Pilar Rodriguez

Comida y Vino (Food & Wine)

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Pilar Rodriguez spent more than a decade in fashion-marketing, working for companies such as Tommy Hilfiger, but was always enamored by cooking and wine. In 2001, she went on a sabbatical in Paris. Pilar realized that cooking was her true passion and she never returned to the fashion industry.

She received her culinary training at the Cordon Blue in Paris. While there, she worked with Christian Le Squer, a three-star Michelin chef, at Ledoyen restaurant. After graduation, she returned to her native Chile. Rather than moving back to her hometown of Santiago, she relocated to Santa Cruz in the Colchagua wine region.

One of Chile’s primary exports is food. Pilar helps communicate Chile’s food and wine culture, and helps people bring food to different places. In 2004, she established Comida y Vino (Food & Wine), a catering company, with her youngest brother. The consulting business, a food and wine studio, opened in 2006. The company focuses on selling Chile’s “table” to the world. Clients include chefs, restaurants and organizations such as the Chilean Association of Gourmet Producers, for which she is helping market Chilean olive oil. With another client, a food exporter, Pilar helped them create recipes for large supermarket chains like Costco. She is currently researching and writing a cookbook that celebrates the foods and flavors of Chile’s wine regions.

Chef Rodriguez shares her recipes for Seared Scallops in Garlic Perfumed Olive Oil and Green Pebre, Loin of Pork in Adobo with Tomato and Pearl Onion Confit, and Roasted Lamb Marinated in Carrot Juice, Roasted Garlic Sweet Potato Puree, Carménère Sauce. In our Q&A with Chef Rodriguez, she discusses starting a new career as a chef later in life and her concept of “cooking for the wines.”