My family came from Ecuador.

As long as you remember what you love and why you love it, it will never be far from your heart - or your plate.

There a great ethnic cuisine available to you in Chicago.

I think that a lot of us at home are iron chefs in their own right in that we have to come up with meals real quickly.

I studied cooking in Spain after college.

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.

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.