About Paolo Peralta
Chef. Tattooist. Musician. Trancendentalist bon vivant.
Hello and welcome — I'm so glad you're here.
My name is Paolo Peralta, and Make Pure Thy Heart is the space where my deepest loves converge: nourishing food, a contemplative way of living, and the conviction that the way we feed ourselves is one of the most meaningful practices available to us.
My path has taken me through professional kitchens, yoga studios, tattoo parlors, and music stages across three continents. What ties it all together is a commitment to presence, craft, and the belief that a well-lived life is an art form worth tending every single day.
THE KITCHEN
Food has always been my first language. I trained formally at the Center for Culinary Arts in Manila — one of the Philippines' most respected culinary institutions — where I developed the foundations of classical technique alongside a deep curiosity about Asian flavors, texture, and the alchemy of simple ingredients.
After graduation, I built my professional career across some of the most demanding kitchen environments there are: hotels, where precision and volume are constant demands, and hospitals, where food becomes medicine and care. These years taught me that cooking is always an act of service — and that great food reaches people regardless of the setting.
My move to New York City brought new chapters. I joined the team at Balon on the Upper West Side as Sous Chef, working in one of the city's vibrant neighborhood dining scenes and sharpening my palate for the endlessly diverse culinary culture that only New York can offer all of this while being a NYC bike messenger.
The culmination of that professional arc came with owning and operating my own vegan café — a dream realized, and the crucible where my philosophy around plant-based cooking fully crystallized. Building a menu from scratch, sourcing intentionally, and feeding a community daily confirmed what I had long believed: vegan cooking, done with skill and love, is among the most exciting and satisfying food there is.
THE PRACTICE
Alongside the culinary journey, a parallel path was unfolding — one oriented toward the inner life.
I hold a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher certification (RYS 200), a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) certification, and a life coach certification through the Certified Life Coach Institute (CLCI). Each of these trainings deepened my understanding of how the body, breath, and attention work together — and how profoundly our relationship with food, rest, and daily rhythm shapes our wellbeing.
The most formative chapter of this path came through studying with Jack Kornfield, the renowned meditation teacher and co-founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center. His teachings on loving-kindness, presence, and the wisdom of the heart form the invisible architecture beneath everything I write and cook.
The name of this site — Make Pure Thy Heart — comes from that lineage. It is an invitation, extended inward first.
THE STUDIO & THE STAGE
Creative life, for me, has always moved across more than one channel.
I am a co-owner of Snow Tattoo Studio in New York City, a space built on precision, artistry, and the intimate trust that tattooing requires. The parallels between tattooing and cooking are real: both demand presence, both leave a mark, and both are ultimately acts of devotion to another person's experience.
Music is equally central to who I am. I perform as guitarist and electronic sampler in Turbo Goth, the semi-experimental electronic rock duo I share with my partner, the artist Sarah Gaugler. Turbo Goth has performed at SXSW across multiple years — including fourteen shows in 2026 — as well as international festivals and venues throughout New York City and beyond. The band has shared stages and creative space with artists including Kid Francescoli and Princess Goes. The music is searching, propulsive, and alive.
WHAT YOU'LL FIND HERE
Make Pure Thy Heart is a recipe site with a soul.
The recipes here are plant-based, approachable, and deeply satisfying — rooted in Asian cuisines I grew up with (Filipino, Chinese, Japanese), the comfort food traditions I've cooked professionally, and the everyday vegan kitchen I live in now. Every dish is tested, real, and made with the intention of feeding you well.
Beneath the recipes is something quieter: a belief that how we cook, how we eat, and how we show up at the table every day is a form of practice. This site honors both.
Whether you landed here for a tofu recipe or something harder to name — you are welcome. Pull up a chair.
Paolo Peralta is based in Tribeca, New York. He is a culinary school graduate, former sous chef, vegan café owner, certified yoga teacher, MBSR practitioner, certified life coach, trained student of Jack Kornfield, tattoo studio co-owner, and touring musician. Make Pure Thy Heart has been his ongoing love letter to the kitchen since 2016.
