How did an Italian get mixed up in Argentinean restaurants?
Opportunity. I was hired as the manager of Novecento, and it worked. But I was already in my 30s, and I realized that it would be extremely tough to compete in the Italian market in New York given the limited experience I had in this city. And I saw there were only three or four Argentinean restaurants back then, so I said, “Oh I can do this,” and I went all the way. Are you ever going to open an Italian restaurant? Yes, I will. Not in the near future, but I will open an Italian restaurant. I will do it for my heart. How’d you get your start? I started in the industry when I was five years old watching my grandmother cook in the kitchen. That was it. I was born in Nigeria, but I went back to Italy when I was two years old. And after that, I made my way to the restaurant, to the kitchen. I couldn’t get away from a restaurant, away from a kitchen, away from a dining room or a bar as a customer or not. I just loved it, and I still do. Who do you admire in the industry? Well, of course, my
