Paris, early April. A quiet morning on Rue du Nil.

Before we started, Cecilia suggested I stop by Plaq, a small chocolate manufacture and boutique in the heart of Paris. As they describe it, everything is handcrafted from bean to bar.

So I did.

The smell is unbearably good. The chocolate feels honest, raw, bare, and simply perfect.

Rue du Nil is this kind of street too — lined with vegetable stands, seafood shops, bakeries, and people carrying produce between kitchens. But you'll see it all.

We sat down to talk about Cecilia's journey into cooking, the relationship between fashion and food, simplicity, product, childhood memories, and what comes next.

I've been cooking at home since I was around eighteen or twenty. I had a big eating disorder that made me curious about what I was eating. In order to understand what I was consuming, I had to investigate and experiment.

From there, I started cooking for friends. During my Erasmus, we used to organise big Sunday lunches, and I was always the one cooking. Later, when I moved back home, I cooked for my parents, my sister, and my family. Every chance I had to cook for friends, I would take it.

That's how I became interested in food.

At the time, I was studying fashion. I worked in fashion for a couple of years, mostly in event production. Through that work I became very familiar with catering, hospitality, and the food side of events. I could see how fashion and food were becoming increasingly connected.

Then I moved to Lisbon for a short period. I was still working in fashion, but not full-time, so I asked for a position in a restaurant kitchen because I wanted to understand what happened behind the scenes and whether I was genuinely interested in cooking professionally.

I started with a three-day-a-week trial. Eventually, I was working both jobs — fashion during the day and the restaurant at night.

It got to a point where I was sitting in the office simply waiting for the time when I could leave for the restaurant.

So I quit.

And here we are.

At first it was more about design, culture, and the artistic side of things.

But little by little I realised that what I'm truly passionate about is restaurants, hospitality, and cooking itself — not so much fashion anymore.

I still appreciate when food and fashion intersect, whether through events or collaborations, but it's no longer something I feel particularly interested in producing or consuming myself.

I just cook.

I'm still figuring it out and discovering it every day.

I cook what I've eaten, what my friends and family have told me about, and what I read about. It's very closely linked to tradition, mostly Spanish tradition.

I read a lot, and I'm interested in discovering things that have almost been forgotten.

My family comes from different parts of Spain, so I grew up with a mix of traditions. Then I lived in Italy for two years and ate incredibly well. I travelled around the country, spent time with friends and their families, and absorbed a lot from those experiences.

After that I spent two years in Portugal and took some traditions from there too.

So it's a mix of everything.

A good dish is one that's so good you can simply enjoy it.

You don't have to think too much about what you're eating. You don't have to decode it. You can see what it is.

It's not overly complex. It's so good that you can enjoy the company, enjoy the moment, and feel comforted by it. And if it brings memories back, even better.

I've discovered that there are young people cooking tradition in a way that is somewhat similar to what I try to do.

Of course, many of them have more experience than I do and operate at a higher level.

I really appreciate their work and look up to them.

Absolutely.

It's difficult to impress people with something simple because they think they already know it.

They think, "I can make this at home," or "I can get something similar somewhere else."

So yes, simplicity is difficult.

Coming from Spain, and considering what I cook, I'd say potatoes, eggs, olive oil, and garlic.

Offal.

I read a lot about it, but I haven't had many opportunities to work with it professionally because the kitchens I've worked in have been small, and the public isn't always very open-minded.

Whenever possible, I experiment with it at home.

Being freelance gives you a lot of freedom.

You meet different people, work in different environments, and learn how to adapt to different kitchens.

But personally, I enjoy working in the same place for a long time much more. I like developing a project that evolves together with the place and the people around it.

I don't know if I can share them yet.

But yes, there are plans.

Honestly, I think all of them belong to my childhood.

I was a very picky eater when I was young, so I mostly ate very simple things. As I said before, making something basic interesting isn't easy.

One thing that has always stayed with me is ice cream.

I've loved ice cream since I was born. When I wasn't eating properly as a child, the doctor told my mother, "As long as she eats ice cream, she's okay."

So if I ever get the opportunity to really play with ice cream in a restaurant, I think that would be amazing.

For me, it's about memories.

But it's also about the cook's ability to respect the product they're working with.

I want to be able to recognise the ingredient. I want to appreciate it in ways I maybe haven't before.

I want to be surprised.

I shop here for myself.

All of these shops are connected to a professional supplier that many restaurants use.

When I worked in restaurants full-time, I ordered from them regularly.

It's nice to come here now and see everything in real life.

For the next three weekends I'll be cooking near Canal Saint-Martin.

They're opening their terrace for spring, and I'll be doing lunch services on Saturdays and Sundays.

When someone invites me to do a pop-up, I first look at what they're already doing. I need to adapt to their environment.

For this project, for example, I'm trying to avoid meat as much as possible.

Then I read, speak with friends, go through my notes, and revisit ideas I've been collecting.

Most of my inspiration comes from food, books, and people.