I was born in Barcelona, and my family is all still there. My parents moved to the States with me when I was a baby, so I actually grew up in Brooklyn. Bar Vinazo is the best of both worlds: I get to bring my culture and my experience with Spanish food to Brooklyn. 

I went to LaGuardia High School for visual arts and was totally set on becoming an architect, and then realized what I actually wanted to be a chef. So, I applied to CIA [Culinary Institute of America] without my parents knowing and ended up getting in. It took some convincing, but my parents realized that this is what I wanted to do, and they supported me. 

I ended up really enjoying CIA. I was working in the city on weekends at Buddakan, and then I ended up doing my externship there. Then, I worked at Prune [in the East Village], which was amazing; I loved working there. But then Covid happened, and I lost my job, as many other people did. I was out of the kitchen for about a year and a half, which was scary. I missed it so much.

A family friend, who owns a specialty Spanish food store in Cobble Hill, told me about Bar Vinazo opening up and that they were looking for a chef. He’s also from Spain, and knowing that I’m from there, he said he thought I’d be a perfect fit. So, he put me in touch with Joe [Campanale], and we ended up meeting in person, doing a tasting, and that’s pretty much all she wrote. 

I started off as a consultant here, and they asked me to stay on. At that point, this was my baby — I’d put so much time and effort into this place that I couldn’t say no. They also gave me the opportunity to become a partner, which was really exciting. I honestly never thought that at 25, I could be running this operation or running any restaurant. It was really a dream of mine, and I really can’t thank Joe and Ilyssa [Satter] enough for giving me the opportunity to do this. 

Bar Vinazo is one of, if not the only, place in Park Slope and the surrounding area serving Spanish food like this. What does this mean for you, the person at the helm?

Growing up, I’d go to school, and my mom would pack me lunches that always had all these Spanish foods, and people would say, “Ooh, what is that?” Now, we’re kind of expanding our knowledge of Spanish food, wine and culture in New York City, but there’s still so much that is not really known and needs to be explored. I think that at the moment, Brooklyn is becoming one of the hottest places for restaurants. Being able to show people that there’s so much more to Spain than just paella means a lot to me. 

I taught a tinned fish class on Saturday, and that was really fun because it’s becoming such a hot product right now, but there’s still a lack of knowledge about what makes it so special and such a big part of Spanish culture. It’s really special to open up a place like Bar Vinazo and to open people’s awareness of Spanish cuisine a bit more. 

How did you create the menu? 

A lot of my ideas and inspiration come from my childhood. I would spend about four months of the year in Spain with my family in the summer and around Christmas. I spent a lot of time cooking with both of my grandmothers, both of whom are fantastic cooks. A lot of the food on my menus is nostalgic, and a few of the recipes are actually my grandmothers’. I think that both of my 85-year-old grandmothers are like, “Why is that on a menu in New York City?!” and I’m like, “Because it’s really good food!” Obviously, I’ve taken my own spin on certain things; I don’t think bringing the pot to the table, like my grandmother would, is appropriate, but a lot of the inspiration comes from them. 

Do you have a favorite thing to cook?

That’s like asking someone to pick their favorite child. I think it’s really exciting that I put pork cheeks on the menu since, to me, they’re such a delicacy, and I haven’t seen them on a lot of menus in New York. I think it’s important to bring stuff that people might not be as familiar with to the menu. They’re also fun to cook and delicious to eat. So, at the moment, that’s my answer, but I do change the menu very seasonally. I like going to the market and seeing what’s available and building the menu around that.

Tell me about being a woman in charge of a professional kitchen. 

I can’t say it’s easy, especially because I’m so young. I started cooking in kitchens when I was 16, so it’s always been kind of tough. It’s not a career that’s super women-dominated, but I think times have definitely changed, and it’s really nice to see that a lot of kitchens are actually led by females. That being said, there are obviously some challenges that you face. An example was when I was training a new guy, and someone came into the kitchen and said, “We want to talk to the manager.” I was the only one there, so I was like, “Okay, how can I help you?” And this guy looked at me and said, “No, not you,” and pointed at the person I was training and said, “I want to talk to him. I want to talk to the boss.” He clarified and said, “I’m not the boss, she is.”

Luckily, we have such a great crew at Bar Vinazo that I’ve never felt disrespected in any way by my team. But it’s hard to delegate someone who is years older than you. There are people who are probably ten years older than me here. It can be hard to take me seriously when I’m so much younger, but I’ve made my position known, and I’m always here to help.

I think when someone sees you working hard and doing everything you can to help, respect is earned, not asked for or assumed. My team sees that I’m working really hard, taking out the trash, doing everything I can to show them that, even though I’m in this position, it doesn’t mean that I’m not here to support them. Being a woman, especially after Covid, has such a different meaning in the kitchen. It’s definitely tough, but it’s not as hard as it used to be.

What are you doing on your days off, and does that include cooking? 

Oh boy … sleep? No, I like to go out to eat on my days off. I’ve met so many chefs and restaurant owners working here, and I find myself wanting to support their businesses. Trying foods is also key to this industry — I like to see what other people are doing and get a feel for what’s happening outside of my little kitchen in Brooklyn. In terms of cooking, I cook for my dog a lot. I don’t cook for myself a lot. She’s definitely way more spoiled than I am in terms of cooking. I try to take it easy.

What have you learned in your time at Bar Vinazo?

Oh my gosh, so much. Joe is a really great mentor. He was also really young when he started managing and opening restaurants. It’s really nice to have someone who’s been through it to guide me through certain aspects. He’s been really great in providing insight and support in managing people. 

I’ve also learned that, even if you don’t know how to do something, being transparent and saying, “Listen, I don’t know how to do this, but I will learn how to do it to the best of my ability” is so important. I had never opened a restaurant as an Executive Chef. I’d never been an Executive Chef. I came in here and said, “I don’t know how to do certain things, but I promise I’m going to work hard and learn them,” and I did. That’s the only way you’ll ever move forward. So, I’m still learning how to be uncomfortable, taking on things that I might not know how to do, and not being scared to do them.