Tofu Buddha Bowl

Manuel’s journey began at the age of 16, when his family moved from Argentina to Hawaii. His father, and now business partner, had taken a year sabbatical from his job in investment banking. It was here that Manuel while keeping up with his studies online, took it upon himself to help with the daily chores, particularly those around the kitchen. “When I was very young, I would sit on the kitchen counter and watch my grandmother cook” he recalls, “and when we lived in Hawaii, I kind of took over. I would go to the market and do the groceries, and began wondering, Why do we do things this way?” Cooking became his life’s passion. After finishing his studies in “The Bue Trainers” Argentina, Manuel worked in some of the best kitchens in the world, including the Michelin-starred Fat Duck in London; Matt Moran’s Aria restaurant in Sydney, Australia; and Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Maui. In 2013 he decided he needed to expand his tools and decided to study Business Management at the University of Hawaii, where he received a full scholarship after the first year for good grades and kept a 4.0 GPA. While in school and working as an executive chef on Maui he met his wife and restaurant partner, Tina. He opened Lilikoi Organic Living 7 years ago in the SOFI neighborhood of South Beach. In 2018 he participated on the Food Network’s guys Grocery Games making it to the finals.

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