Travel Time with Marcela Valladolid

Marcela Valladolid, a successful chef, author, television host, and busy mom, is always on the go. Juggling an on screen cooking career and carving out quality family time means Valladolid is more than a frequent flyer. Still, she’s always ready for another adventure. Valladolid slowed down just enough to share her favorite travel spots, where she goes to indulge her taste buds, and how she gains inspiration for her next venture.

A San Diego native, Valladolid’s passion for a career in the culinary world began in Tijuana, Mexico at her aunt’s cooking school. Believe it or not, she returns at least once a week. She caught the travel bug at a young age. As a teenager in high school, she traveled to China with her high school friends, and considers the trip an eye opening experience. Since then her education and her work have taken her all over the world, including a dream trip to Copenhagen for Noma chef René Redzepi’s MAD food conference, surrounded by the very best chefs in the world.

“I love to travel,” Valladolid said. “Whether it was sledding in the outskirts of Quebec with my mom [before she passed away], or attending my brother’s wedding, in Holbox [a small, pristine and almost-virgin island of the Cancun coast], each experience really is unforgettable.” 

And all travel informs her cooking.

“It makes you want to up your game. It makes you want to really search deep inside to find your passion and make sure you stay on that track,” she said. 

Speaking of chefs, Valladolid’s new show, The Kitchen, has her co-hosting with some of her Food Network pals: Sunny Anderson, Jeff Mauro, Katie Lee, and Geoffrey Zakarian.

“I’ve been working in TV for about 10 years and this is the most fun I’ve ever had because I get to relax and be me with some very talented and funny people,” she said of the show, where Valladolid and her fellow chefs talk about food, cooking, trends and cocktails. And since the show is taped in Manhattan, Valladolid has been criscrossing the states to be in front of the camera and watch over her food line with Safeway Supermarket, which is based in Oakland. But Valladolid doesn’t mind the endless travel.

And because of her busy schedule, when Valladolid does take some time to travel for pleasure, she opts for a vacation where very little planning is necessary.

“I focus more on the location,” she said of booking a getaway. “I would rather spend my time in a beautiful house on the beach or in a prime location in the city, but without guides. I also like to rent apartments because Fau is always with me and I like the option of being able to cook for him.”

Next, where Valladolid eats on the road…

Ever the mom, Valladolid understands the importance of getting children involved in culture, through food, learning and especially travel. It is something she strives to instill in her son every day.

“Fau is pretty cool though, he’s naturally very inquisitive,” she said of her high-spirited son. “When we travel he walks up to people, asks questions, comments on random stuff. It’s engrained in him that the world is much, much bigger than our little Mexican community in Chula Vista. I want him to be open to and experience as much as he can.”

When it comes to food, Valladolid would be lying if she said that the favorite part of traveling wasn’t the cuisine. She recommends trying the street food as the best way to know a city and its culture. She also emphasizes the importance of the locals and that you shouldn’t hesitate to walk around town and ask them where to get the good stuff. For Valladolid, she has a selection of favorite meals from her travels, but none compares to the experience she had while dining at Noma in Copenhagen.

“That wasn’t a meal, it was a show!” she said. “And that’s not a kitchen, it’s a lab and they are scientists. I ate huge, live ants and live shrimp. Nuts but awesome!”

Her taste buds have taken quite the journey throughout her career thus far. As a food editor at Bon Appetit Magazine, Valladolid was sent to Puebla for the magazine’s special issue dedicated to Mexican cuisine.

“In Puebla I ate ant roe tacos,” Valladolid said. “Ant roe, escamoles, are tiny little ant-egg sacks that are sautéed in garlic, olive oil and cilantro and served in a warm corn tortilla with avocado. Divine. Another favorite meal of mine was mussels in white wine with chips, with my mom in a cafe in Brussels. So simple but so perfect. I’ll never forget.”

Whether she’s busy cooking on television for America or tossing together a meal at her new home, Valladolid seems to have found the secret to a happy and healthy life.

“I told my friend and designer Kari Arendsen that my house needed to be a mix of Old Europe and traditional Mexico, in a sense, me,” said Valladolid. “I’m very blessed and so far, it’s been a fun ride.”

Want to know more about how Valladolid travels? Check out the Travel Q&A…

What 5 essential items are always in your travel bag?

Extra iPhone Charger, Global Pass, La Mer moisturizer, Burt’s Bees lip balm, food magazines (any and all)!

Out of everywhere you have been, what would you say are three MUST see/visit places?

Florence, Paris, and Oaxaca. 

Do you have any “must have” souvenirs that you always purchase wherever you travel to?

I love knives. I have some cool ones from different parts of the world. 

Best airline meal you’ve ever had?

The ones I pack for myself. Nothing like pulling out a machaca burrito from a brown paper bag en route to Manhattan!

What is your craziest travel story?

Not sure about crazy but watching Fau bowl inside the White House bowling alley was pretty surreal!