My family came from Ecuador.

There a great ethnic cuisine available to you in Chicago.

I have experienced a tremendous amount of personal and professional growth, and I feel incredibly lucky that I'm able to make a career out of doing the things that I love.

Being Ecuadorian is, I don't want to say it's tough but it's... something special to me.

Chicago is a lot of my background as a chef.

Some of the best cooks that I've cooked with, whether it's in New York or Chicago or even here in Philadelphia, are actually Ecuadorians. And there's something about their palates that really just inspires me, and has a really deep sense of flavor.

I'm a huge fan of burgers, and they're not my wife's favorite, so we don't cook them at home.