“I was born in Mexico and I moved to the USA when I was only 3. I was very fortunate to travel to Mexico very often growing up. It gave me a sense of pride to be able to try these off-beat ingredients. Mexico was where my curiosity and passion for cooking really began; I used to look forward to the holidays so I could go eat more. Eventually, I fell in love with tacos, they’re actually a major part of what I do because when I was growing up I could only eat them during the holidays as it was hard to find the authentic ones here- now I want to make sure people can enjoy a true taco all year round.

Having been raised here instead of Mexico is different and probably for some I could be the fake Mexican that cant play soccer or the odd white guy that talks different, but I have the same palate as an immigrant cook or chef.

I strongly believe that immigrants are the bones of our industry here, they’re our dishwashers, our line cooks; we could not do what we do here without them and I have a very beautiful relationship with a lot of the cooks I’ve worked with. I always hired people who were in terrible situations because they’re people who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves – and they weren’t all poor immigrants, some have been doctors and lawyers that just couldn’t practice in the US so they looked for an alternative income. They’re a very important part of our restaurant culture, they have that getting it done attitude. Sometimes, we take our American dream for granted.

I believe in investing in staff, in your humans. They are what make your restaurants – a chef is just one person, if you don’t have a team, you are nothing.

“It eventually is a leap of faith, and you have to take it.””