Chef Fernando Moraes

First things first: I am not a Chef. I am a cook. I learned to cook with my grandmother María del Carmen, a Spanish immigrant that found in the kitchen not only her means of living but also a place to be her true self. I began assisting when I was 4 years old, and I kept doing so until I was 20, when she passed. Over the years, I have worked at several restaurants - in Brazil and Spain - which paid for my higher education (Bachelor's and master's). Drawing from my Spanish and Brazilian roots, I had the opportunity to explore a wide range of flavors and cuisines in my life. To be in the kitchen, for me, is a way of paying tribute to my grandmother, recreating her recipes, and inventing my own.

In São Paulo, worked with Chef Alex Atala at Dalva e Dito and at the traditional Terraço Itália. In Salamanca, Spain, I learned to make traditional tapas at Bambú. At those places, I learned a lot of different techniques and rigorous cooking methods. But it was in my grandma’s kitchen where I learned to cook with my soul and heart.