Chicken Tinga Empanadas

Chef Santiago Lopez is a native of Mexico. He's extremely passionate about his roots, especially the diversity found in Mexican gastronomy. To Lopez, cooking is not just about putting a dish on the table. It's about passion, love, and subtlety in the preparation. It's finding the perfect balance of seasonings, colors, and flavors to create exquisite harmony. His love of cooking began 25 years ago at the age of 12 when he started working in restaurants in Mexico. Lopez found his true passion there and decided to dedicate himself to discovering great contrasts and diversity in gastronomy. He arrived in New York at the age of 20. Since then he has focused on developing his passion. His first experience was at a Mexican restaurant, La Hacienda. Lopez then assisted with the opening of the Dos Caminos Restaurant in New York. He went on to work at the Rosa Mexican Restaurant, where he trained the staff at the Atlanta opening, and ended his stay there as a pastry chef. Over the years he has worked in different restaurants as manager and has worked his way up to executive chef in restaurants such as Gardenia, La Casa Agave, Vida Verde, and more. After 25 years in this beautiful profession, he has realized only one thing: He doesn't cook to live, he lives to cook

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