Harold Ruiz
Harold Ruiz
My obsession with ramen and food started when I was a kid. My mom, a chef, and my family’s ordering take-out rituals stuck with me. I always thought about becoming a cook, but it wasn’t until I saw Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations that I knew it was my calling. I started late in the game, though. I thought I’d be a rockstar and my punk band would pay the bills. But, you know, life happened.
Working as a server at a catering company where my mom was a chef exposed me to the back of the house. Then, I landed a gig at @zakthebaker , learned the basics, and met some cool people. Next was @27restaurant , where Chefs Jimmy and Sasha taught me the fundamentals. They saw potential in me and encouraged me to keep pushing. Upland was next, and that’s where I saw the brigade system and learned a lot. But, the kitchen culture was toxic, and I started drinking and partying more than usual.
It wasn’t until @gheemiami that I found my connection with noodles again. I began making noodles for specials and ramen for family meals and met my homie Greg, who was all about pizza. When the pandemic hit, @oldgregspizza told me to start selling my ramen. He said, ‘Why don’t you do ramen like I’m doing pizza?’ And that’s how it all began. I started making ramen kits and doing pop-ups. After three years, I slowed down, took a barback job for the money, and met Ryan Leto, who became my mentor and business partner. He saw my @peacockramen page and wanted to meet up. I wasn’t sure I wanted another kitchen job, but he convinced me he wasn’t just looking for a chef but a partner.
It’s been a year since we opened @dumplings_mi_amor , and the place is thriving. I don’t want anything to ruin this moment, so I’ve also decided to quit alcohol; it’s been two months, and it’s hard in a city like Miami, where all my friends are DJs and bartenders. But, you know, I feel good. I haven’t felt this good in a long time.
- Downtown Miami
Karla Palacio
Karla Palacio
I was born and raised in Bogota. I have been making desserts and sweetening people’s lives for the past eight years. From a very young age, I found my passion for baking. Whenever I came home from school, I only wanted to sit on my bed, watch a cooking channel called “El Gourmet” for hours, and then try replicating the recipes. Hence, I decided to study cooking and pastry at a recognized school in my country.
After completing my studies, I pursued an internship at Four Seasons. During this experience, I realized the importance of passion, respect, and determination to succeed in this industry. Following the completion of my internship, I applied my skills in the professional world. I found an opportunity to work at one of my favorite pastry shops, where I honed my techniques and developed my own style in dessert creation while working with puff pastry dough, cakes, creams, and various sweet treats.
For several years, I worked in a few restaurants, always in the pastry area, until the pandemic hit and everything changed. During the pandemic, I started teaching virtual pastry classes and selling desserts to restaurants in my city. Soon after, I was contacted by SMEG, an Italian luxury appliances brand, to become their ambassador and represent their brand in Colombia.
After some time, I decided to create my place, @jardintragosypasteles, located in the garden of a house with English architecture in Bogotá. Our focus is cocktails and pastries, allowing guests to pair desserts with cocktails for a unique experience.
It’s been quite a journey. I hope the industry keeps evolving for the new generation of cooks, and we can see better remuneration, less abuse, and bullying in the kitchen.
What is your favorite street food?
Empanadas y lechona
Which restaurant or food stand do you recommend? (Different from yours) (Add its Instagram handle if possible)
Mesafranca
What is your guilty pleasure?
Piña colada
What ingredient do you find overrated?
Truffle
What ingredient do you think is underrated?
Honey
What is your favorite kitchen tool?
Spatula knife
What is your worst kitchen nightmare?
Enter the kitchen and the scales doesn’t work.
