Art Culinaire
A Centered Superstar
by Laurie Woolever
Spring 2006, issue 80
Aarón Sánchez has just turned 30, but he's already racked up more diverse experiences than many chefs twice his age. From a teenage stint at K-Paul's in New Orleans to hosting a television show, writing a cookbook, developing lines of cookware and apparel and, oh yeah, owning and running two restaurants, the young chef is in seemingly constant motion.
Sánchez was born in El Paso, Texas, and spent his early childhood years watching and helping his mother, Zarela Martinez, cook traditional Mexican dishes for her catering business. Before her son was 10 years old, the family had moved to New York. Martinez eventually opened her first Manhattan restaurant, Zarela, which continues to offer an antidote to the wan bean burritos that had long defined Mexican cuisine in the United States. In the early 1990's, she enrolled her son in a master course taught by Paul Prudhomme, who would become Sánchez's culinary mentor and first serious employer.
"He taught me how to taste," says Sánchez. "He has one of the most amazing palates. He's all about big flavors, and proper seasoning, and he taught me a lot, both in the kitchen and as a man. He's an example of someone 100% dedicated to his craft."
After working in New Orleans, Sánchez enrolled in the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island, and after a year of study, returned to New York. His first job was at Patria, under Douglas Rodriguez, a pioneer of Nuevo Latino cooking. Sánchez later helped his friend and fellow Patria alum Alex Garcia to open Erizo Latino, then spent a year cooking with chef Reed Hearon at Rose Pistola, in San Francisco. He returned again to New York, becoming executive chef at Fernando Saralegui's L-Ray, where he served a "Gulf-rim" menu of dishes inspired by Louisiana, Texas, Cuba and Mexico. From there he took one more executive chef position, at the solidly Cuban Isla, before opening his own Pan-Latin restaurant, Paladar, with partner Eamon Furlong. At roughly the same time, Sánchez was tapped to co-host a series of episodes of "Melting Pot" on the Food Network, with Alex Garcia.
"The Food Network is probably one of the most important things to happen to American culture in a long time, just because it's gotten many more people to enjoy cooking," he says. "I'm a product of my mother's and my grandmother's kitchens, and my food is not very hard to get your hands around, but to be able to have that kind of stage to share my passion, I was very fortunate." More recently, Sánchez returned to the Food Network, as a competitor on "Iron Chef America." Sounding slightly like one of the actors who shared his People magazine "50 Most Beautiful People" spotlight, Sánchez says, "It was an incredible experience just to be chosen to be a competitor on the series, and a huge honor to be pitted against Morimoto. It was really nerve-wracking, but very invigorating. The show has become this very bloodthirsty, competitive thing, very mano a mano, and it's taken very seriously among chefs. So that was on my mind, not only to have a good performance, but to perform well in front of my fellow chefs." The judges declared a tie between the young Mexican chef and the seasoned Japanese veteran; when he's reminded of the outcome, Sánchez muses, "That I was able to tie Morimoto was a thrill. It left little suspense, so hopefully I'll have the chance to go at him again."