Chef Ana Garcia
One of the youngest, most vivacious spokeswomen of traditional Mexican cuisine, Chef Ana Garcia was born in Monterrey, Mexico on December 19, 1972 and raised in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. Chef Ana traces her linage in Cuernavaca well beyond the Mexican Revolution. Her great grandfather was a contemporary of the famous and revered revolutionary Emiliano Zapata and post-revolution Senator who participated in founding the first constitution for the State of Morelos. Her great grandmother was a well-know butcher with various stands in the large central mercado, revered for her incredible longaniza and chorizo. Chef Ana’s recipes and experiences are extracted from her family’s long history in central and northern Mexico. Her abilities as a chef are intricately linked to her close relationship with her mother, aunts, grandmothers and great grandmother as each passed down their culinary wisdom to her. Chef Ana’s specialties are traditional central and northern Mexican cuisine and experimental nouvelle Mexican cuisine using traditional ingredients in new and exciting ways.
Chef Ana has always maintained a passion for Mexican cuisine, even though she has never formally trained as a chef. Gaining her degree in business administration from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in 1998, Chef Garcia worked as a public relations specialist for a division of Cemex for two years before succumbing to her passion to cook and teach Mexican cuisine as her family taught her.
Chef Ana is owner and founder of La Villa Bonita Culinary Vacations® (www.lavillabonita.com) in Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico. Founded in 2000, La Villa Bonita offers culinary immersion packages to everyone from amateur chefs making their first tortilla to professional chefs looking for new ideas. The packages take place in the tranquil setting of a 33,000 square foot organic citrus orchard complete with a kitchen specially made for the culinary classes with an incredible view of the surrounding tepozteco mountains and the Tepoztlan convent. The LVB grounds provide 6 guest rooms, a pool, and a terrace above the kitchen where dinner is served in a very exclusive reservation-only restaurant. Because of her magnetic personality and true passion for traditional Mexican cuisine, Chef Garcia’s packages have become very popular, reaching the point where La Villa Bonita reaching its capacity year-round. Over her career, Chef Ana has also been chosen to sponsor products in the US market including Modelo Beers (Negra Modelo and Modelo Especial) as well as Mexicana Airlines. She has also a well-accomplished public speaker. She has given culinary demonstrations and lectures about Mexican Cuisine in the Orlando Culinary Institute, the Arizona Culinary Institute, the Chicago Hospitality Institute of Chicago, Central Market Cooking School, and the National Restaurant Association Convention.
La Villa Bonita has been named as one of the 5 best culinary vacations worldwide by The Food Network as well as one of "The 100 Best Vacations to Enrich Your Life" by National Geographic Books and author Pam Grout. La Villa Bonita culinary vacations have been featured on shows such as "Trivia Unwrapped," "Food Wine and Friends with Karen MacNeil" on PBS, and "Live! . . with Regis and Kelly." LVB has also been featured in Cooking Light, Bon Appetit, the Boston Globe and Newsweek. Chef Garcia is currently working on her first television series, "My Mexico with Chef Ana Garcia" and a book for the U.S. market that will be released in 2009.
Chef Ana served as the executive chef of Reposado in Cuernavaca for 9 years and is now head Chef of La Mesa de Ana located on the grounds of La Villa Bonita. Chef Garcia also founded in 2007, Cafe Cinco, an ecological cafe constructed with recycled products which is located in front of the Montessori Tepoztlan.
La Villa Bonita Culinary Vacation
Packages®
Cafe5®,
La Mesa de Ana ®
Prol. Aniceto
Villamar #150, Col. Tierra Blanca,
Tepoztlan, Morelos, México
Telephone +(52) 777-169-7232
US Transferred to Mexico 646-216-8604
US Toll-Free
1 (866)-687-9933
http://www.lavillabonita.com
reservations@lavillabonita.com
