Viviana Alvarez

Born and raised in Mexico City, I confess I learned about eating spicy hot food in my late thirties. I always wanted to be a cook, but it wasn’t until 2015, while living in France, that I took on the adventure and trained in culinary arts, pastry, bread-baking, and the basics of wining at Le Cordon Bleu Paris.

After having been an intern at a Michelin-Starred kitchen and upon returning to my hometown and completely in love with the savoir-faire so proudly the French pass on, I was deeply interested in learning about what my land had offered the world. Who doesn’t love our delicious tacos? Only those who haven’t tried them, I’d like to think. Therefore, I decided to get deep into Mexican Traditional Cuisine. I learned about nixtamal to make tortillas and the 7 moles from Oaxaca. I discovered ingredients, dishes, and festivities I had never heard about.

Now, as I established my home in America with my husband in 2017, I started working as a Kitchen Assistant, a Private Chef and a Culinary Instructor to people of all ages. I write a culinary blog called La Gourmandista in English, Spanish, and French where I share not only recipes, but every bit of cookery passing through my veins. Finally, since the global pandemic hit early 2020, I have been coaching people from a distance to improve their home menus and feel more confident in the kitchen from afar.