The day I found out my Green Card application was approved was the day
that Trump got elected.
It was a moment I won't forget,
one I had been waiting for since I was a teenager.
I knew this was where I wanted to be.
I was 17 when I enrolled into the French Culinary Institute,
but food had been in my blood much earlier than that.
Growing up, my family would travel and we’d end up at restaurants
filled with unique culinary experiences.
Plates would come out with smells and textures that I’d be completely mesmerized by.
Those experiences led to working in Europe and Australia
before moving permanently to the United States.
In 2013 I opened my first restaurant, Contra in New York City.
I wanted to open a place that represented how I see New York,
a place where I had the space to experiment and create something of my own.
Since then, Contra has gained a Michelin star,
and I’ve opened two more restaurants, Wildair and Una Pizza Napoletana.
A lot of my inspiration for Contra, it comes from my childhood memories in Mexico City.
One of my favorite dishes we make is a puffed amaranth mousse with a yogurt sorbet,
puffed grains, and a little bit of coffee.
There’s a candy in Mexico called Alegria that has puffed amaranth,
and I remember how my father would eat this candy with his coffee for breakfast.
So this dish carries a lot of nostalgia and helps
to inform the identity of my restaurant in New York.
My relationship with food has always been one of deep connection
between myself and the physical world.
I am proud to be a Mexican chef living and working in the United States,
despite being worried about being an immigrant in this political environment.
But this worry fuels my drive to create opportunities for my foreign employees,
for my family, and for myself.
