Denise Portillo is a chef, educator, and founder with 26+ years in hospitality, a Le Cordon Bleu diploma, and an M.A. in Psychology — building an ecosystem of ventures where food and mental health meet.
Multi-unit operations, opening playbooks, systems, and turnarounds for hospitality teams that have outgrown running on instinct.
Menu development, culinary instruction, and Career & Technical Education curriculum — from professional kitchens to classrooms.
Building food-and-wellbeing products — apps and platforms — with AI-assisted development, from first prototype to live subscription.
Editorial and commercial food styling and floral artistry for brands, agencies, and media — on set across New York, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
Independent opinion, written reports, deposition and trial testimony in restaurant, hotel, catering, and commercial food service matters — serving Nevada and California.
A complete curriculum on opening and operating a food business, drawn from 26 years of ownership and operations.
From a flower shop to Le Cordon Bleu to the classroom to a founder's desk — one arc, held together by food and wellbeing.
Read the story →Eight ventures spanning food-and-mood products for every stage of life and platforms for the industry that feeds us.
See the ventures →Two decades of work with recognized names in food, sport, entertainment, and public life — and the features along the way.
View the roster →Denise Portillo is a chef, educator, and founder with 26+ years in hospitality. She holds a Le Cordon Bleu culinary diploma and an M.A. in Psychology, and builds an ecosystem of food-and-wellbeing ventures.
She is a hospitality operator and consultant, a Career & Technical Education culinary instructor, a food stylist for major brands, and the founder of ventures spanning food-and-mood products for children, adults, and seniors, plus platforms for the hospitality and education industries.
Denise has appeared on Food Network's Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell, CBS's The Talk, ABC7's Vista L.A., KTLA, Bravo's David Tutera's CELEBrations, and BESE — Zoe Saldaña's platform — and was named Culinary Woman of the Year by the National Latina Business Women's Association.
Available for consulting, operations leadership, culinary direction, food styling, speaking, media & appearances, and partnerships.