When Marcelo Pino Piña (41) studied Gastronomy, sometimes he daydreamed. During the trips in the bus, that he took on his way to his classes in “Instituto Diego Portales”, while going down Alameda Avenue (the principal one in Santiago de Chile), he saw the “Hotel Crown Plaza” and he said to himself, that he would one day work there.
Pino didn´t leave his dream right there. Never, not even when working in that hotel seemed like a fantasy farther than reachable. He was born in a modest zone from Pichilemu, the middle brother from 7, never had a problem with working: before turning 10, he already sold “cuchuflís” at the beach, and after that, he worked in different things at the balnary, until he started studying gastronomy, dreaming about traveling over the world.
I come from a really humble family from Pichilemu, with the luck of being born there, far away from drugs and crime; I think that obviously that makes a great difference with being born in Santiago, a more complex population, he values.
He said that he even lived in a wooden hut.
When I was little, I grew up in a shack, I didn’t have electricity or drinking water, and I studied with candles until I was 13 or 14 years old. I grew up in a town that was a summer resort, so after March it was like desolation, there was no one left on the streets”.
While he was working as a delivery boy for Telepizza to pay for his studies, an acquaintance from Pichilemu who worked as a guard at The Ritz Carlton got him an interview to do his internship at the 5-star hotel. There Marcelo shone for his personality and commitment. He also learned about wines, grape varieties and pairings. And then he became a sommelier.
He has not done badly. He was chosen the best sommelier in Chile in 2011 and 2014. Today he aspires to soon become a master sommelier, the highest level of that career. There are no more than 275 in the world.
But you studied Gastronomy
“Although I love cooking, I have always said that cooking is not well paid in general in Chile. So I went the other way and it was a great opportunity. To pay for my second level of sommelier in Chile, I worked as a taxi driver in Rancagua and also with some uncles delivering firewood. I have always said that each of these things that I have had to do and lived, has helped me to be a much more prepared person, with much less fear in life”.
Did you feel discriminated against in that ambience?
“I always made it a point to be an outstanding student and I think that helped me a lot. I am a person who is hungry to learn and to move calmly through life. I have never been unaware of my origins and I think people value that very much. If you are honest and don’t feel ashamed of where you come from, that helps a lot to make people value your effort, your work.”
There is a lot of merit there
“I always say that I never stood out because of a surname: I am Marcelo Pino Piña and the truth is that I am proud of that. I have done well because of my qualities as a student or as a worker and that is what has helped me to grow in this profession”.
Economic freedom
If Pino’s dreams are of a peaceful future, where he can be financially self-sufficient, his present is about building it. He owns the restaurant La Parilla de Pino in Pichilemu, which focuses on serving meats with excellent food pairings; he is also an ambassador for the Casa Silva winery, where he has been for thirteen years.
Whenever I talk to people who are doing great, I am always curious to know what makes them different from the rest. In your case, what do you think it was?
“I think it’s a combination of several things, but the basis is always education at home. My mum always had the frustrated dream of studying, she got as far as seventh grade; I remember my dad, who worked in the forest, saying ‘send these kids to work’ and my mum said no, that we were going to study and be professionals. And she was always worried about that”.
I imagine it wasn’t just that
“I was also hungry to eat the world. And that brought me to where I am today. But I think the important thing is not what I have achieved so far, it’s what I want to continue to achieve”.
You mention economic freedom as a major future goal, what do you mean by that?
“For me it basically means having different sources of income, from businesses that you manage yourself and that allow you not to depend on an employer, but on your own work. I am 41 years old and at 50 I want to be financially free, not dependent on any employer.
