Txikiteo: A Basque Pintxo Crawl!

CJ Villareal's love for food began at age six, when she insisted on baking her own birthday cake wearing nothing but a red plastic chef's hat. As an adult, she has meandered across the US, Europe, the Arab world through roles including baker, line cook, Arabic professor, translator, intercultural dialogue facilitator, corporate leadership trainer, and now, therapist and chef instructor. Across all of them runs a fascination with how people connect—with themselves, with one another, and with the worlds they come from. For CJ, cooking is a practice that encompasses self-care, mutual aid, grounding, cultural preservation, and sensory delight. Her philosophy in the kitchen is equal parts romantic and pragmatic: keep it simple, trust your intuition, and always taste as you go.