Interview Series Chef Extraordinaire - Paolo Della Corte
Chef Paolo Della Corte is a chef from Campania Italy who loves México and is passionate for gastronomy. Paolo has a passion for food, attention to detail, and the ability to combine traditional cuisine in innovative ways. Paolo has collaborated with Europe's renowned Michelin-starred chefs, including Joël Robuchon of the 2-Michelin-starred restaurant L'Atelier Saint-Germain in Paris, Rossellinis, 2-Michelin-starred Hotel Palazzo Avino on the Amalfi Coast and Chef Heston Blumenthal, whose exceptionally high standards and foundational experience greatly influenced Paolo during his collaboration with 3-Michelin-starred restaurant The Fat Duck in London.
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?
My culinary identity can be summed up in one essential idea: absolute respect for the land and its history, expressed through technique. For me, a dish is a dialogue between the local environment and personal experiences, striving to ensure that each bite tells an honest story.
Baja California offers a striking sense of place. How do you translate the landscape—sea, desert, and vineyard—into a coherent culinary language?
This coherent culinary language fuses traditional Mexican ingredients, Mediterranean techniques and an Asian spirit, creating an identity where the land and the ocean are served on the same plate.
Every great chef develops an almost obsessive relationship with certain ingredients. Which ones define your kitchen, and why are they indispensable?
Starting with the marine nature that the lowlands provide us, such as good oysters and good clams, which combined with some ingredients from my childhood make the perfect pairing.
I use intuition to define the “spark” and creative direction, and I apply technical precision like the chisel that sculpts that idea to bring it to life flawlessly.
To enhance the wine in a menu, the weight and intensity of the dish should be matched to those of the wine in the glass. The goal is to achieve a balance between similarity (combining related flavors) or contrast (cleansing the palate,) for example, by using acidity to cut through richness.
From your perspective, how is Valle de Guadalupe positioned today within the international food and wine landscape?
Valle de Guadalupe has established itself as Mexico’s most important wine region and culinary epicenter. Its distinctive focus on signature cuisine and its wine offerings have placed it on the International map as a top-tier food and wine destination.
An exceptional experience is defined by traceability, origin-based cuisine and personalization, transforming the act of eating into a conscious journey.
Sustainability is often discussed, but rarely understood in depth. What meaningful practices—often unseen by the guest—truly shape your approach?
Such as kitchen waste management, energy cogeneration in engine rooms, water purification and the use of biodegradable cleaning products—constitute the true ecological backbone of a hotel, reducing its environmental footprint without the guest noticing.
Which global influences have shaped your vision, and how do you reinterpret them while preserving a strong sense of place?
By processing information in multiple languages and from different origins, interpreting the world by recognizing the richness of local nuances, avoiding a homogeneous view.
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?
A cuisine of regional origin (from the sea, the garden and the ranch) that deeply connects the land, the ocean and the table.
BajaTraveler® Signature Closing
1. A wine that never fails to move you (red, white, or sparkling)
Sparkling
2. One Baja ingredient you can’t live without
Flour Tortilla
3. A restaurant anywhere in the world that recently inspired you
Not exactly a restaurant, but the whole Middle Eastern and
Asian culture
4. Sea or land—where do you find more inspiration?
Sea
5. A perfect pairing—simple, yet unforgettable
Raw fish – Champagne
6. A guilty pleasure
Working at night
7. The first dish or memory that defined your palate
my mom’s and grandma’s kitchen
8. If you weren’t a chef, what would you be…
Salesman
9. A culinary destination you consider essential today
Asia
10. In one word: what is Baja to you?
CONTRASTS