Valentina Arteaga

Career Traditional Bolivian cuisine is the throughline in Valentina Arteaga’s work, and since 2020 it has been the basis of Phayawi in La Paz, Bolivia. At Phayawi, that tradition is handled as method rather than motif: dishes carry memory, household practice, market logic, and the continuity of generations without being frozen in place. The restaurant gives form to that approach, with Arteaga using it to keep heritage active in a contemporary setting.

Formal training at Le Cordon Bleu and Basque Culinary Center gave Arteaga a technical base built on discipline and precision. Those schools shaped a working vocabulary of structure and refinement, which she then brought back toward the flavors she values most. The result is a practice that does not separate technique from identity; it uses one to sharpen the other, with Bolivian cooking at the center. Leadership at Andean Valley (2021–2022) added another layer to Arteaga’s professional practice.

Executive-chef work asks for consistency, timing, and control across service, and that kind of responsibility sits naturally beside her restaurant work. The role extended her range without changing the core of the craft: measured execution, steady standards, and attention to place. Since 2020, Phayawi has been the clearest expression of Arteaga’s authorship. As founder and chef-owner, she has shaped the project from concept to plate in La Paz, Bolivia, keeping Traditional Bolivian cuisine as the organizing principle.

The career arc is direct: training, kitchen leadership, and then a restaurant where those tools are used in service of a specific culinary tradition. - Founder and chef-owner — Phayawi, La Paz, Bolivia (2020–present) - Executive chef — Andean Valley (2021–2022) Education: Le Cordon Bleu; Basque Culinary Center

Phayawi remains the center of Arteaga’s current practice in La Paz. As chef-owner, she holds responsibility for both the kitchen standard and the restaurant’s overall rhythm, with Traditional Bolivian cuisine as the anchor. Her work there is defined less by statement than by repetition, care, and the daily maintenance of a clear point of view. She was recognized by The Best Chef Awards in 2025 with a knife distinction in the New category.