While high school students are relaxing and unwinding after a long week, Palo Alto High School seniors Camila Luz and Benji Patel are preparing for their shifts at two Michelin-recognized restaurants, where their passions for cooking meet their audiences.

Camila Luz, Flea Street

Camila Luz works as a prep cook and food runner for Michelin Guide-featured Menlo Park restaurant Flea Street, which emphasizes fresh, sustainable ingredient sourcing.

Like many passions, Luz’s love for cooking didn’t develop overnight. Rather, it was shaped by simple acts of sharing meals with her family. Since Luz was young, her family has always eaten dinner and lunch together, which taught her that food can do more than just feed people — it can bring them together.

“I never really had an idea of what a family dinner was outside of sitting together at a table,” Luz said. “We’ve never had a situation where someone sits in another room, eating dinner and doing their work. If we’re gonna do work, we’re gonna sit at the table all together, eating food and doing our work.”

Luz’s inspiration in the kitchen also stems from the farm she grew up on in Brazil.

“My family has tended to animals, livestock and different crops,” Luz said. “Gardening is my biggest inspiration for my dishes, and farming, because it’s the idea that I grew this [produce] myself.”

Beyond just influencing her dishes, Luz’s upbringing in Brazil also shaped her view of food as something that could bring people together and form deeper connections.

“I grew up in a neighborhood in Brazil where it’s like a rural neighborhood,” Luz said. We didn’t have many people around us … and from that, I learned that food can bring good relationships and positivity.”

When Luz brought her passion to Flea Street’s kitchen, she discovered a new appreciation for cooking. Beyond her family, Luz realized she could bring joy to others through food.

“There’s a feeling of satisfaction when I work in the restaurant because I know that I’m [benefiting] other people,” Luz said. “It feels really satisfying when I can make someone else happy by the food that they’re eating.”

Flea Street Executive Chef Isabelle Nunes, who mentors Luz, said her positive attitude enables her to excel in the kitchen.

“Camila is like having a little ray of sunshine go through your operation,” Nunes said. “Camila brings a desire to learn, and that’s always a great aspect and dynamic to have in a kitchen.”

Luz dabbles in a variety of roles at Flea Street, which involve preparing ingredients for cooking, as well as working at the front of the house to host guests and transport food to customers. According to Nunes, this provides her with a comprehensive experience.

“Camila helps out day to day in two different areas of the restaurant, and it’s pretty cool to be able to prepare part of a dish that you then get to serve to a guest because you really know everything that there is to know about that dish,” Nunes said.

After moving to Palo Alto, Luz continued to develop her relationship with gardening through the Rinconada Community Garden, a resident-based garden that provides open plots to locals. Luz said that she works closely with her mother, who is the garden’s liaison, bringing fresh produce to her own kitchen.

“I spend my time with her [at the garden], attending to her plot and picking fruits,” Luz said. “Whether it be picking carrots, my mom and I will develop recipes together like carrot cake.”

Luz said her experience in the garden has led her to identify with Flea Street’s farm-to-table ethos, a California-based philosophy that promotes the choice of fresh produce sourced directly from local farms.

Flea Street proudly embraces the movement, continually adapting its menu to incorporate seasonal ingredients.

“Anything that comes with farm-to-table fresh fruits, that’s the thing that I find most joy in,” Luz said. “It gives me a positive feeling, knowing that I grew that myself and took care of that food, and then I can bring it to the table for my family to enjoy.”

Not only is cooking a passion, but it is also a way for Luz to express herself.

“When I’m in the kitchen, I feel the adrenaline and satisfaction,” Luz said. “Cooking is my way of self-expression.”

Benji Patel, Protege

Luz isn’t the only student turning a love for food into a real-world experience. Benji Patel stages at Protege, a one-Michelin-starred restaurant on California Avenue.

As Garde Manger at Protege, Patel manages the cold food station, cooking and plating appetizers that are then sent out to diners.

Patel’s love of food developed in his home kitchen, where he pulls inspiration from exquisite dishes of acclaimed chefs to learn by imitation.

“Everyone needs to eat, and since a young age, I’ve always loved the experience,” Patel said. “It’s almost like the Ratatouille moment in Ratatouille, where the tastes combine to create these amazing flavors. Now I’m in the stage of not only being fascinated by it, but trying to recreate it.”

Patel regularly worked at an apple stand at California Avenue’s Farmers’ Market, where he sold fresh produce and operated the booth every Sunday morning. In the process, Patel met Jeremy Wayne, the Chef de Cuisine, otherwise known as the head chef at Protege, who brought Patel to the restaurant.

“He comes to shop with us every week to buy for the restaurant,” Patel said. “We’ve been chatting since I started working four years ago.”

According to Patel, training at Protege has taught him habits that translate to other aspects of his life.

“Timing is key in the kitchen to make sure everything comes out on time and is hot and warm,” Patel said. “[I’m] bringing that not only to food I make at home, but also to all my schoolwork. Timing is key.”

Protege, which was founded by two former three-Michelin-star restaurant French Laundry chefs, boasts a prestigious culinary team with combined decades of experience. As a high school student working in that environment, Patel recognizes the standard that he is held to.

“I’m always trying to be as good as the people around me … to be on that level and making sure not to make a mistake, because I am serving food that goes to the customers,” Patel said.

Still, beneath the long hours and high expectations, Patel holds on to one simple mindset.

“It’s really just a lot of learning. Be like a sponge. Soak it up.”