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Honestly? By accident — and by saying yes to everything. I started as a chef, cooked at Prune in New York, then landed in the test kitchen at Saveur. One day a photographer watched me plate an eggplant dish and said, “You should be a food stylist.” That one sentence changed everything. Twenty years on set later, I wrote my books, and then the aprons happened — because I was cooking up a storm and still wanting to look fabulous. People kept asking “Is that a dress?!” and suddenly, Casa Velásquez was born. It was never a master plan. It was just following beauty wherever it led.
After Colombiana, my first book, people kept telling me they made the entire menus of chapter III A la Mesa — every dish, every playlist. That’s when I realized: this is how I actually think about food. Not as isolated recipes, but as a full experience, a narrative. So Revel is fifteen menus organized by time of day — because light changes everything. Morning brunches, lazy afternoons, late-night dinners. There are 85 recipes, but more than that, it’s a permission slip to host with joy and without apology. Even if you order the fries and plate them on a silver platter. (Truly — I do this.)
The collisions... NY is the worst city to have a bad day and everyone is hungry. You never know who you’ll end up next to on a shoot, at a market, or at someone’s kitchen at midnight. New York has this relentless creative energy that forces you to stay sharp, stay curious. The food community here is generous in a way that surprises people — there’s a real “let’s build this together” spirit. It’s also beautifully diverse. The city eats everything, questions everything, and demands that you bring your full self. I wouldn’t have become who I am professionally without New York pushing me.
Colombia taught me that more is more — and I’ve never unlearned that. Growing up in Bogotá, the table was always full: of people, of color, of generosity. Colombian cuisine and culture are inherently abundant, communal, and joyful. That’s in my DNA . It shows up in how I set a table, how I build a menu, how I think about hosting. I’m always asking: how do we make this feel like a celebration? Even Tuesday deserves flowers.
Oh, where do I even begin — I just launched a tabletop collection with Sur La Table and I am obsessed with every single piece. It’s everything Casa Velásquez stands for: unapologetically bold, maximalist, and joyful. We’re talking octagonal plates, cheeky lip prints, lush florals, rich colors — the kind of tableware that makes a anyday feel like a dinner party. Because honestly, it should. The collection was designed to go hand in hand with Revel — same philosophy, different medium. Beautiful things shouldn’t just sit in a cabinet waiting for a special occasion. Set the table with intention every single time. That’s the whole point.