See why Manoella “Manu” Buffara is the best chef in Latin America.

Champion of a better environment and advocate for urban gardening, Manu Buffara created her own network of local producers. KTCHNrebel spoke with the Brazilian chef about the Latin America’s Best Female Chef 2022 award, her goals and cooking style, as well as her new New York City restaurant, Ella.

Chapeau – This year, Manoella “Manu” Buffara was named Latin America’s Best Female Chef 2022. “I feel emotional and deeply grateful. Being recognized by such a diverse and highly professional group of people is no easy task,” said Manu Buffara. She was thrilled with the award. “I know my name is well-known at the moment. I’ve been invited to many events. But I was very surprised to be chosen by friends and an incredible group of 50 gourmets and Oscar winners.” To her, the award is “a channel to talk about the importance of learning about local food and seeking out high-quality products that grow close to home.” In other words, it can serve as a vehicle and a voice for her values.

Today, the in-demand star chef lives with her husband and two daughters in a home surrounded by vegetable gardens and beehives on the outskirts of Curitiba, a city in the state of Paraná in Brazil.

“Cooking is an expression of love, knowledge, technology, authenticity, and respect. Respect for the ingredient, the product, the farmers, and the land. It’s about who you are and where you belong.” — Manu Buffara

The origin of her passion for cooking

Manu Buffara spent the first 14 years of her life on her parents’ farm in Maringá, in the heart of the country. “My passion for cooking began with my father and my family. I come from the countryside and grew up with goats, cows, fields, and corn plantations. I learned from my father to value the land and the animals, and everything they give us when treated with love,” says the 39-year-old. “My grandmother taught me how important our hands are — the temperatures, the cooking points, the timing to bake bread, and the love we must have for food.

The Brazilian didn’t realize she wanted to become a chef until she was 20 years old. “At the time, I was studying journalism. I was working at a restaurant in a ski resort near Seattle. That’s when I realized how food can change people’s moods. I became fascinated by gastronomy.” So, after completing her journalism studies, she enrolled in hospitality and culinary courses at Centro Europeu in Curitiba. Later, Buffara moved to the Piedmont region of Italy, where she earned her chef’s diploma from the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners (ICIF). She then went on to complete internships at the renowned Noma in Copenhagen and Alinea in Chicago. Manu Buffara later worked as head chef for restaurants within the Brazilian hotel chain Rede DeVille.

She has been running Manu, her restaurant in Curitiba, since 2011 — the first restaurant in Brazil led by a female chef. Manu features just five tables, seating up to 20 guests, and offers a tasting menu. The chef uses only fresh, seasonal ingredients — local vegetables, seafood, and meat. Eighty percent of her suppliers are located within a 200-mile radius of the restaurant. The lamb and pork — specifically Porco Moura — come from small-scale farms. Sixty percent of the ingredients are plant-based. “At the moment, I prefer to work with vegetables.” In 2021, she cooked at the luxury Soneva resort in the Maldives. “Thanks to that project, I had the idea of creating a vegan and vegetarian menu,” the chef explains.

Regional products – the key ingredient in Buffara’s exceptional cuisine

Manu Buffara sees her kitchen as a laboratory where she works with techniques and ingredients to create the kind of world she wants to live in. “By cooking only with fresh fish, I help draw attention to local fishermen and show people that it’s much smarter and healthier to buy from them. I do the same when I talk about local Brazilian honey, local cassava flour, and the fruits and mushrooms from my home country.” The chef serves dishes such as mussels with nuts and uarini, or octopus with black beans and cashew nuts.

Rubens kato

“My inspiration comes from my story, from the people who are in my life or pass through it. From nature, animals, the sea, and my travels.”
— Manu Buffara

Her motivation is clear: “The desire to pursue my dreams, to passionately seek creativity and sources of inspiration. I’m interested in research, social projects, my country, and the discovery of new flavors and new types of cuisine.” The Brazilian chef wants to create choreographies with her plates. “I want to draw unforgettable edible lines, I want to write and tell a story through my food — the story of my community, my life, my family, my country.”

