One day in the kitchen of a small English town restaurant, the chef was not there when an order for Champiñones al Ajillo was waiting to be taken out. I, as the dishwasher, seeing that the chef did not arrive and having seen how he made it, I dared and fulfilled the order. After a while, the waiter and chef returned and asked, “who brought out the order?” Silence filled the room. The chef looked at me, and the waiter said, “they send congratulations to the kitchen.” Since that day, I began this journey full of passion, sweat, burns, sleep, and cuts for 15 years, passing through large kitchens.

I grew up in a small town called Garzón, Huila, Colombia. Like all small-town children, I needed to leave home in order to study at the university. That’s how I started my trip to the capital to study electronic engineering. A year passed, and I needed to acquire a new language, so I left for England to study and work.

Without knowing English and having no work experience, washing dishes was the easiest job I could get.

While I was a dishwasher, I saw behind me a symphony where everyone was running, flying pans, the fire was breaking out, and yet, nobody crashed into anything. It captivated me, and when I stood in line, it just flowed. I felt like a fish in the water. That tide took me to work in many places and cuisines. Some were fancier than others, but in every place, I found life stories that taught me more than just cooking. A year later, when I returned home, the engineer no longer returned; the cook returned.

I grew my career in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I laid the foundations of my kitchen around the fire; I passed through my house, Colombia, to rediscover it gastronomically, and then I continued my way to Mexico to discover its roots.

Today, I continue my journey gaining experience in my kitchen day by day.