Who is Paola Velez from Selena + Chef Season 4? Meet the award-winning pastry chef

Hit cooking show Selena + Chef is returning with its fourth season on August 18. The Emmy-winning singer will visit Malibu over the summer holidays, where she will have fun while getting some enlightening cooking lessons from world-renowned chefs. One such chef is the 31-year-old Paola Velez, a pastry chef and social justice activist from New York with Dominican heritage.

Moreover, the other chefs who will also appear on the show are Adrienne Cheatham, Devonn Francis, Gordon Ramsay, Kristen Kish, Ludo Lefebvre, Matty Matheson, Nick DiGiovanni, Priya Krishna, and Rachael Ray. Also, by airing its episodes, till now, the series has raised $400,000 for 26 nonprofit organizations.

The official synopsis of the show reads:

SELENA + CHEF is back! This time Selena heads to the beach with her friends and family for some summer fun. Season four takes place in a beautiful Malibu beach house where Selena will continue to learn the joys of cooking with all-star chefs.

---

Paola Velez from Selena + Chef uses her culinary skills to uplift social movements

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Paola Velez grew up in The Bronx, New York. She used to visit her grandparents in her summer breaks, during which she learned to cook and grow fresh vegetables and fruits from her grandmother.

She did her schooling at Timber Creek High School and then got a degree in culinary arts and chef training from Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando, Florida. In 2009, after graduating, Paola went to study under Jacques Torres, an expert in the chocolate industry, at his factory in Brooklyn, New York, for two years.

Finally, in 2016, she professionally started to work as a pastry chef at Milk Bar under chef Christina Tosi in New York. She has also worked for a year as the Executive Pastry Chef at the InterContinental Hotels Group. Velez worked in the same position at Maydan & Compass Rose, DC, after which she started her own venture named Bakers Against Racism in June 2020. Using this venture of hers, she successfully raised millions of dollars supporting the global fight for racial justice.

Velez talked about her vision with REMEZCLA and stated:

Giving is a part of who I am because I was raised that way. My mom made sure that if we had three dollars, we’d give one away. When I see a need in the community, I activate,” Velez tells Remezcla.

Moreover, she partnered with Daniella Senior of Colada Shop to launch Doña Dona, a bake sale that sold tamarind, pineapple, guava, and meringue flavored donuts to raise money for a local nonprofit, Ayuda, that helps low-income immigrants.

Velez also received the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington RAMMY Award for Pastry Chef of the Year and was named Esquire’s Pastry Chef of the Year 2020.

The show is executive produced by Selena Gomez for July Moon Productions, along with Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman on behalf of Industrial Media’s The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC), showrunner Leah Hariton, and Melissa Stokes.

Viewers can watch the premiere of Selena + Chef on August 18 on HBOMaxrecipient.