Ixta Belfrages style of cooking draws inspiration from three countries she grew up travelling to, eating in, and obsessing over. Brazil (where her mother is from), Italy (where she lived as a child), and Mexico (where her grandfather lived). She cut her teeth at Yotam Ottolenghis NOPI restaurant before moving to the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, where she worked for Yotam Ottolenghi for five years, contributing to his columns in The Guardian and The New York Times. In 2020 she co-authored the New York Times bestselling Ottolenghi Flavor and in 2021 she was named one of the most influential women in food by Code Hospitality. n