Juan Flores

Long before Juan Flores became a chef, he learned to cook by paying attention to the land. Raised in a farming family, he grew up with a vegetable garden and an understanding, passed down through generations, of when to plant, when to harvest, and when simply to wait. As his culinary career developed, that early knowledge expanded into a fascination with foraging for wild mushrooms, herbs, and fruits. At Tierra Patagonia, the two threads of his life came together. “When I arrived in Patagonia, it felt very natural to first observe the territory and understand what it could offer us,” he says. The ingredients were new, but the philosophy was familiar: work with nature and its cycles rather than trying to impose your own.

That means Juan begins with the ingredient, not the dish. He works with local agroecological producers and ingredients such as Patagonian lamb, while looking to the surrounding landscape for paramela, pampa tea, calafate, wild celery, and other flavours that can tell a story of place. Even Patagonia’s famously unpredictable weather becomes part of the process. “You can plan many things, but ultimately nature sets the rhythm,” he says. His approach is perhaps clearest in the way he treats Patagonian lamb, respecting its traditional identity while using contemporary techniques to let the ingredient express itself more fully. Ultimately, Juan wants dinner to feel like a continuation of the day guests have spent hiking, watching wildlife, and exploring the landscape. If years later the taste of calafate or the aroma of a wild herb transports them back to Patagonia, he says, “then I think we’ve done our job well.”