My Work
I use food as a medium for storytelling. Whether in a cooking class or a multi-course dinner, food has so much to tell us about our people, our homes, and our history. Much of my work is collaborative and inspired by my communities. I integrate food, multimedia, and the diners themselves to create experiential meals.
photo by Dayna-Joy Chin
01
Maria Desde Acá
This pop-up was part of a series hosted by Chef Tom Colicchio highlighting four chefs with strong culinary voices. It was a six-course dinner recounting Hurricane Maria from the perspective of someone in the diaspora. Each dish was preceded by a media clip taking diners through the moments before, during, and after the storm. The experience was meant to be a cathartic one and offer healing from the trauma that occurs when ones homeland is impacted by climate disaster and you are far away from those you love.
02
Lineage
For the culmination of an artist residency at The Marble House Project, I explored family documents and interviewed relatives to better know my own genealogy. At the same time I studied the lineage of popular Puerto Rican recipes. I developed A Puerto Rican menu using ingredients from the local farm and an audio recording of my own family roots. Dinner guests convened in a barn house, which served as a stage for the 'performance'. The recording, stage lights, and choreographed serving of each dish created an immersive dinner experience.
photo by Dayna-Joy Chin
photo by Dayna-Joy Chin
03
Living In A Diaspora
A pop-up exploring what it means to survive and to thrive in a diaspora. With the understanding that food is a basic human need and also a way of preserving culture in the face of forced migration, I created an African-centered experience of Puerto Rican food. Dinner was infused with live Bomba music, and affirmative visual art covered the walls of the dining room. "Living In A Diaspora" was hosted by Once Upon A Tart for three days.
04
Soberanía En La Cocina
A zine I co-created with Tina Orlandini while in residency at AgitArte's Casa Taller Caagrejera. In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, a network of Centros de Apoyo Mutuo were active throughout Puerto Rico. After exchanging with organizers throughout the archipelago, we created a hand-illustrated, pocket-sized zine that shares tips and guides for planning and cooking with your community in disaster situations. It includes meal planning, setting up and running a collective kitchen, a step-by-step guide for growing sprouts in your kitchen, and emergency preparedness (food and water, energy, money, and communication).
photo by Tina Orlandini
photo by Emma Fishman
05
Bon Apétit's Healthyish Superpowered
An award granted by Bon Appétit's Healthysih Magazine to an early-to-mid career woman who centers her culinary work around wellness and equity. In 2018 I was named the honoree for New York.