Lisseth Campos
Lisseth Campos
Since I was a kid in Venezuela, cooking has been a refuge and a space for shared creation. I used to cook with my mom, making “tres leches” and “Pan de Jamón” to raise money for our trip to the United States. At 16, I arrived in Miami with dreams and a deep love for gastronomy. My first job was at a Cuban restaurant in Miami, where I fell in love with the vibrant rhythm and passion that characterize this industry. I was fortunate to work alongside great chefs and masters, who shared their knowledge with me and inspired me to pursue my goals. At 26, I fulfilled one of my greatest dreams by studying at Le Cordon Bleu, an experience that reaffirmed my belief in the power of knowledge and experience as tools.
Over 25 years, I have had the privilege of meeting people from all over the world, learning about their cultures, and enjoying their exquisite recipes. These experiences have enriched my cuisine, giving it a multicultural touch and a unique flavor that reflects the diversity of Miami. In 2018, my husband and I embarked on the great adventure of entrepreneurship, creating @unpollodoral, a concept of charcoal-grilled chicken in the style of my hometown, Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Through our idea, we seek to share the love and culture of my land with the Miami community.
I have learned to face challenging situations with determination, cultivate patience amidst the chaos, and enjoy the adrenaline rush of working in the kitchen. Experiences, both positive and challenging, have shaped the person I am today. I have learned from great masters on the path of life, who have taught me the importance of constant evolution. The gastronomy industry has driven me to grow as a human being, facing challenges that have strengthened my entrepreneurial spirit and my ability to balance family and business. My culinary story reflects passion, perseverance, and love for cooking.
What is your favorite street food?
Tacos Pibil
Which restaurant or food stand do you recommend? (Different from yours) (Add its Instagram handle if possible)
Taikin
What is your guilty pleasure?
Tacos Pibil
What ingredient do you find overrated?
Mayo
What ingredient do you think is underrated?
Ginger
What is your favorite kitchen tool?
Cleaver
What is your worst kitchen nightmare?
A grill cook that doesn’t know what is doing.
Photos By @etherealpictures_
Simon Thornewill
Simon Thornewill
Since I was a kid, I’ve loved food and ingredients. Growing up in the countryside, surrounded by farms and having my allotment to grow my food sparked my fascination with flavors. While studying architecture at university, I always looked forward to returning to the dorm to cook a meal for everyone. I eventually decided to give Cheffing a shot. My first job was in a pub, where I spent most of my time cleaning pots and peeling vegetables. But I was determined to do more. When a new restaurant with a Michelin-star chef opened in town, I applied and got some great experience, starting as an apprentice and working my way up to the head chef.
After that, I worked at a local wedding venue, where I learned a whole new aspect of cooking. Handling food for over 100 guests at once was a different experience than the hustle of a busy restaurant kitchen. Then, I moved to a microbrewery on a farm, where we focused on using beer on the menu as much as possible.
Following that, I worked at a café closer to home with a simple menu and daily specials, allowing me to create new dishes every day. While there, I got into foraging after getting a dog and exploring what nature had to offer regarding ingredients. I started learning more about mushrooms and wild plants and how to incorporate them into my cooking. It was a fantastic job, but I missed the excitement of restaurant service.
Over the years as a chef, I’ve seen a rise in arrogance in the kitchen. Many chefs seem more focused on creating food for Instagram likes rather than cooking with passion. The industry faces challenges, including declining business and rising ingredient costs, making it challenging for hospitality workers. This may be why many chefs are turning to freelance work.
I’ve been cooking for over 20 years in various kitchens, including delis, pubs, restaurants, and Michelin-starred establishments. I’m freelancing while I wait to open my new venture at the end of this summer: a fancy restaurant, a small plates kitchen, and tapas in the garden. We’ll focus on healthy meals, specifically gluten-free, and we won’t use vegetable oils.
What is your favorite street food?
Thai/ Asian
Which restaurant or food stand do you recommend? (Different from yours) (Add its Instagram handle if possible)
Alchemist
What is your guilty pleasure?
Chocolate
What ingredient do you find overrated?
Miso
What ingredient do you think is underrated?
Elderflower
What is your favorite kitchen tool?
Blender
What is your worst kitchen nightmare?
