CANDICE
CHEF
Candice is "Chinita" meaning little Chinese girl. When she lived in New York, that's what the Latinos called her at the Salsa Clubs she frequented. Candice attended the Institute of Culinary Education in New York and also did a food tour of Mexico to perfect her flavours. She is responsible for all of Chinita's recipes and works on creating exciting new dishes.
She may be small, but she can out eat both Sameer and Amit.
SAMEER
BUSINESS
Sameer is the head of Chinita, responsible for running and growing the business. Starting from a flea-market stall operation, Sameer has grown Chinita into bustling, successful restaurants and will continue to grow the business into a national brand. He has a BA in Economics from Ohio Wesleyan University and a MS in Accounting from the University of Virginia. He was also a Certified Public Accountant in the US.
When he was in the US, Sameer once ate only burritos for lunch and dinner for 5 days straight.
AMIT
DESIGN
Amit is an award-winning designer, and is responsible for the design of Chinita's brand, restaurants, menus, website, materials, future locations, etc. etc. He is also the founder of a reputed design company, Lucid Design. Amit has a BFA from the California College of Arts.
While living in San Francisco, he ate most of his meals in the predominantly Mexican Mission district, in particular at the taco truck at 22nd & Harrison.
WE KNOW and love REAL MEXICAN FOOD!
Our Journey began in the US where we fell in love with authentic Mexican food. When we moved to India after many years, we terribly missed those flavours. So we dropped everything and went to Mexico to learn.
When we visited Mexico city, we discovered our inspiration for a true taco in Colonia Centro. It was delicious and simple. We tasted the best adobada and churros we've ever eaten and brought back the recipes.
In Oaxaca, we got into some strange and delightful ingredients in cooking school, from zucchini blossoms to crickets. We loved eating nopal (cactus) and picked up the perfect recipe for a mole, Oaxacan spiced hot chocolate and street style grilled corn.
In Zihuatanejo we discovered pazole, developed our cooking techniques with poblanos and rode horses. The chefs we met here inspired our fish and prawn tacos, horchata and flan.