My name is Jhonny A Delgado. I’m originally from Venezuela, and I arrived in Miami about seven years ago. Upon arriving, I applied for political asylum.

The Kitchen marked me forever when I felt alone; I had no family in the city, and I focused on bettering my craft and working in a restaurant kitchen for 15 hours + a day and didn’t feel the time. All my sadness suddenly disappeared, and the team became my family.

I fell into the kitchen world by chance, meeting good people who inspired me and made me fall in love with cooking. I took courses from great local Chefs to improve my skills. I also obtained a short degree in Mariano Moreno in my country. My first kitchen job was small, something familiar where I learned the product’s value.

I love the creativity that cooking provides, and working alongside great chefs who teach you to love what you do, has genuinely helped cement that appreciation for the Kitchen in me. It’s become a vocation. Cooking with love every day and dealing with so much stress to achieve exemplary service are some features that make this career so unique. It’s one of the reasons that keeps me in the industry, as well as seeing guests’ happy faces when they eat. I enjoy what I cook with my team and what we get to innovate every day. It truly feels like a family.

In my time, I’ve understood to value each person in the industry, from the dishwasher to the restaurant owners. Nothing works without a solid base. Keep going, keep going, and don’t stop. It’s a world of competition. It’s not easy, but it’s not difficult either. Look for what you want in your life every day and whatever you do, do it with passion. Treat everyone with respect. Character, respect, and equality are sometimes lacking in this industry; we spend too much time together to get lousy treatment, so choose where they treat you right.