Pests
Photo by @innyphotography
Pops Martinez
I was born in Stockton, California, and I’ve been in the kitchen industry for around eleven years on and off. The biggest thing I’ve learned, especially from being the dishwasher at @Animae.sandiego, is to always strive for improvement. If I have an off day, I will be better the next day because there’s always room for growth. In the kitchen, there’s not much time to be negative. The chefs here maintain a positive attitude, even on tough days. I carry this mentality outside of work. It might sound cheesy, but you should leave the kitchen if you can’t handle the pressure. Everyone has a role here, and when we work together, there’s no hierarchy. We’re all equal. It’s beautiful to see everyone working in unison.
Even though some might see dishwashing as the lowest role, I’m proud to say that I’m the dishwasher at Animae—a huge thank you to Chef Tara for running such a wonderful kitchen. I feel blessed to be part of this family. I hope one thing that changes or improves in this industry is higher pay and more recognition for industry workers. I recently asked, “What about the dishwashers? Why don’t we get some acknowledgment? I do not think we get enough respect for what we do. We are a crucial part of your wine and dine experience; at the end of the night, we have to clean up after you guys. Many of us have other talents and side jobs, such as music, photography, and performing, or are students, musicians, and DJs. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that people don’t see when they dine at a restaurant, especially one like Animae. Opening and closing the kitchen require hours of preparation and love for the industry.
What is your favorite street food?
Tacos.
Which restaurant or food stand do you recommend? (Different from yours) (Add its Instagram handle if possible)
Las Cuatro Milpas in Barrio Logan, San Diego. My advice is go early, don’t skip on the beans with chorizo and tortillas!!! Grab some of that chili oil too.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Eating desserts when I can.
What ingredient do you find overrated?
Seafood. Personally, I’m just not a fan. I haven’t had a seafood dish that has “wowed” me.
What ingredient do you think is underrated?
Cheese. I need it on everything, except everything. Does that make sense? I love cheese. Who doesn’t?
What is your favorite kitchen tool?
My dishwasher.
What is your worst kitchen nightmare?
Double party events in one shift. Keeping up with that many dishes means doubles dishes, plus double kitchen dishes. We gotta move fast. Communication is key in the dish pit. If not, we sink fast!
@mwatsonnyc reporting 📸🎤 from San Diego, CA
Adrian Ochoa
I was born and raised in Miami with a Cuban father and a Guatemalan mother. I entered the food industry at 20, starting as a busser at @eating_house , thanks to my cousin’s help. One day, there was a no-call no-show in the kitchen, and I stepped in for assistance. However, I later became a server, making good money but feeling unfulfilled. The kitchen called me back, facing challenges, but determined to grow, I decided to stay one year and see where it took me.
Looking for growth, I applied to @gheemiami , an Indian staple in the city; I started as a cook at the fryer station, unsure of my skills with spices and flavor combinations. The Chef’s mother-in-law mentored me, pushing me to improve. Her guidance helped me develop my skills, and I realized the importance of pace and intensity in a kitchen.
After a while, I realized I couldn’t stay comfortable; I needed to keep improving. So, I moved to @itamaeao , a renowned Nikkei chef counter, where consistency and quality were the standards. There, doubt never entered the picture – there was only one way to do things: the right way.
Later, while helping to manage a new concept, I met Tam, who hosted Vietnamese pop-up dinners. We quickly became close friends, and when the opportunity to open @tam.tam.mia arose, he offered me the Sous Chef position. I learned to manage people and my time efficiently, creating a supportive kitchen environment and hosting my own pop-up (@isabelsmiami ) on the last Sunday of the Month. But let’s be honest: ten years in this industry have taught me that mistakes are inevitable, and if more chefs took the time to mentor instead of belittling, the industry would be a better place, and talent would flourish.
