About

Nelson and Nahyla are a married Venezuelan chef couple who have been in the culinary entrepreneurship industry since 2008. Their first restaurant, Paella Show, was in Caracas, Venezuela and it featured a fusion between Venezuelan and Spanish cuisine.

In 2010 after moving to Barinas, they acquired two important food franchises – ChurroMania & Mr. Pretzels. Nelson and Nahyla were grateful for their paths and experiences in the industry but it wasn’t until the grand opening of La Cocina de Frida in 2013 that they experienced great success. This restaurant featured an exquisite Mexican-Venezuelan fusion of flavors and culture. Because of its success, Nelson and Nahyla were able to open a second location just three months after the grand opening of La Cocina de Frida. Both locations continue to be attractive businesses in Venezuela. 

Aligned with this success came the opening of  Los Golfeados de Nahyla. a Venezuelan-Portuguese bakery fusion known for their delicious baked rolls with sugar cane and white cheese (similar to the popular American cinnamon rolls). They also earned the entrustment to manage restaurant Hotel Cima Barinas. Where they had the opportunity to design customized menus for the Sports Teams visiting the facility including the National Football League Team who chose Nelson and Nahyla to provide food for their athletes.

Also in 2014, Nelson and Nahyla became part of a special project to rebirth Haiku Japanese Restaurant. As per owner’s request, Nelson and Nahyla renovated and restructured the menu, training of staff and performed changes at every level along with the best sushi chef in the country giving the Japanese restaurant an original and individual new look. Towards the end of this eventful year, Nelson and Nahyla brought two contrasting concepts to Barinas. Zona Verde was an innovative new restaurant that brought fresh and modern concept of salads, natural juices and gourmet sandwiches with bread baked in house. The restaurant offered a wide variety of gluten free, vegetarian, dairy free options. Zona Verde was designed to satisfy people with dietary preferences. The second concept Nelson and Nahyla developed in 2014 was the Dorado Grill with its grand opening being in 2015. This concept was created for those with love for the science and art of gourmet cooked meats. This was their last concept in Venezuela.

Alas, in 2016 Nelson and Nahyla arrived in Louisville. The city welcomed them with open arms which allowed them to quickly get a feel for the local market. During this year they Opened Nahyla’s Restaurant in Middletown, KY. This was their first pure authentic Venezuelan restaurant, and they put all their efforts to provide their customers exactly that. It was only nine months before their first restaurant in Louisville achieved incredible ratings from the community on sites like Facebook and Yelp. The community left wonderful reviews, brought new friendships, support and created culture, which is what made Nelson and Nahyla’s efforts worthwhile.

By the end of 2019 Nelson and Nahyla had the grand opening of Alchemy Restaurant with its first home being inside Logan Street Market in Louisville. In 2020, when the world was struck by the pandemic, Nelson and Nahyla refused to let it get in the way of their love for providing each individual customer and market a personalized experienced. They saw this as an opportunity and remodeled the Alchemy Restaurant business structure. Today, Alchemy houses Alchemy Food Truck, Alchemy Food Mart, Alchemy Home Meals and Alchemy Special Events Catering. Alchemy offers a variety of options including Venezuelan-Mexican fusion foods, grilled specials, desserts, and much more. They bring a collective knowledge and experience they harvested throughout life while bringing Louisville a new, and unique way of embracing the local taste and culture of the communities. Offering top service, gourmet meals always with fresh ingredients and infinite love and gratitude.