Culinary heavyweight Juan Manuel Barrientos Valencia, also widely known as chef Juanma, is the Colombian chef using his artistry to garner both fame and coveted Michelin stars.
The award-winning chef has just celebrated his Miami restaurant, Elcielo, retaining its prestigious Michelin star for a second consecutive year, as well as his ambassadorship for Gaggenau, and for being named as a member of the exclusive Black Jacket Society.
Chef Juanma has travelled the world, bringing sensory experiences and unique flavors and textures. His modern cooking techniques have revolutionised traditional Colombian cuisine, and his empire of restaurants and bars has grown across the USA and Latin America, as he now holds two Michelin stars in the Michelin Guide. Sofia Vergara has even named him her favourite Colombian chef.
He recently worked alongside chef Massimo Bottura at Miami’s Formula One weekend, and you can see him on the judging panel on Telemundo’s Top Chef VIP.
We sat down with the talented chef, businessman and entrepreneur to find out a little more.
Juanma, tell us a little bit about yourself, including your where you are today, professionally, and what got you here.
For the people, I am a Michelin star and a celebrity chef, and it’s such an honour to hear these references and opinions. However, I am Juan Manuel Barrientos, a simple ‘paisa’ (Gentilisio of those born in my city). My friends and the gastronomic world know me as Juanma.
I was born in Medellín, Colombia and I am a father, cook, businessman, entrepreneur, lecturer, and peace leader with more than eleven restaurants, bars, and a hotel. I was the creator and founder of Elcielo Restaurants in Medellín, Bogotá, Miami, Washington, D. C., and Elcielo luxury boutique hotel in Medellín.
I studied at Colegiatura Colombiana in Medellín, and at Mariano Moreno in Buenos Aires. I started my career in 2005 alongside renowned chefs such as Iwao Komiyama (Argentina) and Juan Mari Arzak (Spain). I want to have more Elcielo restaurants and hotels worldwide, bringing Elcielo to cities such as Los Angeles, New York, and Madrid or paradisiac countries such as the Dominican Republic, bringing together the unique experiences and flavours of Elcielo and Colombia.
What does it mean to you to be accepted into the Black Jacket Society?
To be the first Latin American to have that black jacket is an honour, according to Gaggenau, whose intent was to create a recognition programme to celebrate chefs, bestow a black jacket to those whose restaurants have attained Michelin Guide status and reflect the principles and philosophy of the Gaggenau brand.
In the words of Skyler Stevenson, senior product and marketing manager for Gaggenau US: “The members of the Gaggenau Black Jacket Society demonstrate our commitment to quality and hold us to their own extremely high standards of excellence. Our Gaggenau Black Jacket Society chefs strive for perfection in every dish, each of them exemplifying the core of the Gaggenau and Michelin Guide Partnership – a commitment to celebrate talented chefs who represent the pinnacle of excellence in their craft.”
I received this achievement next to my parents and my daughter Azul because we are a family company, and I had the privilege of receiving it with Alain Verzeroli, executive sous chef at Arpège in Paris (Robuchon), and the lead of Le Jardinier and L’Atelier of Joël Robuchon Miami.
What does it mean to you to be a recipient of a Michelin star? Was that a goal of yours for a number of years?
Receiving a star in the Michelin Guide is one of the greatest honors for a person who chooses a culinary profession. It’s like a cooking Oscar. It is a life goal and an illusion, and achieving it makes the sacrifice, discipline, and dedication so much more worth it. What is left after is profit, but what was outside my expectations is being the owner and creator of Elcielo D.C., the first Colombian restaurant in the Michelin Guide to appear with Colombian cuisine, and now having two award-winning restaurants (Washington D.C. and Miami) makes it even more special and unique.
What or who inspired you to become a chef?
It all started as a hobby because I always saw my mother and grandmothers cook. When I was young, I didn’t know what to do. I had many interests in business and administration. Still, I was conquered by gastronomy when I read a book with the story of Ferran Adria and Juan Mari Arzak, then I confirmed it by learning the story of the Roca brothers.
Who has been your biggest influence to get you to where you are today?
My father, because he was the one who got me into the business world. He is a very disciplined man, and he taught me that verification is the key to success.
How would you describe your cooking style?
Modern, creative, and innovative Colombian cuisine. I like the cassava gnocchi with ripe plantain honey paired with a cloud of cheese and truffles. The Colombian ceviches we have created in the Elcielo laboratory with different Colombian fruits are the true wealth of our pantry and make us memorable within the gastronomic universe.
What’s a dish that brings you joy to make?
