Interview Series Chef Extraordinaire - Alberto Collarte
Chef Alberto Collate is originally from Santiago, Chile. He found his passion for cuisine at an early age, learning to cook with his father and grandmother. A few months before graduating in Communications, his father passed away, inspiring him to change course and follow his cooking mentor and study atCulinary Santiago. After working at several restaurants, he rose through the culinary ranks and years later he was invited to serve as a private chef on a yacht allowing him to travel ALL OVER the world. For more than 7 years, he was able to savor and study ingredients and techniques of each stop along the way. Currently he has started a new project in Todos Santos - CAHUÍN.
by Mayté Rodríguez Cedillo and Fernando Favela · Chef Extraordinaire · BajaTraveler.com
Your cuisine feels deeply personal. If you had to distill your culinary identity into one essential idea, what would it be—and how has it evolved over time?
I would say my cuisine is about fire, memory, and the place where I am cooking. It started in a very natural way, from family flavors, from Chile, from travel, and from all the kitchens where I have worked. Over time it became more connected to the product and less about trying to impress. Today I like food that has technique, but also soul. Food that tastes good, feels honest, and has a little bit of rock and roll.
Baja California offers a striking sense of place. How do you translate the landscape—sea, desert, and vineyard—into a coherent culinary language?
Baja is very powerful because it gives you many contrasts. You have the sea, the desert, the vineyards, the fire, the dust, the wind, and this very free energy. I try to bring all of that into the food without making it too complicated. Sometimes it is a fresh clam, sometimes a grilled fish, sometimes vegetables cooked over charcoal, sometimes a sauce with acidity and smoke. For me, Baja is not about forcing a concept; it is about letting the place speak.
Every great chef develops an almost obsessive relationship with certain ingredients. Which ones define your kitchen, and why are they indispensable?
I always go back to seafood, charcoal, olive oil, citrus, chiles, herbs, and good vegetables. I like ingredients that are simple but have character. Fire is also very important in my kitchen because it changes the personality of everything. It gives depth, but if you use it well, it does not hide the product. I like that balance.
Technique is necessary. You need control, consistency, and respect for the product. But intuition is what makes the dish feel alive. Sometimes a dish looks perfect on paper and then you taste it and it needs something more. Maybe acidity, smoke, less garnish, more simplicity. I like to cook with structure, but I also like to leave space for instinct, for the moment, for the music, for the fire, and for the people eating.
For me, food and wine need to have a conversation. The dish cannot fight with the wine, but it also cannot be boring. In Valle, the wines have personality, so the food needs personality too. I like to work with acidity, smoke, umami, herbs, and clean flavors because they connect very well with wine. When the pairing works, you feel it right away. One bite, one sip, and everything makes sense.
From your perspective, how is Valle de Guadalupe positioned today within the international food and wine landscape?
Valle is in a very interesting moment. It already has recognition, but I think the best part is that it still feels alive and a little wild. It is not trying to be Napa or Tuscany, and that is good. Valle has its own personality: wine, food, landscape, design, and a creative energy that feels very Baja. I think people from outside are starting to understand that this is not only a wine destination. It is a culinary destination with its own voice.
Luxury today is not only about expensive ingredients or very formal service. For me, luxury is when everything feels real and well done. Good food, good wine, warm service, music at the right moment, the right light, and a team that cares. The experience has to feel generous and natural, not stiff. I think the best luxury is when the guest feels that everything was thought through, but nothing feels forced.
Sustainability is often discussed, but rarely understood in depth. What meaningful practices—often unseen by the guest—truly shape your approach?
For me, sustainability starts with common sense. Buy better, waste less, use the product well, respect the season, and work closely with local producers. A lot of the real work happens behind the scenes: good storage, smart prep, using bones and trim for stocks or sauces, controlling portions, and training the team to understand why it matters. It is not just writing ‘local’ on a menu. It is the daily discipline of making better decisions.
Which global influences have shaped your vision, and how do you reinterpret them while preserving a strong sense of place?
Travel has shaped me a lot. México, Chile, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, France — each place gave me something. From the Mediterranean I learned simplicity, olive oil, seafood, vegetables, and sharing. From Mexico, I learned depth, acidity, chiles, fire, and soul. From Chile, I carry memory and emotion. But I do not like copying. I prefer to take an idea or a technique and translate it through Baja, through the product, the wine, the sea, and the fire.
Beyond trends, what kind of legacy do you hope to build—and how do you envision the future of Baja’s cuisine on the global stage?
I would like to build something honest. Something that respects the product, the team, the producers, and the place. A chef’s legacy is not only the dishes; it is also the people you train, the culture you create, and the way people remember the experience. I think Baja has a very strong future, but it needs to keep its freedom and its identity. The best thing about Baja is that it is not too polished. It has sea, desert, wine, fire, and creativity. That is very powerful.
BajaTraveler® Signature Closing
1. A wine that never fails to move you (red, white, or sparkling)
Red
2. One Baja ingredient you can’t live without
Almeja Chocolata – It is one of those ingredients that really tastes like Baja — fresh, briny, a little wild, and deeply connected to the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez. For me, it represents the sea in a very honest and powerful way.
3. A restaurant anywhere in the world that recently inspired you
I always get inspired by places that feel alive, not perfect. A place
with good music, good fire, good wine & people enjoying
themselves.
4. Sea or land—where do you find more inspiration?
Sea – but honestly, in Baja the magic happens when the sea
meets the land.
5. A perfect pairing—simple, yet unforgettable
Grilled oysters, a little smoke, citrus, and a cold white wine.
6. A guilty pleasure
A very good sandwich. Simple, messy, delicious. No shame.
7. The first dish or memory that defined your palate
Family food in Chile. Those flavors stay with you forever,
even when your cooking evolves.
8. If you weren’t a chef, what would you be…
I think I would be a director of photography in cinema, because I love light, atmosphere, movement, and telling a story through images. Or maybe a musician. In some way, I would still be
creating something, just with a camera or an instrument instead
of a kitchen.
9. A culinary destination you consider essential today
Baja California. Not because I am here, but because it has
something real happening right now.
10. In one word: what is Baja to you?
FREEDOM