The logo for 'The Universal Table' featuring a black background, a stylized gold and white circular design resembling a planet with a white center, and the text 'THE UNIVERSAL TABLE' in bold white letters below. 
THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE CULINARY ARTS, ACCREDITED, CLASSIFIED, CONVENED AND DOCUMENTED.

We build the table.

The world brings the feast.

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3

Pillars
· ICAA · WCF · FLAME Platform

3

Programmes
within ICAA

1

Registry
of verified status

2026

Founded in Hungary
for the long horizon

FOREWORD FROM THE FOUNDERS

Where fragmentation allies with oblivion, we are born.

We are the founders of a global culinary institution shaped where the culinary arts, governance and international cooperation meet.

Our work is not centred on isolated events. It is centred on building long-term structures that position the culinary arts as a bridge between cultures, a source of professional integrity, and a catalyst for sustainable development. A sector can be rich in heritage, talent and innovation and still remain fragmented in standards, coordination and long-term vision. Competitions exist. Festivals exist. Awards exist. What is missing is the backbone any mature sector requires: validation that is fair and articulate, within a cohesive institutional framework where recognition, accreditation, international visibility and strategic partnership operate as one aligned system.

  • We did not set out to add another initiative. We set out to connect what already exists, and to strengthen it.

  • From Budapest to the world, we operate as Zegarra-MV Zrt., the Hungarian holding that owns and architects

  • The Universal Table, a permanent institutional system dedicated to the culinary arts as a vector of international cooperation.

From origin to experience, every actor of the culinary arts finds a place within it. We invite you to sow, to cultivate, and to share the universal table with us.

Juan Zegarra

Stylized cursive text reading "Juan Vega" with artistic background and design elements.

PARTNER AND FOUNDER

Marius Vizer

Signature in blue cursive handwriting spelling 'Maximus Vizer'.

PARTNER AND FOUNDER

FOREWORD FROM THE FOUNDERS

One framework for the culinary arts

The Universal Table is the institutional framework for the culinary arts, owned and architected by Zegarra-MV Zrt., and is composed of three pillars, ICAA, WCF and FLAME, and three programmes that operate within ICAA. It recognises, classifies and documents the culinary arts in their full scope, from origin to experience.

Download the Institutional Handbook 
THE FRAMEWORK

Three pillars

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ICAA

INSTITUTIONAL PILLAR

The International Culinary Arts Association establishes the standards, accreditation and governance through which the culinary arts are recognised. The entry point for professionals, institutions and governments.

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CONVERGENCE PILLAR

The World Culinary Festival, a biennial summit at which governments, associations, professionals and institutional actors align on the advancement of the culinary arts.

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FLAME Platform

NARRATIVE PILLAR

FLAME documents, co-produces and safeguards the editorial and cultural record of the culinary arts generated across the framework.

ICAA, THE ANCHOR

Where the culinary arts are accredited

ICAA turns professional quality, held by an individual, an institution or a territory, into a status that is verifiable and internationally legible. Three pathways lead into the system.

For professionals

Enter before you are fully established, find where you stand, and move from local practice to international legitimacy.

For professionals

For institutions

Convert internal quality into a visible, internationally readable signal, for academies, schools and culinary establishments.

For institutions

For governments and host countries

Convert culinary identity into international positioning, interministerial value and lasting public legacy.

For governments and hosts 
INSIDE ICAA

Three programmes operate within ICAA

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WIBAL 
ACCREDITATION AND LEGITIMACY

The body that defines and maintains the standards of recognition for professionals, schools and institutions.

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WCT 
CLASSIFICATION AND PATHWAY

The World Culinary Tour. Classification of the disciplines of the culinary arts, with a structural pathway to WCF.

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CCF 
DISCOVERY AND ACCOMPANIMENT

Discovery and accompaniment of new expressions of the culinary arts, from origin to experience.

The Registry · where verified status becomes public, searchable signal 
CONVERGENCE AND RECORD

The world gathers, and the story endures

WCF, the World Culinary Festival

The biennial summit of the culinary arts. Founding Edition · host country to be confirmed · candidatures in process.

Visit the World Culinary Festival

FLAME Platform

The moving record of the framework, films, conversations and broadcasts.

Watch on FLAME Platform

Open an institutional conversation

The framework receives inquiries across five institutional channels. Each is routed internally to the responsible office.

ENGAGEMENTS
Contact us 
JOIN THE FRAMEWORK

Take your seat at the Universal Table

Membership opens the system to professionals and institutions before formal evaluation.

Begin where the culinary arts are recognised.

Become a Member