CHEF MARIA BARRIGA

Colombian by birth, Maria started learning how to cook at 12 from her grandparents and her aunt. She began her culinary journey working as a Pastry Chef with the infamous Rausch Brothers in Bogotá. From there, she proceeded to move to five different countries to work at some of the best restaurants in the world.

Maria spent four years at Roberto Solís' Nectar restaurant in Mérida, Mexico, working her way up to Chef de Cuisine. She then moved to Chicago to stage at Grace (3 Michelin Stars) and Alinea (3 Michelin Stars), followed by Copenhagen to stage at Noma (3 Michelin Stars). After that, she moved to Spain to work at legendary institution Mugaritz (2 Michelin Stars), initially as a Chef de Partie and then eventually as the third female Chef de Cuisine. Maria moved back to Latin America to strengthen her culinary skills at MashipiLAB in Ecuador and Maximo Bistrot in Mexico City as the Chef de Cuisine. She most recently worked as a Chef de Partie at Oxalis (1 Michelin Star) in Brooklyn and is now a freelance private chef.