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[title]There are chefs who stick to a single path, and others—like María Paz Urrutigoity—who choose to explore them all. A chef and entrepreneur, she found in gastronomy a language to nourish, share, and teach at the same time. Her work unfolds across three interconnected fronts: the cooking classes she has taught for over two decades; the kitchen as a craft, passion, and way of life; and the restaurant she opened just over a year ago with two partners.
For her, cooking is much more than preparing a dish—it’s a daily act that brings order, connection, and transformation. “A home where food is cooked, where a flame is lit, feels more like a home,” she sums up. With that premise, she leads a project that combines flavors, knowledge, and experiences. Urrutigoity is convinced that cooking is both a refuge and a bridge to others.
From childhood experiments to a personal style
Since childhood, María had an insatiable curiosity for cooking—not something she inherited from family, but something that came instinctively. She would mix ingredients without direction, kneeling in the pantry to see what she could find, beginning her culinary adventures that often ended with her throwing everything away. “I feel like cooking found me. At home, meals were simple and quick, but I already had this instinct to combine things, even though I had no idea what I was doing,” she recalls.
The education that shaped a Mendocinian chef
Her passion for cooking kept growing, though, as she says, “nothing was obvious for me.” It was the recipe supplements by chef Blanca Cotta—published in the newspaper—that inspired her to learn more about ingredients, cooking times, flavor combinations, and tips. “She made me feel that anyone could cook. I still have those booklets bound together; with her, I began practicing mainly sweet recipes,” she shares.
“Blanca Cotta made me feel that anyone could cook”
Following her intuition that gastronomy was her path, María paused her psychology studies to formally train in the culinary arts. “My college folder had three pages of Freud and five recipes,” she laughs. She first studied at Culinary Academy in Chile, then returned to Mendoza to enroll at the Instituto de Alta Gastronomía Arrayanes.
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None of her decisions were random—María had a plan: to learn by working in the kitchens of the best, such as Francis Mallmann, with whom she completed her “most fruitful internships,” and later with the team at Azafrán, one of the Michelin-starred restaurants in Mendoza. Each experience helped her shape a personal style she now defines as “essentially simple but intense.”
“I create dishes where flavors and textures are enhanced to their fullest, with contrasts that surprise the palate. I like to bring a dish to its highest expression—sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter elements coexisting in harmony.”
"I like to bring a dish to its highest expression—sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter elements coexisting in harmony"
For Urrutigoity, cooking is a vital act: “I’d say I’m an entrepreneurial cook; I like to bring life to cooking through different spaces. I like to keep it alive because it nourishes us in every sense.” That philosophy runs through everything she does—from a restaurant menu to the most delicious recipe she teaches in her classes.
Teaching and learning: the kitchen as a bridge
When little María Paz mixed ingredients, she would narrate everything she was doing aloud, explaining each step as if someone were following along. For a while, she thought her path was cooking on television—she even hosted short segments on one of Mendoza’s main channels—but later discovered her true calling lay in teaching.
“I realized I was looking for exchange—for building a bridge and sharing everything I was discovering,” says María, who has been teaching her own cooking classes for 22 years. The first one she gave to her mother and four friends; today, her project has a life of its own, with over 80 students attending.
The spirit of María Urrutigoity’s cooking classes
In her workshops, cell phones are set aside—there’s conversation, wine, laughter, and a sense of community. Her students are diverse: couples, friends, families, and people who arrive alone and end up forming new friendships. “In every class, I try to highlight small manual tasks; they’re a great source of richness, they help us step away from the mental rush and allow us to do something different, even if just for a little while.”
María offers a year-long cooking program for enthusiasts—ten classes, one per month, with different groups—each one focused on a world cuisine such as Arabic, Spanish, or Peruvian. She also holds open themed workshops every month for anyone interested in enjoying a unique experience. “Through discovering these cultures, we teach different culinary techniques that can be applied to all kinds of cooking.”
“I arrive to teach my classes and always leave feeling better. It’s an exchange that enriches us all—we take away much more than techniques and tips. I think that not knowing anything at first and having to learn from scratch gave me the tools to put myself in someone else’s place,” she says. Beyond recipes or class planning, María’s main goal is to spread enthusiasm.
Urrutigoity Cocina: a Mendocinian chef with a traveler’s soul
Tatsu was María Urrutigoity’s first culinary venture: Mendoza’s first exclusive sushi and Asian cuisine delivery, launched in 2008 as an innovative gourmet alternative for private, corporate, and social events.
Her dream of opening her own restaurant became a reality in 2023, together with her partners Paz Bombal and Mariana Martínez—“a lifelong friend” and one of her former students. “The synergy between us is unique,” María says.
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After much brainstorming, they opened Urrutigoity Cocina, “a place designed to offer refuge from the daily rush, where you can nourish body and soul—a space to relax, work, read, or enjoy an intimate dinner,” María explains.
Located in Complejo Vistapueblo (San Martín 6271, Luján de Cuyo), the restaurant features a “glocal” concept—world cuisines like Indian, Japanese, and Nikkei reinterpreted with local ingredients. “As a team, we create a cuisine of real, honest cultural diversity, taking what the land gives us. I’m passionate about cuisines rich in flavor contrasts that take you on a journey with every bite.”
“At Urrutigoity Cocina, we create a cuisine of real, honest cultural diversity, taking what the land gives us”
The menu changes with the seasons and offers both executive and themed options that invite diners to discover new flavors. “Originally, a restaurant was a place for restoration. That’s what we want to offer—food that uplifts you, and an atmosphere that makes you want to stay,” she says.
A space where fire and knowledge coexist
Urrutigoity Cocina has a unique feature: on the upper floor, visible to diners, is the classroom where María teaches her cooking lessons. There, teaching and practice connect directly, reinforcing the idea that the kitchen is not just about service—it’s also about learning and human connection. It’s the only restaurant like this in Mendoza, where both spaces coexist simultaneously, each with its own energy and character. “In my restaurant, people had to be able to learn to cook—that’s my essence and my calling,” María emphasizes.
With more than twenty years of experience, Urrutigoity has achieved what she dreamed of as a child when she practiced recipes as if she were teaching them: building bridges through cooking. Today, she continues to do so—through her classes, her dishes, and her restaurant—with the certainty that sharing what she knows is the best way to keep the flames alive.