A graduate of the California Culinary Academy (CCA) in San Francisco, California native Luz-Maria Encinas grew up cooking, learning the traditional recipes of her Mexican-American family. Luz-Maria got started in the kitchen at an early age – with a father who rewarded good grades with cake decorating kits- Luz-Maria spent hours practicing her piping. She remembers setting up a radio in the kitchen while her brother Jorge sat on the other side of the counter and talked.