Ava McDonnell 
Inside the kitchen of Orange County Convention Center, one mother-daughter team is transforming food into art.
For more than a decade, Katiana Robles and her mother, Myrna Francia, have worked side-by-side with Sodexo Live! Creating elaborate edible displays ranging from hand-painted chocolate murals to intricate fruit centerpieces that double as sculptures.
Their work lives somewhere between culinary craft and fine art and for both women, that connection has always felt natural.
Their Stories
“For me, food is more than just food,” said Francia. “Sometimes it is art, sometimes it is friendship, it shows how you care. It is the center of us humans’ lives.”
Francia’s artistic journey began long before she ever stepped into a convention center kitchen. Growing up in Puerto Rico, she studied art and came within one class of graduating before her life shifted course. After getting married and raising a family, she continued creating through community art programs and an at-home business designing custom children’s lamps.
When she moved to Florida in the mid-1990s, she eventually enrolled in culinary classes at Mid Florida Tech before landing a position at the convention center. What started in the bake shop soon evolved into a role in the Garde Manger department.
An executive chef envisioned edible centerpieces and decorative fruit displays for events. Francia quickly discovered that sculpting fruit wasn’t so different from the ceramic and visual arts work she already knew.
“I feel like I do art every day,” said Francia. “Because when I put together something as simple as a fruit platter, I have to put the green here and the red there, because the colors complement each other. I would describe it as arranging florals, but for fruit plating.”
Meanwhile, her daughter, Katiana Robles, entered the culinary arts world almost by accident.
At 17, she began helping her mother with large centerpiece projects at the convention center. What started with placing Jello molds on plates eventually evolved into massive chocolate installations and edible sculptures.
A giant chocolate mural wall created for a VIP event was the project that became a defining moment for them both.
At the time, Robles was working in special effects but was eager to take on the challenge. Together, they spent hours designing and assembling the project until the towering chocolate display came together.
“We were so proud of ourselves when it was completed,” Robles said.
While Robles spent years pursuing other creative careers, she eventually came back to working full-time and began experimenting with edible painting techniques. She discovered cocoa butter paint and developed hand-painted chocolate artwork for VIP events and displays.
Their Work
Francia tends to draw inspiration from nature and focus on balance, color, and beauty. Her fruit carvings and edible displays are temporary by nature, designed to be admired and eaten in the moment.
“My work is for a right now experience,” said Francia.
While Robles leans into bold visuals, portraiture, and unexpected whimsy. She enjoys creating edible artwork that surprises people and pushes beyond what they expect food can be.
“I want people to enjoy it,” said Robles. “I love novelty pieces. I want people to be surprised.”
Being able to be flexible and trust one another has become one of the strongest parts of their relationship and partnership.
“We have different approaches and perspectives,” Robles said. “But we always find a way to collaborate.”
Outside the kitchen, family traditions, especially around food, continue to keep their relationship close. Each year, they carry on a Mother’s Day dinner tradition started by Robles’ grandmother, gathering together to cook, eat, and remember family members who came before them.
For Francia, she said, “I admire my daughter’s talent greatly. I admire that she is so loving with her family and everyone and everything she does. She has turned out to be a great person.”
And for Robles, she said, “I admire my mother’s work ethic. She is the hardest-working person I have ever met. She is dependable, and I admire her so much that I do not want to shame her by not emulating her. I want to be known as being someone who is hardworking. It is comforting knowing she is someone who can be trusted.”
Together, the two women have built a creative legacy, one edible masterpiece at a time.
P.S. The art wall is not available anymore, but some pieces are reused for cup centerpieces. They are not on display year-round, only during VIP functions.
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