I believe Miami is evolving, with passionate individuals driving change and creativity. We’re breaking through, following our unique path, independent of other cities. It’s an exciting time when creatives are coming together to inspire the next generation.
Mariia Chornohrytska
I come from a big family in Ukraine. We’re four siblings, so our kitchen has always been busy. All of us are into sports. My parents are basketball coaches, while my brothers play in Italy and America. My sister is a referee, and I used to play, too, but I got injured and had to stay home for a long time. That’s when I started baking cakes, and that’s how my passion for the kitchen really flourished, making birthday cakes for my family.
Due to the war in Ukraine, I moved to Dubai to pursue career growth and have been living and working there for a year now. I started working in a Michelin-starred restaurant as a pastry CDP, and shortly after, I was promoted to pastry chef.
Right now, I’m responsible for pastry in four places: @sfumato.dxb, @soon.dxb, @soiree.dxb @sfumatocoffeepoint . It’s unbelievable how things work out, but I would not have had this opportunity without the war. Considering the situation not only in Ukraine but throughout the world, the kitchen should be a separate world where there is no war and drama. It should be a place where everyone speaks the same language – the language of knives and whisks.
That’s how I got a job in a kitchen in Spain. The chef there hired me even though I couldn’t speak Spanish, and my English was pretty bad. But we managed to make it work; we both spoke the same “kitchen language.”
If a moment in a kitchen changed my life, that experience was in Spain. Our shifts were really long, like 14-16 hours per day, five days a week. It was tough but also cool. Everyone there was passionate about their job and didn’t mind working overtime or even coming to work on their day off. They just loved what they were doing. And that’s when I realized I was just one of many really into food.
I want to see some changes in the industry, and I’m already seeing them happen. However, one thing that bothers me is how age always seems to factor in getting promoted to higher positions. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge or good ideas you have – once they discover your age, you get rejected.
What is your favorite street food?
I’m not fan of street food) But if you will bring me ice cream from MacDonalds – I’m all yours.
Which restaurant or food stand do you recommend? (Different from yours) (Add its Instagram handle if possible)
@teible
What is your guilty pleasure?
Syrniki. If in menu I will see this dish – 100% I will take it
What ingredient do you find overrated?
Meat. I like vegetables and variety ways of cooking them
What ingredient do you think is underrated?
Vegetables) u can make everything with them. U can all set menu including desserts based on them.
What is your favorite kitchen tool?
Tweezer and quenelle spoon – you will always find in my bag.
What is your worst kitchen nightmare?
I could say broken cake which you need to give for delivery like in 10 min. But with experience which I have already – everything could be solve.
📸 @foodphotish 🔥
Giannis Kotsos
Giannis Kotsos
I am from Greece, Athens. During the summer, I stayed with my grandmother and was inspired by her dedication and creativity towards food, especially Greek cuisine. I always wanted to help her in the kitchen, and spending my summer at her place was a joy.
I later joined the army, and during my time, I couldn’t think of something else that I wanted to do more than become a chef. I began living my dream in 1986, working in kitchens and learning from great chefs who took me under their wing. I gradually developed my skills and moved into different kitchens, carrying my recipe book with me, which included my grandmother’s and father’s recipes and those I learned from the kitchens. Eventually, it was time to open my first restaurant in Athens, followed by two more in Crete, a beautiful island in Greece. Things were going well, but an economic downturn forced me to close my restaurants. Uncertain about my next step, I moved to the USA in 2013.
People asked if I was scared, given the country’s competitive culinary scene and the many chefs that come to make a name for themselves, but I always looked ahead, never around comparing myself to others. I was confident in my abilities and my recipes.
I arrived in Miami and met my current partner while working as a consultant at his Greek cafe in Downtown Miami. He liked my recipes and shared the idea of opening a Greek restaurant, offering me an opportunity for partnership. The rest is history! We opened our first location in a small corner of Downtown Miami, which magically felt like Greece amidst the high-rise buildings that we call Meraki Greek Bistro – a Greek word meaning to do something with soul, creativity, and love. Today, we have four restaurants, including our latest location in Brooklyn, NYC; with each new opening, I feel like I’m getting younger, as sharing my recipes and bringing a piece of Greece to different places keeps me going.
