Raquel
Pomplun

LATIN TEMPTATION Miss April sets both hearts and stomachs aflutter Photography by Arny Freytag Having witnessed many a man turn to mush after sampling her killer chiles rellenos, Raquel Pomplun says with a knowing laugh, “I strongly believe that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!” No mere chef, the effervescent Raquel is a passionate gourmand of life itself. “My Twitter bio reads, ‘Fun crazy girl who loves to dance and laugh out loud’,” she says. “That’s definitely me! I enjoy life to its fullest and want to know a little bit about everything.” Thus far, her recipe for achieving that goal has included playing soccer in the hills of Mexico, training in classical ballet and acing math tests without ever opening a book. “I don’t need to study for math,” says Raquel, a biochemistry major. “In fact, I love math so much that I dream about it, which is crazy. Nobody does that!” Another persistent dream of hers: becoming a Playmate. And so last summer she sent a picture of herself to Playboy. Two weeks later, we called her in for a test shoot. “Now here I am,” she says. “I’m not only Miss April, but I’m also on the cover with Bruno Mars. When I found out, I ran around my house screaming for 30 minutes.” For the record, Raquel wasn’t alone in her ecstasy – Mr. Mars spent the cover shoot improvising paeans to her. “It was awesome. When I’d pose and my booty would touch his leg, he’d sing, ‘Oh, Raquel, her booty is touching my thigh! Oh, Raquel, would you be mine?’ I was in heaven.”