Private Chef Sergio Rangel Penzo

Sergio Rangel Penzo. I grew up in a family that loved good food, blending flavors from different cultures and regions. At the age of eight, I began my culinary journey under the guidance of my paternal grandmother, who ran a home restaurant. I helped prepare meals for countless people, learning to manage large volumes of diners. I was developing my taste memory, which gave me a global perspective on gastronomy. My travels through South America and Europe further expanded my culinary horizons.

In 1999, I decided to focus on haute cuisine in Barcelona, integrating my artistic process with a multisensory culinary experience. I participated in the Master in Gastronomy at ESAH Sevilla in 2001 and from 2003 to 2005, I completed intensive training at the Hoffmann School, including a monographic course on rice at the Horeca Barcelona School.

1999 marked a turning point in Spanish cuisine with Ferran Adrià being named the best chef in the world. From 1999 to 2003, I was part of the opening team at the Hotel Grand Marina in Barcelona, under Chef Santi Santamaria, who held three Michelin stars. The menu combined tradition with local products, offering a unique fusion aimed at delighting diners.

Simultaneously, I worked with Chef José Ramón Neira (Monchos) at Botafumeiro in Barcelona, specializing in meat and fish for a menu influenced by nouvelle cuisine française and the finest Galician market products. From 2001 to 2003, I worked as a rice cook at Can Solé and Can Ros de la Barceloneta, which allowed me to meet master chocolatier Oriol Balaguer and expand my recipe book.

From 2001 to 2006, I participated in the kitchen restructuring project at Hotel Abat Cisneros Montserrat. As a second chef, I managed large banquets and events, developing my first gastronomic proposals. These included a reformulated Esqueixada and a gazpacho of strawberries with green bell pepper foam.

In 2006, I worked as a floor chef for an Italian trattoria catering, producing traditional Italian cuisine. This led to a course on self-cooking at the elBullitaller de la calle Portaferrissa by Chef Ferran Adrià, where I specialized in vacuum cooking. This experience taught me to see cooking as a multisensory art form, understanding the importance of basic techniques rooted in Auguste Escoffier’s principles.

From 2007 to 2010, I focused on research related to food regimes and regeneration processes for large events. During this time, I worked for Iberia airline catering, creating gourmet menus for business class. This project expanded my recipe book and improved my budget management skills.

In 2009, I joined Catering Paradise Events Barcelona as a traveling chef, managing large events and optimizing kitchen operations. By 2011, I worked for Princesa Sofía Gran Hotel, Fairmont Barcelona Rey Juan Carlos I Hotel, and ABaC Hotel, collaborating with chefs like José Andrés, Jordi Cruz, and Sergi Arola.

In 2012, I moved to Belgium to work as a chef de partie at Viage Casino, focusing on Mediterranean fusion cuisine. In 2014, I started my own haute cuisine project, Thuis Haute Cuisine Sous Vide, which offered a simplified, minimalistic fine dining experience. Despite its success, we closed in 2016 due to expansion constraints.

At the same time, in 2015, I began working for Chef Jean-Pierre Bruneau, known for classical cuisine and a Michelin star. This experience deepened my understanding of traditional Belgian cuisine and pastry. From 2016, I was a chef at Hotel Eurostars Montgomery in Brussels, creating a menu that fused Mediterranean and Belgian cuisine.

From 2017 to 2019, I worked with Chef Cédric Callenaere at Aux Armes de Bruxelles classic belgian brasserie founded in 1921 by Chef Calixte Veulemans who introduced the concept of serving mussels in the pot, which is how they are still served today in Belgium, focusing on classic French brasserie cuisine and Belgian beer cuisine. In 2020, I moved to Amsterdam, working as a chef and proposing menus featuring long-aged meats, traditional sauces, and classic French salads with Oriental and Dutch influences, up to December 2023 when he returns to Belgium, where he works for the Haute Cuisine Catering Choux de Bruxelles until June 2024. In November 2024 he moved to New York to broaden his professional horizons. Among his future projects is El Manolo, an innovative concept of gourmet tapas in take away format among others focused on ethno-cultural fusion and multi-sensory cuisine, which is based on the paths of his master Ferran Adrià, who after participating in Documenta 12 Kassel takes the kitchen to the realms of art, in his case Sergio Rangel Penzo as an artist of extensive universal career considers that cooking is an art that involves a multisensory interactive experience where conceptual abstraction is transformed into an endless number of sensations in communion.