Veronica Gomez
Veronica Gomez
I’m from Salamanca, a small town close to Madrid. After completing a University Degree in Journalism and a Master’s in art direction and creativity, I worked in advertising agencies for about five years until COVID hit. I was temporarily laid off and spent nine months pondering how to avoid returning to advertising.
At that time, a new MasterChef edition was coming up, and I thought, “Why not?”. Fortunately, I made it into the competition. It was an intense but unique experience, undoubtedly the most intense four months of my life. I even managed to secure second place, and since the competition ended, I have remained in the kitchen. My life has changed forever, and I am now a cook—finally doing something I love.
I earned a Master’s in cooking and creativity from the @bculinary , one of the world’s top culinary schools, a year ago. I have worked on various cooking projects for the past two years, including Michelin-starred restaurants, catering, and small businesses. Currently, I work as a freelancer, creating content on social media, working as a private chef, and producing events for big and small brands. I also enjoy organizing pop-ups in other chefs’ restaurants that I admire, and I hope to open my own place soon.
What is your favorite street food?
Noodles and soups!
Which restaurant or food stand do you recommend? (Different from yours) (Add its Instagram handle if possible)
@streetxo
What is your guilty pleasure?
Pain au chocolat
What ingredient do you find overrated?
Caviar or truffle
What ingredient do you think is underrated?
Any vegetable
What is your favorite kitchen tool?
Microplane
What is your worst kitchen nightmare?
Spilling oil all over (I’ve done it a couple times so I know how it feels haha).
Ronnie kelii lee-apolo
Ronnie kelii lee-apolo
I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and moved to San Jose, California, when I was 13. That’s where I got into the punk scene and started going to shows, drinking 40oz of King Cobras, and hanging around with skins, punx, skaters, taggers, and thugs. We were all outcasts of society, and that’s why I fell in love with being a cook; it was all the same. I went to a lot of different high schools but never graduated. I was smart but had a problem being present in any school.
It all seemed like a waste of time to me, just like anyone who pays to go to culinary school. I had no direction and couldn’t find anything I wanted to do, so I started working around 16. My first job was at Sprouts because I got tired of panhandling for beer. They eventually let me go, probably because of my tri-hawk and studded jacket. Later, I got a job at Famous Dave’s as a dishwasher, washing almost 300 trays daily, sometimes even more. I loved cleaning and learned everything about dishwashing – how to clean it and handle my domain, the dish pit.
That job shaped my entire life. Afterward, my long-time friend and lead singer of Mokosos got me a job at Google. Being 18 years old at Google sounded great! I found myself going to work for Bon Appétit under Chef Hilary Bergh. She opened the culinary door for me. After that, I worked two cooking jobs, then three.
I bought cookbooks and taught myself by learning from other chefs. Being cool helped me ground myself. I taught classes on cooking and learned all kinds of cooking styles, from classic French to pasta, Hawaiian, Asian, Mexican, and fusion. But I like my food how I like my music – from the streets. So, I stuck around making street food. I dug my hands into almost everything I could with cooking. Eventually, I started a page called Kitchen Rot @kitchen_rot and began doing food pop-ups supporting the local underground cooks.
What is your favorite street food?
Tamales, hot dogs, tacos, elote.
Which restaurant or food stand do you recommend? (Different from yours) (Add its Instagram handle if possible)
China chens in San Jose.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Hangover food, soups and a Mexican coke a cola
What ingredient do you find overrated?
Bay leaves I find them unnecessary
What ingredient do you think is underrated?
Water
What is your favorite kitchen tool?
Clever
What is your worst kitchen nightmare?
Forgetting something at closing time.