My name is Paul Mitchell Félix Valenzuela. I was born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, México.
The only thing that kept me afloat during my first job was the culinary basics I learned in school and the love for food I had carried since I was a child. I entered the kitchen without realizing it. Since my parents worked when I was a child, I found myself responsible for feeding my sister and me, and ever since then, I lost my fear of cooking.
The love began when in the middle of personal problems. I found cooking helped me forget about everything. I learned everything happens, but nothing is forever. I love that there are no borders in the kitchen. Nothing divides us, and the humility of food can touch people’s hearts.
When I entered the industry for the first time, I realized it was a somewhat dark place where people seek their own benefit or cook without the essence needed to cook. I realized that change comes from the people who still retain those values and do not lose them no matter how dark the road may be. I think cooking brings out people’s true faces. Under pressure and exhaustion, you get to know people.
Everything you do, even if you do it a thousand times a day, you have to do it with the same love and dedication that you put into the first one. Try to improve every day. Try to make the same dish better and better, and enjoy what you do. Don’t let anything and no one take away your dream.
Lastly, whatever difficult moment you’re going through, whether you have clients or not, you’re at your best or worse emotionally, overwhelmed with life, or can’t see the light, know you are not alone. Everything will pass.