In a city that favors all shades of black clothing, New York City-based food stylist, entrepreneur, and now author Mariana Velásquez is a necessary vibrant and colorful entity. For nearly twenty years, this Bogotá native has imbued New York with her vitality and lent her eye for beauty to her work in the food world. She is also one who does not shy away from chandelier earrings, flouncy dresses with balloon sleeves, and a hat for any occasion.
After styling books like Michelle Obama’s American Grown and Paula Wolfort’s The Food of Morocco, this spring Velásquez published her first cookbook, Colombiana, a refreshing rush of color via fruit salads and cocktails, profiles of Colombian women she admires and emulates, party playlists, and sunlit tables artfully set with modern etched glasses and old-school lace linens. Her work has taken her from Milan to Macao, but imagining and writing Colombiana gave her a chance to return home in a deeper way, giving attention to the people, places, and foods that were foundational to her. The book is part travelogue, exploring cities and towns she loves, and part memoir with recipes like postre de coco de la tía Lilita, her grandmother’s recipe for a coconut flan.
Aside from styling, cooking and writing, Velásquez also designs a line of aprons for her brand Limonarium, “a [line of] utilitarian piece[s] to make me feel well dressed while cooking up a storm,” and one that she’s planning to expand in the near future.
In our recent conversation, she reminisced about the towns and cliffside hotel outside Bogotá, the pull of Hong Kong, and the snacks from home that she always smuggles back in her carry-on.
PRIOR: Tell us about your roots in Colombia and what brought you to the US?
Mariana Velásquez: I'm from Bogotá, the capital city. In 1999, just after I graduated high school, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in food. I landed in New York and then ended up doing my first stage at Sierra Mar, a gorgeous restaurant on the cliffs of Big Sur, California. I left my country without knowing what to expect and with less than basic English skills. I later moved to Vermont to go to cooking school (and freeze my eyelashes off).
I’ve been in New York City since I finished school in 2002. Working the line at [Gabriella Hamilton’s restaurant] Prune made me realize that I could grow and thrive in [the restaurant] environment, but also I learned that I wanted to work with beauty, aesthetics, flavors, and art—beyond the restaurant industry’s crazy hours. This is how I ended up working in the test kitchen at Saveur magazine. New York became home pretty early on... I realized very quickly how I could be whoever I wanted to be in this city, plus, not to be too cheesy, I also found true love.
What drew you to styling?
