Humberto
"I’m from Ecuador and have been in New York for 23 years. I started the same way many Latinos do here, from the bottom as a dishwasher. I learned the hard way once I got my start in fine-dining, working in various restaurants, working with all kinds of cuisines, and now I’m doing Latin-American food.
As an Ecuadorian, my goals are to elevate not only Ecuadorian cuisine but also Latin-American cuisine. For us as Latinos here, it’s very hard to come up, we don’t just get kicked down in general, but we sadly kick each other down even between our own people. There are many great Latin cooks, but the issue I feel is we sometimes don’t like having our own people reach out to try and help us; next thing you know we’re fighting to one-up each other and we don’t improve, trying to show we’re better than each other instead of acting as a supportive and inclusive community.
I was lucky to have worked with great chefs on my way up, and now I want to share that same experience with the cooks I work with, to help them come up; they’re more than just co-workers, they’re friends, and I hope everyone does the same, giving these up-and-coming talents the spotlight to grow and learn because we can’t all be shadows forever helping the big names stay big. We need to make a name for ourselves, too!"
Roseldo
"I’m from Puebla, Mexico – I’ve been here in New York for a long time and have always worked as a dishwasher. When I arrived I didn’t know what to expect, I thought it was going to be hard to get any job as I don’t know how to read or write. I found that restaurant kitchens are places full of opportunities and there are no discriminations. From someone like me to people seeing second chances at life, and people from all around the world. It doesn’t matter what language you speak, we’re all able to understand each other and get along while in the kitchen!"
Jordan
"I’m from New Jersey, born and raised, but my parents are from Cuba and Puerto Rico, so I have a Spanish background and that meant I was always next to the kitchen! But I didn't realize I wanted to cook until a couple of years working in security.
I realized I was wasting my time and the opportunity for growth was almost nonexistent. So, eventually, I said “screw it. I quit.” And got a job as a dishwasher, I eventually moved on to prep and then to working on the line, where the big boys play.
I love the adrenaline, it’s a rush that you can’t really get anywhere else – and it also gives you a lot of natural tattoos. My ultimate goal is to eventually open my own restaurant and make a name for myself."
Diego
"I come from Mexico, and have been in New York for 10 years; I have been working in the kitchen since. I believe that NY is a cosmopolitan city, you can try all kinds of different foods in restaurants, foods that come from other countries.
It’s what I love the most about this city, the diversity in gastronomy and of course that I can go out at any time and there will be always a taco truck available! I’ve worked in various areas, always surrounded by food. I’ve worked as a dishwasher, delivery man, and prep cook.
I think dishwashers are a very important part of all restaurants, I mean, every single part of the process behind and after a meal served it’s crucial for the food industry, and being able to see it from different perspectives helps you respect and value the work that takes."
Eduardo
"Fine-dining has always been my thing, and when I first came in to eat here I was sitting at the bar and I had an immediate connection with the place. I contacted the owner when the restaurant was barely six months old and joined the team.
Here the biggest focus is the prep, the quality of the work, and the produce we use - it helps to have an amazing team like ours’ that truly lives to constantly push, from the minute we open until we close. Especially when you have to operate in a restaurant that has a small kitchen you have to adjust your menu and train your team properly; every movement in the tight space needs to have a purpose, a close-quarters dance that needs to flow both during prep and during the rush!
We’ve had to really adjust to covid. Even though at first we didn’t want to do deliveries and we also didn’t want to let go of our employees. So we adjusted and some of us had to deliver food; creating our own delivery to cut intermediaries, and saving on the huge margins of 3rd-party deliveries.
Push push push! As a team, as employees, and as humans, it is what has kept us afloat!"
Giovanni
"I was born and raised in Queens for the most part, but both of my parents come from abroad - so I was raised in an international environment and have always been surrounded by food. My mom actually owns a Cuban restaurant across the street from us - she's been there for 11 years.
Being from Queens is great, The idea of a melting pot of different cultures and people cooking all kinds of different food is a beautiful thing - if you are a cook that is looking to learn any cuisine, NYC is the place, be it the street food vendors or the restaurants.
To be honest I would've opened a Cuban restaurant if it weren't because my mom's already got one; so I went ahead and created an Argentinian concept instead because I’m basically Argentinian by association, since my step dad's from there I have been able to learn so much about the food and its culture. I also realized that NYC needed a chef-driven Argentine restaurant; there are a couple of mom and pops great places but I found a gap and in consequence my voice!"
Orlando
"I’ve been lucky to have been in the opening brigades of many restaurants, so I learned a lot along the way; I started cooking in the U.S in 1997 where I discovered the potential kitchens had, my family back in Venezuela was very old-school in their mentality and view of restaurant work, but I focused on learning and traveling all over South America - working with two of the 50 best Latin American restaurants.
Travel has made me broaden my horizons with food and learning a lot from great people.
Here in NYC I was hired to open a new place before the pandemic hit, but that was delayed ..meanwhile, I’m here with the crew helping in whatever we need while things get better.
Our niche of small places with great food has been a success, figuring out how to maximize everything is always fun. It’s always good to set the stepping stones for so many future cooks!"
Veronica
"I come from a city where cooking is very different, back home in Oaxaca the kitchens are tight and have limited equipment. Coming here to NYC is eye-opening; being able to have a designated section for me with a dedicated oven and a stove, it’s kind of rewarding and helps you see the kitchen and the dining scene from a more professional perspective.
I never went to culinary school; it’s a tradition for children, especially women, back there to learn to cook as most of the time both parents are always working, so you need to learn to cook for yourself and your siblings. I learned by watching my family cook and being shown how to do things here and there, eventually, that grew into a passion and I decided to peruse and work towards growing in the field!"
Abel Ramirez, but they call me Cochiloco.
"I’ve been in kitchens for around 7 years – I’m from Guerrero, Mexico and started here in NYC as a dishwasher where I worked my way up to grill where I am today, I think one of the things I love most about the kitchen life is how it allows you to climb up the ranks as opposed to other industries, and I really dig the fire and the adrenaline of the line.
One step forward at a time, and in kitchens as international as these we all communicate through Kitchenese and we all understand each other!"
Flor
"After finishing my culinary studies, I focused on pastry, but around a year ago I decided to make the swap to the line! The pastry life is very different, it’s precision, it’s chemistry – you still have to run at times but it’s a very different world, and you’re always far apart from the hot stoves because you need to keep cool environments to handle all the cold dessert items.
Here, I’m in the middle of the hot rush next to the fire, it’s great! My dream is to eventually bring pastry to the line and bring the line to pastry so that I can create cool things in the future.
It’s great to be able to see both sides of the kitchen, to learn about them and better understand how everything works; in the end, to be a business owner, it’s crucial to understand the full spectrum of the kitchen!"