“I’m from Barcelona, in Spain, and I have been interested in cooking since I was five years old. My parents divorced when I was young, and I spent a lot of time with my paternal grandma. Before my mum went to work, at around 7am, she would drop me off at my grandma’s place, which was near my school. “My grandma and I would go to the bakery to get fresh bread or croissants for breakfast. Then, while my brother and I ate breakfast, my grandma would begin preparing lunch for us, my dad, grandpa, and uncle. Afterwards, my grandpa took me to school and then he went to the market to buy the food on my grandma’s shopping list. “When we ate breakfast, I watched her make soup or stew, so I saw her cooking for at least two hours a day. I was not a quiet kid – I was in the kitchen, opening things and asking what is this and that. I believe it was then that I started to have an interest in cooking. My older brother is passionate about eating but not cooking. “When I was older, I started to help her cook.” Did you want to become a chef? “In secondary school I wanted to be an architect because I really liked maths and drawing. I studied hard to get into university, which I did in June 2008. At that time there was a boom in Spanish chefs and Michelin stars, and El Bulli was named the best restaurant in the world. People did not look down on chefs any more. “I realised I didn’t know much about architecture, but since I was five years old I had known how to make an omelette or scrambled eggs.” What was culinary school like? “In 2008, at 18 years old, I started culinary school. Studying theory was boring, but doing the practical was incredible. We spent a lot of time peeling carrots and potatoes, and slicing onions. Chef who catered to French-speaking Thai princess on the science of pastry “In my second year, I learned basic pastry skills. I liked that – everything was so precise. If you make a custard or vanilla sauce, you have to do it correctly or it turns out completely wrong, unlike cooking, where you can fix it. In pastry, there is no margin for error.” Where did you work first? “In my third year, I did a placement at Martin Berasategui’s then two-Michelin-star restaurant Lasarte , in Barcelona. It now has three stars. The head chef warned that I needed to put in a lot of effort and work 12 hours a day. I didn’t blink and said, ‘Yes, chef!’ “When I started working, it was tough, long hours. Some people in the kitchen helped me, others made life difficult. I used that to keep learning. The internship was only for three months, but the head chef made arrangements with my school for me to stay on while taking classes before work. Sunday was my only day off.” When did you start working in pastry? “In 2012, the assistant pastry chef left and that’s when I joined the pastry side. A two-Michelin-star restaurant is clean, precise and highly organised, but you can’t even imagine the pastry section – it is even more so. I really enjoyed it. There’s a calmness, preparing things quietly, everything is organised. Is being a woman head chef hard? ‘I never met anyone who didn’t respect me’ “When the kitchen was short of staff, I was asked if I wanted to go there, but I said no. “I worked there for 3½ years and I learned a lot about modern and innovative-plated desserts. At 23 years old, I liked what I did but it was the same every day. One day, I woke up and decided I wanted to keep growing, and not just work in my hometown.” How did you come to Hong Kong? “In December 2013, I went to the head chef and told him I wanted to try something else. He was planning a restaurant in Hong Kong at the time but I didn’t know. The pastry chef had also told me to learn English. “Finally, they told me there was a project in Hong Kong, but they wouldn’t give me any details unless I wanted to go. “That night I went home and googled Hong Kong – it is 10,500km (6,500 miles) from Spain – and decided to go for it. After three months of intensive English lessons, I was on a plane. “We opened Vasco in PMQ [on Kong Kong Island] in 2014 and I had the best time, everything was new and we were very busy. We really wanted a Michelin star and after the first year we got a recommendation from Michelin. But business started to slow down in the second year. We were not a fine-dining restaurant in a five-star hotel. A pastry chef’s journey from McDonald’s to fulfilling her dream “When they changed the concept to Italian cuisine, I got a job with Maximal Concepts, as group restaurant chef, in 2016.” What did you do there? “It was when the group was opening many restaurants, each with a different concept I had never seen before: Stockton, Brickhouse, Limewood, Mott 32 , Fish & Meat. I had the chance to put all my knowledge and skills in different restaurants and take care of the pastry. I did menu planning, hiring and training staff, it was challenging and I enjoyed it. “At Limewood, they still have my dessert of churros with coconut ice cream and salted caramel, and at Mott 32, they still serve the panna cotta with lychee sorbet, and a bamboo forest. “After almost two years at Maximal, I moved to the Langham Hong Kong, my first time working in a hotel. I made cakes for the dessert shop and afternoon teas. Working in a hotel is not like a small restaurant, it’s a big property, with sister hotels around the world. “I’ve been at the Conrad Hong Kong since last July, and I’ve already created seven afternoon tea sets, including Christmas, Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day. Hong Kong is one of the best places for afternoon tea.” Why head chef at The Peninsula Hong Kong takes cooking lessons on holiday How do you think of new dessert ideas? “I think of a theme to follow each season, but in general I like to draw everything first and try to make them look fancy or playful. Sometimes the pastry staff want to kill me [for making them so intricate], so we try to find a balance. “I want to move away from classic afternoon tea and try to make them look colourful and different. After that, I think about the flavours. “For example, Chinese New Year flavours include mandarin, black sesame and red date; for Valentine’s Day, we’ll use rose, raspberry and strawberry. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. “We recently launched some cakes. One is an opera cake with green tea, yuzu and pear, another is Basque cheesecake with truffles.”