“I’m originally from Panama, but it was thanks to a friend of mine who came looking for me one day saying he needed help because one of his cooks was off that I somehow found my way into the kitchen. From that day on, I have always been in the kitchen; I haven’t received formal training, I only did two small courses while being here. The kitchen wasn’t something I thought about working in until that day, but I fell in love straight away and wanted to learn more.

My favorite part of the kitchen is the grill and the crazy atmosphere’s what drew me in, you need to be crazy to work in kitchens and I got some of that crazy going on, so it’s perfect. The stress and pressure to expedite dishes is high and you need to be mentally strong.

As a Panamanian I’d love for our restaurants here to focus more on the native cuisine, you go into many places nowadays and you can’t find our culture and food. We’ve diversified but as a result, traditions are watering down.”