Karime López
Karime López is a Mexican chef working in Italy. In late 2019, she became the first Mexican woman chef to receive a Michelin star for her work at Gucci Osteria in Florence, Italy. In 2019 she was named Italy's Female Chef of the Year.
Biography
Karime López was born in Mexico City in 1982. López first learned about cooking at home as a child, helping her mother prepare family meals at home in Querétaro, Mexico.Culinary education
At age 18, López moved to Paris to study art. While in Paris, her attention shifted from art to culinary arts. In 2005, López moved to Seville, Spain to train as a chef. After her studies, she apprenticed under Santi Santamaria and later at top restaurants, including Can Fabes, Mugaritz, Pujol and Noma. López later described the challenges of pursuing a chef's career as a woman, and the difficulty of making sacrifices to travel far from home to learn from the world's top chefs.Gucci Osteria
In 2017, López moved to Modena, Italy where her husband, Takahiko Kondo was the sous chef at Osteria Francescana. In 2018, Massimo Bottura offered her the position as head chef of Gucci Osteria in Florence. In 2019, López and Gucci Osteria were awarded a Michelin star. With the recognition, López became the first Mexican woman to receive a Michelin star. In 2019, López was named Italy's Female chef of the year.In 2022, Kondo joined López as co-head chef at Gucci Osteria where the couple focus on dishes crafted with local produce. In 2023, López was awarded as the best Chef of Distinction Abroad by Mexico's National Chamber of Restaurants and Seasoned Foods, a national industry body representing the Mexican restaurant industry.