Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Located in Nuevo Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit, Villa La Estancia is an enclave of 135 luxury oceanfront villas nestled between the Sierra Madre Mountains and the Bay of Banderas. Recently, Chef Eugenio Villafaña attended an intense 4-day Raw Food Certification course at Thrive Wellness Center in Sedro Woolley, Washington.

Chef Eugenio Villafaña describes the certification training exclusively to The MEXICO Report:

People usually ask me, “Hey, what’s your favorite cooking style?” My answer used to be like “I like different “cooking” styles, I love fusion, combining flavors from all over the world” ... Now the answer is different... My favorite “cooking” style is now “un-cooking,” preparing and eating live foods and super foods... with the same love with flavors from all over the world.

I was introduced to raw foods around three years back thanks to my beautiful wife... Simple dishes like guacamole and salsa are the perfect examples to introduce people to raw foods... Just need to think raw...I was I little skeptical at the beginning, as many people are (especially Mexican people).

Then, I started to acquire raw food books, super food books, I went to the internet researching, I was un-cooking at home, at work etc but I never went to serious... Then I went to an Anthony Robbins seminar where I found more about super foods and raw foods. He mentioned David Wolfe and called my attention as he was the author of many of the books I bought... Then on Facebook, I found thousands of people interested in raw foods and no one living in Puerto Vallarta area so, I decided to be serious about and started to look for opportunities to learn and understand more of the raw food concept.

Being certified as a Professional Certified Raw Food Chef changes my whole perspective for food and for my profession... Usually Chefs, we cook because we love it, because we feed people, because it makes us feel good to share with others but sometimes, in the way to find new flavors and new cooking methods, we forget what the food does for our bodies...

I have to confess that I still cook food but I cook it in a different perspective, I think raw... I’m thinking how to keep all nutrients of foods in the food by itself.

I came to know about the Professional RAW Food Chef Certification because and advertising that my wife saw at David Wolfe’s Facebook, actually, five days before it started, so, it was my chance to get certified. It was held the second week of June and I have to say, that was one in a lifetime opportunity to learn that marked my life. Four intense days at the Thrive Wellness Center in Sedro Woolley, Washington, I meet Chefs from different countries, all of us with the same purpose: to learn more about RAW foods.

With this, I want to start a RAW foodies community, where we will have the chance to share and expand this life style. I’m still looking for suppliers that can provide with organic produce and super foods... it has been kind of hard but worth it... no need to go so far, Puerto Vallarta area offers a lot of good stuff.

Chef Eugenio also teaches cooking classes at La Casona in Villa La Estancia.

Find Chef Eugenio and Villa La Estancia on Facebook.

Look for the Gourmet Experience page on Facebook as well.