After I told her about my application to gastronomy school, Flávia insisted on throwing a dinner in honor of Jimi and me. And she put me in charge of cooking it.

No, she wasn’t using me. She wanted me to give my absolute best that night because she had invited the owners of the country’s biggest restaurant chains.

I spent the entire day in the kitchen, preparing every spice, every detail, every feeling I poured into the food. Obviously, I decided against empanadas. After what happened at ...