A Modern Story film series · For Restaurant Associates
Aptitude Potential Training — 2026
The women, their coaches, and the work behind the plates.
The chef profiles
Nicole Vergara
Her mother’s Colombian recipes, plated for the Delta One lounge at JFK.
Jenny Guanaquiza
Ecuador by way of New York — plantains, and the mango she grew up on.
Piper Burkett
A Vietnamese menu built to reach a side of her family she has never met.
Marie Millimono
West Africa on the plate — fonio, and a madd fruit she carried back herself.
Angie Grullon
Plantain through all three courses, finished with a Dominican meringue she had never attempted.
Nurelia Pacheco
Puerto Rico by way of the Bronx — pasteles in banana leaves, and a coquito she turned into dessert.
Kristen Solari
Polish, Italian and American, one course for each: a pastry chef proving she can cook too.
Irma Gomez-Garcia
Her mother’s braised beef and plantains on a fine-dining plate, and a passion fruit panna cotta from a cook who doesn’t do sweets.
Chelsea Falcone
Her mother’s kitchen, her grandmother’s pistachio cake, and the next cooks she wants to teach.
Joana Meza
Her father’s cooking, her grandmother’s pozole, and a pipian sauce the panel couldn’t stop talking about.
Johanna Pillsbury
She thought the acceptance email was spam. Three cultures on one plate, a first tasting, and a panel that told her to hold her head high.
Susana Delgado
The youngest of four in a family that food brought to one table, and the week she found out she could lead.
Christina Dubose
Her kids on the plate, her mother’s Caribbean in the seasoning, and a creme brulee just like her: break the shell to get to the good part.
Best with sound, full screen.
Jason Belkov · Modern Story