CHEF FOR A DAY

Roger Villalobos

MARZO 6, 2010

Our next CfD (Chef for a DayTM) Roger Villalobos was born in Santiago, Chile. He was raised by his mother & grandmother (Mapuche) who was a chef after she moved to the city from Southern Chile. He learned many different techniques & tricks from her & her Mapuche roots. One of the procedures was to cook with rain water.

His grandmother always motivated him to learn how to cook since he was very young. Both of them spent at least three months every year in the south of Chile (Temuco), which was mastered by Mapuche culture & traditions (agriculture & cattle raisers), earth workers. He was exposed to so many things related with culinary matter. For example, bake their everyday bread in a home-made wood oven made out of oil drum. He helped to do all kind of harvest & its rituals that he would never forget his roots, we just had well water, no energy, rarely transportation, and everything was so natural & related with ñuke mapu (mother earth). Then, at the age of 13, he decided to carry on culinary art at high school in which he learned the basic knowledge before he started working in the culinary field. He graduated in high school in Chile with culinary specialty & started working with one of the top ten Chilean Chefs at that time & worked with him for three years before moving to USA.

He enrolled at Stratford University in culinary art development program. Technical knowledge mixed with natural background makes him have a very particular style to create unique dishes with a very personal touch on every culinary activity. In the last six years he has been working with high profile chefs in DC area.

He is dedicating his Chef for a day event to his Grandma, Fresia. Love you vieja.

Prixe Fixe Three course Menu Dinner: $55.00*++

*A portion of the proceeds of Roger’s Chef for a Day dinner event on March 6^th will be donated to Mary Center of Washington, D.C.

About Mary’s Center Mission and Summary
The mission of Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care is to build better futures through the delivery of health care, education and social services. The Center embraces culturally diverse communities to provide them with the highest quality of care, regardless of their ability to pay. Founded in 1988 by President and CEO Maria Gomez, Mary’s Center developed as a community- based, nonprofit organization focused on maternal and child care for immigrant women from Latin America who were displaced by civil wars and other life casualties. As a National Council of la Raza affiliate and a full-service Federally Qualified Health Center, Mary’s Center serves more than 16,000 families, many of whom are recent immigrants from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

We envision a day when everyone will receive the highest quality of health care, education, and social services. By working together, we help members of all communities be their own advocates and produce generations of leaders ready to contribute to their community’s growth and well-being.