Paula Báez

As a child, Báez helped her father in the kitchen, a connection that sparked her interest in gastronomy. After training as a cook, she decided she wanted to see the world and she set out for New Zealand where she worked in kitchens and vineyards of the Blenheim area until she decided the time had come to go home to Chile. She returned, and although she worked in some restaurants for a while, what she had in mind was to open her own business. She did, and Ají Color was born – a restaurant she runs with her family and expresses just that, traditional family cooking.

At the same time, Báez gradually made a name for herself speaking at food events, serving as a judge in cooking competitions and appearing on television shows in Chile and Spain.

Everywhere she has worked or collaborated, Báez has stayed true to her roots and has always been a proponent of Chilean flavours. This philosophy is what caught the attention of the Chilean delegation of the international association Les Toques Blanches (an organisation that promotes the creation of a global network of chefs), who offered her to become a member.

Today, her culinary journey goes on at Tres Peces, a project she launched with fellow chef Cristian Gómez and the journalist and fishery expert, Meyling Tang. Tres Peces opened in 2018 as the first sustainable fishing restaurant in Chile, serving fish, shellfish and seaweed sourced directly from fishermen coves and small-scale aquiculture at a fair price.