Natasha Storm Figueroa Husted

Born in the US to a Danish mother and Guatemalan father, I was on my first transatlantic flight at the tender age of 4 weeks. Until my teenage years, we spent most summers in a small beach town on the Northwest coast of Denmark, while being schooled in America. I began working in the restaurant industry as a waitress at the age of 15. I left home the moment I graduated high school & began moving around, often and sporadically. I was managing a bistro by the time I was 20, and shortly after began working in retail. By age thirty, I had a variety of different lives behind me; traveled the US while working for a private investigator; run an import / export business out of Guatemala; co-owned a vegan restaurant in Miami Beach while managing a studio location for photographers; been a writer on a software program in Malibu; put together a container of antiques in Bali; became a shop owner in Seattle. In '06, I became part of the design team for the Ace Hotel in Portland, and co-created the restaurant Clyde Common, which is currently considered one of the country’s best bar-restaurants. Shortly after, I met my husband and returned to the land of my youth, and helped him as he started the restaurant, Paté Paté, here in Copenhagen. This year, I assisted him in opening Copenhagen Street Food, and co-created the taco truck, Tacos Chucho. I'd have a difficult time choosing between my many passions in life, and therefore have created a life in which I don't have to! My enthusiasm for food begins at the point of its origin, continues through its preparation, and culminates in the joy when I imbibe it. I have gotten equal joy from eating at the best restaurant in the world, as I have from the simplest homemade meal. I simply appreciate when food has been treated with love and care. My interests in design closely follow my love of food, although design alone can leave me wanting. Like a beautifully-composed dish, I am disappointed if there's no soul behind it. Too often in recent years, I've felt the focus was disproportionately focused on the visual elements; I would rather eat a bowl of perfectly-made beans under a fluorescent light in a roadside shack. But that moment when everything comes together to delight all of the senses in perfect harmony is the moment that I live for.