Barcelona-based chef Jean Luc Figueras dies in Turkey

Barcelona (ACN).- The French chef Jean Luc Figueras died on Wednesday night in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, in a sudden cardiac arrest. The news was announced as part of a statement from the Mercer Hotel Barcelona, where the chef ran his current restaurant. Jean Luc Figueras had a long career as a chef at the best restaurants in Barcelona and he had held a Michelin star for a past project. One year ago he started work as the head chef at the 5-star Mercer Hotel Barcelona, an establishment designed by Rafael Moneo within a Gothic Palace and which included the Roman city wall from the 1st century. Figueras died whilst participating in a team of chefs in Ankara's festival of Mediterranean cuisine called 'Mediterranean Culinary Days'.

In a statement from the Mercer Hotel Barcelona, the team at Jean Luc Figueras' restaurants, JLF and Le Bouchon, say they "deeply" regret the death of the chef.

Jean Luc Figueras was of French origins, but had been established in Barcelona for many years. He had a long career as a chef at the best restaurants in the Catalan capital and was considered a key part of modern Barcelonan cuisine, in particular for his creativity in the kitchen.

Most recently he worked as the head chef at the two restaurants at the Mercer Hotel Barcelona, a historic establishment which is located in the centre of the Gothic Quarter. The hotel had been designed by Pritzker prize winning architect Rafael Moneo, who used part of Barcelona's ancient Roman wall and combined it with an old Gothic Palace. Figueras had previously managed the restaurant Blanc at the Hotel Mandarin, as well as running a restaurant under his own name between 1995 and 2007, for which he was awarded one Michelin Star.