“My heart is in the kitchen”
Mauro Massimino chef and owner of Buenos Aires Verde
You can say that from an early age I liked the kitchen, I don’t know if it was clear to me, but I cooked and really enjoyed eating good.
When I was 18 years old, I attended a cooking class given by Gato Dumas, who at the time was establishing his institute. At that talk I realized that cooking was my true passion, which, from then on sparked my interest in studying professionally what until that point I had been developing as an amateur.
In 1998 I began to pursue a degree in cooking and pastry making in his institute. Six months afterwards I began to work in different restaurants as a cook, and later as sous-chef.
At the same time, I invested my free time training myself and researching world cuisines, finished a Postgraduate Degree in Culinary Arts in the IAG, and had the fortune of working with different chefs that nowadays define tendencies.
In 2008 I began to naturally change my nutrition, which translated into my cuisine, reconnecting with seasonal produce, certified organic or agroecologic. I was always curious to discover the genuine, what is behind what we are shown, so as a way to round up my education I studied Organic Horticulture in the Agronomy School of UBA and specialized in naturist nutrition so I could understand how food affects our body. In that process I sought to transfer all the knowledge and technique of traditional cuisine into this style of nutrition, creating in the process a new cuisine.
It was then that I had the opportunity to express in my restaurant everything I had been working on. Buenos Aires Verde Palermo was born at a time when this type of nutrition was not known in Buenos Aires. Nevertheless, the important thing for me was to become involved and show the true value of food and its relationships. Afterwards, in 2017 I opened my second restaurant in Belgrano.
I have had a vegetarian and raw diet for over eleven years, not only for believing and having experienced by myself the positive effects of this diet, but also because respect for animals and the environment are essential for me.
I truly believe this type of cuisine offers the possibility of nourishing and reconnecting us with the true taste of food by having available all of their nutrients through prioritizing seasonal and certified organic produce, where skillfully applied technique will bring forth their finest expression.
I am a cook, I like fire, the energy of the kitchen and investigation, but over everything else I am drawn to the real, the pure and that which springs forth from the roots.
