Question (Q) - "How did you become a chef? Was it an area you always wanted to pursue?"
Answer (A) - "Since I was a little kid I always wanted to pursue something that was professionally related to the kitchen area. My parents have always had catering business and as long as I can remember, I've always been in the middle. So if I followed the kitchen area cooking is mainly due to the family atmosphere and the taste that my parents had for the art of cooking. "
 
Q - "In which institution did you took your vocational training course?"
A - "Six years ago, I attended the Infante D. Henrique Vocational School in Porto and completed the technical-professional course in Cooking and Pastry. I feel it was a school where I was able to learn a lot and was very important in my education, but… If you want to evolve, you can't just be content with what you learn at school, so I was always interested in doing more training to learn something that could add me more as a professional. From the courses I took, I highlight the Event Management Course, the Quality Management Course and Chocolate Work Course, all courses taken at the Vocational Training Center for the Food Sector in Porto.
At the moment I am training the courses for the Kitchen and Pastry Technician at Proandi and I feel that it is an entity that bets on training young people and gives them all the conditions to be good professionals. "
 
Q - "Did your professional training meet what is expected of you as a "Chef" and as a "leader" in a top kitchen?”
A - "I think the course I took was very important in that it allowed me to acquire the essentials to be a cook but as I mentioned, we can't just stand by what we have learned in the course. With experience and our mistakes in our job, is that we gain more tools to be better professionals."
 
Q - "What do you think are the most important skills and attitudes a chef should have?"
A - "Be very organized, have a sense of fairness towards co-workers, know how to manage stock in the kitchen and be focused on interpersonal customer relationship."
 
Q - "Do you consider that these skills and attitudes are included in the provision of vocational training that exists in the kitchen area in Portugal?"
"These skills and characteristics that I mentioned are very much related not only to the professional side but also to the character of each person. It is becoming increasingly important that vocational courses in general focus not only on technical skills but also on being a foundation for building professionals with good values ​​and more oriented towards the client relationship and especially with the work team."
 
Q - "Leave a message for the new generation of chefs"
A - "The main message is to be humble; to have the humility to accept criticism and that work is often difficult. It is important that you do not forget the characteristics of Portuguese cuisine and especially where they come from."