I like to prepare food for my daughter Azul and cook for my girlfriend. Azul loves every vegetable, and my girlfriend loves pasta. I constantly innovate and create to surprise them because their palates are even more demanding than mine. I also like to cook new dishes with my creative workshop team and challenge them to improve or edit the preparations to give them that unique touch. That is the hallmark of all Elcielo dishes.
How do you go about menu planning?
We create the menus by travelling, researching, and meeting in our creative workshop. We appeal to the Colombian culture that, above all, is fun. We are inspired by magical realism. The creation of a menu can last about three months.
Colombia inspires me above all. I travel, visit other restaurants, and bring global gastronomic perspectives and trendy tendencies to the local environment of my restaurants. For me, it is imperative to eat in each of the cities of the world that I visit.
What’s the process from picking the ingredients to getting them fresh into the kitchen and into dishes?
In the US, I like the springtime with the best vegetable selection and the fall selecting mushrooms. In Colombia, we have the luck that all year long, we have excellent quality and a variety of vegetables and fruit production, with an organic quality that I can’t compare now with other countries. We are indeed Dorado legend land, and instead of gold, our treasure is the ingredients.
Do you have a favorite time of year or set of ingredients that you look forward to working with?
Spring and fall in the USA. We produce and harvest some of the best vegetables and ingredients all year in Colombia.
What is your favorite ingredient to create with?
Coconut, sweet plantain, corn, and cassava because they are the essential ingredients of Colombian cuisine.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a chef?
I would be running some sort of business. I am an entrepreneur, and I love to create businesses and create new projects all the time. I never stop (just at the end of the year for a vacation with my family), it can be overwhelming for my employees or family, but they have learned my personal style of being. My employees, family, and I are so happy about our achievements and the excellent promotion of Colombia that we can do together.
Tell us about your philanthropy work.
Elcielo Foundation is a non-profit entity where, for 15 years, we have been helping soldiers wounded in combat. This demobilization forced displacement and put people in vulnerable situations. With our foundation, they have been trained in cooking and various areas with reconciliation and forgiveness activities. My family and I created it and my mother, Gloria Valencia, is the director. More than 1,500 people, including former ex-guerilla members and soldiers injured by mines have been trained to cook for Elcielo Foundation since it was founded.
When you’re not in the kitchen, where can you be found?
When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m traveling, seeing new places, and visiting different countries and cultures. I love to visit the markets, find contemporary and traditional restaurants to discover what is trending locally, and enjoy the diverse culinary cultures. Sometimes I am doing a TV show, such as TOPChef by Telemundo, for the US Hispanic market (Puerto Rico, Central American, and the Caribbean).
What’s your favourite guilty pleasure?
I love ice cream, I am crazy for it, and fries with hollandaise sauce.
Where is your favourite place to dine besides El Cielo?
A local restaurant in Medellin called Sancho Paisa is my favourite place for lunch.
What do you think is the most overhyped food trend?
Giving my opinion about this topic is something that requires conscientious study and research. That is why I am not answering the question, but I believe that the entire industry should take care of the environment. Like that, the Michelin Guide is awarding green stars as an incentive to encourage green practices that are more respectful of the planet. Anything that is unhealthy is overrated because the price we pay is with our health.
What differences do you find working with local produce as opposed to non-local produce in terms of what you can create and flavour?
For me, it is vital that the local product is always the protagonist. We have alliances with local producers in each city where we have restaurants. Supporting farms and growers in the surrounding area is part of our ‘GLOCAL’ philosophy, which consists of thinking global but acting local. We try to have 70 percent of local products; for example, in El Cielo, DC, we have producers from Virginia and Maryland, with 30 percent of ingredients that come from Colombia. This is how we exalt the local product but also show the Colombian culture.
How would you describe the food you create at El Cielo to someone who’s never experienced your kind of food? What is the USP of your restaurant?
Our gastronomic experience is unique, unrepeatable, unforgettable, and worldwide, I don’t know another like it. I believe that if someone has to jump from a parachute or go diving once in their life, coming to Elcielo is something similar, it is something that should be done even if it is a once in a lifetime.
Our unique value proposition, for those who don’t know us, is modern Colombian cuisine, a fun, disruptive fine dining that stimulates the five senses. We love, and we intend to steal a smile from each customer.
Do you have any upcoming plans for El Cielo or yourself personally this year?
We are opening a new concept: Elcielo at the Beach at the SLS Hotel in Miami Beach later this year. We are considering opening a souvenir shop in our El Cielo boutique hotel in Medellin, because travellers from all over the world ask us for our brand products. Also, Kaime, our vegan restaurant, is launching a line of plant-based products to sell in supermarkets in many parts of Colombia.
You can follow Juan Manuel Barrientos Valencia on Instagram here.
All imagery credit: Juan Manuel Barrientos Valencia
