Who is Hans Ovando & Elena Adell?
Pastry Chef at Hofmann and Gastronomy Consultant in Uzbekistan and Central Asia
Hans Ovando left Chile at the age of 20 and moved to Spain with the goal of exploring the world and studying gastronomy. Although he initially intended to focus on cuisine, pastry quickly became his true calling. He trained at the Hofmann School in Barcelona and continued his education at Espai Sucre, the École Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie in France, and in Italy. He worked alongside renowned chefs such as Carles Mampel at Bubó and spent time at the legendary restaurant El Bulli, where Chef Albert Adrià instilled in him the philosophy that “the impossible is done immediately, miracles take a little longer.” Since 2015, Hans has dedicated himself to international training, traveling the world to teach pastry. From 2019 to 2024, he served as director of Be Chef Pastry School and currently works as a full-time consultant in Uzbekistan and Central Asia.
Elena trained as a pastry chef through the pastry guild in Barcelona and began her career at Bubó with Carles Mampel and Hans Ovando. She later led the pastry workshop at Sant Croi alongside Albert Roca, where she contributed to reinventing traditional pastry. In 2018, she co-founded Be Chef, a physical and online school in Sant Joan Despí, which she directed for five years. Today, she is a pastry instructor in the Grand Diploma program at the prestigious Hofmann School in Barcelona.
