My name is Juan Morales Caycedo. I was born in Bogota, Colombia.

For as long as I can remember, food has been the only constant interest in my life. One of the things I love most about cooking is transforming things that seem inedible into delicious preparations.

My grandmother was a great cook, so that’s where I found my love for food. My uncle had a daily menu restaurant in Bogota, and he used to take me to the market in the mornings to buy ingredients, and I used to help with simple duties in his kitchen.
When I started working in fine dining, it changed a lot of my attitudes toward life—especially being more conscious and caring about each ingredient and understanding the importance of every step in the preparation of a recipe. Respect and use all the edible parts of every ingredient. If it’s an animal, using everything cause there’s a life behind that. Even with vegetables, there’s time, sun, resources, and people behind to give you that product. If you don’t eat what you’re putting on a dish, please, don’t serve it.

Also, always remember there’s life outside the kitchen. Don’t get obsessed. Have meaningful relations with people. Respect the space to make the best work possible without losing yourself and turning into a robot. Work in a place you feel good. Be careful with alcohol and drug abuse in the industry. Don’t stay in a place you stop learning. Make the owners respect your time to rest.