Marina Luca, the winner of the 17th season of “Knife Chefs”, has a life story marked by an adolescence full of difficulties, but also by a winning mentality.
Marina Luca is the winner of the 17th season of the show “Chefs with knives”, after a final in which her dishes brought the highest score. The competitor from chef Alexandru Sautner’s team went home with the trophy and the prize of 30,000 euros.
Marina Luca is 29 years old, she is a pastry chef and graduated from the prestigious Ducasse Academy. Throughout his career, he worked in Michelin-starred restaurants and built his own professional project, “La Dame de Luca”, a brand dedicated to high-end desserts. In the more than ten years of activity, he has created desserts for international personalities such as Natalie Portman, Lionel Messi, Chiara Ferragni and members of the Rockefeller family, but also for projects in the area of fashion and luxury gastronomy.
“My name is Marina Luca, I am a pastry chef, I have more than a decade of experience and a background with Michelin stars. La dame de Luca is the continuation of my name. I was the first Moldovan and woman to graduate from the Ducasse Academy. I never wanted to be a big fish in an aquarium with small fish. I preferred oceans. What I want is to build a strong brand at the international level and end up having my patisserie in several countries around the world and La dame de Luca to echo as Cedric Grolet echoes”, she declared during the culinary show hosted by Antena 1.
The first culinary project, at 14 years old
His journey in gastronomy began at the age of 14, when he founded his first culinary project, “Where is the food”, through which he publishes recipes and participates in local events. In parallel, he started experimenting and selling desserts, turning his passion into a constant activity.
Originally from the Republic of Moldova, Marina Luca said that, after her parents’ divorce, she had to assume responsibilities since her teenage years, a period in which she learned to fend for herself and manage her own resources. This stage coincided with his beginnings in the area of desserts, also inspired by family experiences.
“There was a divorce and my mother couldn’t manage 2 children on a teacher’s salary and took her life in her hands and took care of us. From the age of 14 I lived alone. My brother was older than me, but I took care of him, I cooked for him and he liked sweets, namely apple pie. And from then on I had the idea to start with desserts and I even started selling. I never went out of business: I took money from my mother, invested in ingredients and managed to get that invested money out and get to the level, and at that moment I set my goal to learn in the biggest academy in the world”, Marina Luca testified.
He built his career step by step
During the competition, Marina Luca presented “Choux Kalamansi with sesame”, a complex dish, built on several pastry techniques. The recipe is one that he has also adapted in international contexts, including for personalities such as Natalie Portman, for whom he made a special version, prepared over the course of two days.
Throughout her career, Marina Luca also went through difficult periods, marked by exhaustion and health problems, caused by the intense pace of work in top kitchens, where the schedule often reached 18-20 hours a day.
“It was a lot of work, with suffering and pain. I went through all possible positions in Michelin star restaurants. I worked for 18-20 hours, even if I was very sick, I kept going without stopping. 2 years ago I was very sick, it started to numb my whole body gradually, until I can’t see and hear you. I did more investigations and told the neurosurgeon that I work like a horse and I recovered for half a year. I took a break, I invested in my health.” she also told.
In the final of season 17, Marina Luca managed to get the highest score, which brought her the victory in the competition and the prize of 30,000 euros, once again confirming her winning mentality.
