Gerry Dawes is an American writer, photographer, and authority on Spanish food, wine, and culture. Over more than five decades, he has documented Spain’s regional cuisines, wines, traditions, and culinary transformation, helping introduce American chefs and readers to the country’s gastronomic heritage.
Dawes lived in Spain for eight years and returned on numerous subsequent journeys, developing extensive firsthand knowledge of its regions, winemakers, chefs, restaurants, and cultural traditions. His reporting and photography have appeared in American and international publications, including Food Arts, for which he served as Spanish correspondent and became known as “Mr. Spain.”
In 1997, Dawes wrote “Foam, Foam on the Range,” an influential Food Arts article introducing American culinary readers to Ferran Adrià and his restaurant, elBulli. Food writer Colman Andrews subsequently described it as the first major American article about Adrià. Dawes continued documenting Spain’s gastronomic evolution and the emergence of its modern culinary movement.
Dawes also helped strengthen professional relationships among American chefs. In 1989, he founded Chefs From Hell, an informal club that brought chefs together for monthly meals hosted at members’ restaurants. Participants included Thomas Keller, Waldy Malouf, Rick Moonen, Brendan Walsh, and other prominent culinary figures. In Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll, author Andrew Friedman discusses Dawes’s role in fostering camaraderie among chefs during a period when such gatherings were unusual. Keller recalled that Dawes brought the group together simply to have fun.
Dawes’s contributions have received recognition from leading figures in gastronomy. José Andrés wrote the profile accompanying Dawes’s 2009 Food Arts Silver Spoon Award, praising his enthusiasm and expertise in Spanish food and wine. Adrià likewise credited Dawes’s writing with helping Americans discover Spain’s culinary culture. Dawes received Spain’s Premio Nacional de Gastronomía in 2003. Other honors include the Cava Institute’s First Prize for Journalism, the CineGourLand Cinéfilos y Gourmets prize, and recognition from the Association of Food Journalists. He was a finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s 2001 journalism award for magazine writing on wine.
His book Sunset in a Glass: Adventures of a Food and Wine Road Warrior in Spain combines memoir, travel writing, photography, and encounters with Spanish chefs, winemakers, artisans, and cultural figures. Featuring more than 160 photographs in its enhanced edition and a foreword by José Andrés, it reflects Dawes’s longstanding commitment to interpreting Spain through its food, wine, and people.
Alongside his gastronomic writing, Dawes has pursued independent research into Ernest Hemingway’s life and experiences in Spain. His project, Wasn’t It Pretty to Think So? Hemingway in Spain & 100 Years of The Sun Also Rises, investigates Hemingway’s travels, friendships, fishing experiences, and the historical evidence behind stories associated with his Spanish years. In July 2024, Dawes presented “Hemingway and Gerry Dawes: A Few Degrees of Separation,” exploring connections between people he knew and individuals who had encountered Hemingway, at the Hemingway Society’s international conference in San Sebastián and Bilbao.
Across gastronomy, wine, journalism, and literary history, Dawes’s work is characterized by firsthand observation, extensive personal connections, and a sustained interest in documenting Spain’s cultural life and examining the evidence behind its stories.
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More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?
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#7 Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel
About Gerry Dawes
Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com
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