture. It is known as Olatuen Bidea – Camino de las Olas (“The Path of the Waves”), taking its name from its undulating silhouette. Its design, conceived in harmony with the landscape, establishes a constant dialogue with nature. The surrounding landscaping project has turned GOe into a natural ecosystem seamlessly integrated into the city. With 3,600 m2 of landscaped areas (broken down into 1,329 m2 of rooftop greenery and 2,271 m2 of surrounding urban landscaping), GOe has created an ecological corridor that enhances the Gros District’s connection with nature.
The result is a building that not only coexists with its environment but amplifies it. GOe acts as a green connector between city and nature, integrating sustainability, biodiversity, and wellbeing into an infrastructure that transcends architecture to become a true driver of urban transformation.
Covering 9,000 m2, the complex includes eight kitchens, ten laboratories, a sensory analysis room, two coworking areas, an auditorium for over 200 people, business spaces, classrooms, and multipurpose culinary areas.
The culinary offering at GOe features a restaurant conceived as an open culinary laboratory where creativity, sustainability, and innovation give rise to a unique experience for diners. A communal table, where diners are invited to share and converse, serves as a metaphor for the culinary proposal — open, dynamic, creative, and rooted in a renewed appreciation for local ingredients. This restaurant is a living extension of GOe’s philosophy, integrating research and gastronomic culture into a sole experience.
GOe also hosts events dedicated to innovation, entrepreneurship, and food science, fostering the exchange of ideas and the development of new concepts. The space additionally designs gastronomic experiences for companies and institutions — tailored events that, based on culinary innovation, bring about unforgettable moments for all those who attend.
Beyond the restaurant and café, GOe includes public gathering spaces, reinforcing its identity as an open ecosystem. Citizens are invited to participate, learn, and experience firsthand the trends and projects redefining gastronomy worldwide in areas such as health, sustainability, technology, entrepreneurship, culture, and hospitality. As part of its community outreach, GOe also offers talks and culinary workshops that explore the gastronomic universe from a flavorful, healthy, and sustainable perspective.
GOe was born with the ambition to become a dynamic, collaborative, and open hub capable of connecting talent, knowledge, and community — thus consolidating its role as a leader in gastronomic innovation and research both locally and internationally.
GOe – Gastronomy Open Ecosystem