Imagem: Rubens kato

A Cause Close to Her Heart: Sustainability

The Brazilian chef is deeply committed to supporting young producers, as well as local fishing and farming in Paraná, and preserving native Brazilian bees. Since 2016, she has been involved in the Urban Gardens project led by the city of Curitiba. “By law, vacant lots can be converted into community gardens,” says Buffara. Today, the initiative includes a total of 89 urban gardens and 5,000 participating families. In 2020, she also founded the Instituto Manu Buffara, which annually organizes Alimenta Curitiba — an event focused on education and social inclusion in the city’s most underserved neighborhoods.

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Social media: tools for communication, sources of information and inspiration

She also shares her philosophy on Instagram. “I believe social media plays a fundamental role in how we interact. It has a major impact on the way we communicate, our consumption habits, and access to information.”

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Her posts are a blend of her personal and professional life. “My posts show what I’m doing when I’m with my family, when I meet my friends for a Sunday meal, what sport I practice, when I travel, or which events I attend. But I also share my work at Manu with my staff and producers, as well as my social projects through the Instituto Manu Buffara.” This inspiring and authentic mix of content — along with the passion with which Manu Buffara communicates her values and convictions — also won over the jury of the Best Chefs on Instagram Award 2022.

People in restaurants – not workers

The chef holds her team in high regard. “Restaurants are built on people, not on workers. We need to make sure they are mentally, physically, and financially healthy.”As a result, at the end of 2019, she cut the capacity of her restaurant Manu in half, reducing the number of tables from ten to five. The restaurant is now open only four days a week instead of five. She also introduced new team-building initiatives, such as weekly English classes and team days with activities like rafting and trekking. “That was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made — not just for me and my personal life, but also for the team,” says Buffara.

Team cohesion is essential for the chef-owner. “There are both women and men on my team. What I expect is commitment, responsibility, and respect. I believe that if this is the standard in every workplace, those differences won’t be an issue. Instead, we’ll be talking about the intrinsic qualities of each of us as human beings — and our responsibility toward the environment, the planet, and the world we’re trying to build.”

Chefs can make a difference

According to Manu Buffara, gastronomy is undergoing a profound transformation. “It is our duty to keep advocating for the land, nature, our culture, and the right to decent and fair food for every person.” It’s no coincidence that chefs, in particular, are becoming vocal on the matter. “Food waste, better use of ingredients, and feeding people are major issues today. And we, as chefs, are like high-performance athletes. I don’t just think about how to use a banana, but also what to do with the peel. It’s part of a collaborative effort to change the environment I live in and make better decisions for the city where I live and work.”

Imagem: Rubens Kato

Time and again, the culinary artist is drawn out into the world to be a guest in other kitchens. Until November 2023, Manu Buffara will be cooking at “Fresh in the Garden” — at the Soneva Resort in the Maldives. Part of her team from Curitiba will be joining her, relocating to the Maldives for a year to cook with ingredients grown in the island’s gardens, as well as those sourced from Sri Lanka, India, and across Asia. But how does she balance her personal and professional life? It’s possible to combine family and a career in the restaurant world, she says. “Family is made up of the people who support you, protect you, and are always by your side.” Next spring, the chef will move to New York City for a few months to open her new project and second restaurant, Ella.
Quote: “I cherish my foundation and honor my roots. They are my beginning, my middle, and my end,” says Buffara.

Imagem: Rubens Kato

“It was originally scheduled to open in 2020. But the pandemic and its effects threw everything out of sync.” The new restaurant is currently under construction in New York’s Meatpacking District; the design, featuring lots of wood, was envisioned by architect Marcio Kogan. The goal of Ella is to bring Brazilian cuisine to New York City with a touch of femininity and delicacy. “The menu includes some colorful dishes for everyone — the same ones I serve to my friends and family at Sunday dinners and parties,” says Manu Buffara. Ella will seat 50 guests and will be closed on Mondays. Seafood and vegetables will be at the heart of the menu. “The restaurant in New York will carry the Brazilian soul — the creativity, the ease, and the love for cooking,” she says.

Source: www.ktchnrebel.com