Holistic, All Natural and Delicious
VEGETARIAN AND NON-VEGETARIAN INTERNATIONAL CUISINE
my name is Lluvia Rosa Vela, i was born in Austin, TX. I've been cooking since i was 10 years old and have been vegetarian for 22 years, i was home schooled for most of my life on the road with my parents reggae band. and have attended two culinary schools, my dream since i was 13yrs old is to open my own restaurant but before that id like to get known as a personal chef, traveling the world cooking breakfast, brunch, lunch, linner, dinner, dessert and snacks for those to busy to do it them selves. creating anything and everything your taste buds can think of or be surprised every time with seasonal specials with a holistic nutritional twist made with alternative ingredients, due to my training I'm able to create meals for those who are on diets or with outrageous allergies, diabetes, cancer, aids, high and low blood pressure, etc. if interested about discussing a sample dinner or you just have some questions please contact me at
Uvelarosa@gmail.com
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Education:
1991-2003 Arbol De Vida Home schooling program 4th-8th
La Vida Charter School 9th- 11th – CHSPE Test
2006-2006 Bauman Culinary Arts School (holistic nutrition program) Graduate
11/2008-6/2009 California School of Culinary Arts Le Cordon Bleu, Hollywood
Knife cuts, beginning techniques, stock/soup/sauce making,
braising, searing, roasting, pan/deep fry, protein fabrication, time
management, portioning, cost control, baking techniques: cakes,
meringues, mousse, tarts, pies, mock restaurant drill with prep and
fire, front of the house and coordination training
ServeSafe Certification upon completion
Experience:
La Vida Charter School Willits, Ca 2005 Caterer: prepping, preparing and serving healthy lunches
for students & staff.
Internships: 2006 Sous Chef at the Ital Calabash (Berkeley)
Raw foods baker at Café Gratitude (San Francisco) Food service and busing tables at the Gorilla Café (Berkeley)
Bauman College Showcase head server. (Berkeley)
Line cook, server, cashier, dishwasher at BB’s restaurant (Berkeley)
Prepping vegetables and herbs, assemble sandwiches, salads and raw
cakes, serving, bussing, washing dishes and performing front of the
house duties
Berkeley Youth Alternatives, Berkeley, CA 2006-2007
Garden and Landscape Intern: Growing, harvesting and distributing
healthy, organic herbs and produce. Nutrition Education & Public
Speaking.
The Ecology Center Berkeley, CA 2007-2008
Farm Fresh Choice Intern: Fresh Food distribution in low-income
communities of color, community nutrition education and training.
Tantes Catering El Cerrito, Ca 2007-2008
Crew Member: cashier, server, expediter, dish washer, line cook.
Grilling hot dogs and burgers, prepping and sautéing peppers and onions and
A Taste Of life Vegan Soul Food Hollywod, Ca 2009 Head Chef
Soul Vegetarian Chicago,IL 2010-2011 Waitress/Host : Greeting, seating, serving, bussing, preparing salads.
AsMaataJi Temple of Devine Light, Chicago, IL 2011-present
Healing and Sweet Sounds
Secretary and Resident Manager and Executive Chef of Chicago Headquarters
collecting rent checks, personal assistant to property owner, coordinating contractor and maintenance crew. stocking pantry and preparing meals for guests and workers
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Lone Star Stops By for a Spell Published in Terrain Magazine, Fall/Winter 2008
Becoming a site coordinator for the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh
Choice program was a natural progression for Lluvia Vela; she’s been
firing up a stove since she was nine. The eighteen-year-old cooked for
her parents’ reggae act, Tchiya Amet & the Lighthouse Band, as they
rehearsed at her childhood home in Texas. “Growing up, my mom would
make beans and rice and vegetables and tortillas every day since they
were so busy,” remembers Vela. “I wanted some variety, so one day I
went in the kitchen and started experimenting with what I called Texas
Chili, and all the musicians loved it.” Now Vela creates on a
professional scale: in November, she began studies at the Cordon Bleu,
the prestigious culinary academy, in Los Angeles.
Vela’s parents traveled across the nation with their band, and young
Vela accompanied them on tour, home-schooling as she went. She’s
traveled from Florida to Oregon and at one time lived on an Indian
reservation in Mendocino County. When she was sixteen, the family moved
to Berkeley so that she could attend Bauman College of Holistic
Nutrition & Culinary Arts, where she was the youngest in her class
to graduate from the Natural Chef program. She says her specialty was
international vegetarian cuisine.
Vela came to FFC in 2007 after a stint landscaping in gardens around
Berkeley as part of Berkeley Youth Alternatives. She interned sorting
produce for the FFC market stands and quickly moved into the site
coordinator position; soon after that, she began performing cooking
demos with FFC co-manager HuNia Bradley. “I remember one demo where we
didn’t know what we were going to make. We brought in squash, salad
dressing, olive oil, and oranges, and we sliced up the squash really
thin like potato chips,” Vela says. “I made a sauce out of olive oil,
orange juice, and Bragg’s and we served the chips with the sauce. I was
worried the kids wouldn’t like it, but they went crazy for it!”
Vela’s current fave is a mushroom dish with fennel, balsamic vinegar,
olive oil, garlic, orange juice, and basil. “I’ll add all kinds of
twists to it, and it can be served on top of bread,” she says. “I made
it for a friend who didn’t believe I was a chef, and he loved it.”
After graduation, Vela’s goal is to be a personal chef for a touring
hip-hop artist. “I’m a music producer, so I know a lot of artists, and
I’d like to go on tour with one,” she says. “I want to get my name out
there and gain experience.” In the next breath, she says her goals
change regularly, and that she’d also like to travel the world and be a
guest chef in restaurants across the globe. Travel is the theme, not
surprising, considering her childhood—and cooking. Expect to see Vela’s
name in the future. –Mary Vance |
