Today we’d like to introduce you to Chef Manny Echeverri.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Funny enough, I came into the culinary world “by accident.” While I come from a long line of bakers and was surrounded by cooking my entire life, my first real passion was music.
After graduating from high school, I left home (Bogota, Colombia) to Miami to pursue my career as an audio engineer. Very quickly, I discovered that finding work in that industry was far more difficult than I imagined, so I began to take side jobs, starting with a food runner position at Steele, an Italian restaurant in Boca. One day at the restaurant, I was thrown into the line as a fry cook, which sparked a passion I never knew really existed. I continued to work at the restaurant as a line cook for the next few months, learning the other stations and taking in as much experience as I possibly could. When the restaurant unexpectedly closed, I decided to pursue my new career aspirations by enrolling in Le Cordon Bleu culinary school — all the while working as a cook at a small Colombian restaurant to support my tuition.
From that point on, I worked my way up the ladder under the wings of Chef Julian Baker serving as the Sous Chef of Bice, Executive Chef of the Pelican Café and Chef de Cuisine at Toscana Divino. Eventually, I decided to go off on my own and follow my dream to work for the great Chef José Andrés at The Bazaar at SLS South Beach. I applied and happily accepted a position as a line cook knowing I’d have to work my way back up “on the line.”
After a few months, I was persuaded to enter a training program that was supposed to help me “earn a better salary”. Little did I know that the program was intended for Sous Chefs, which usually takes a minimum of two years at the restaurant to be considered. Within 10 months, I went from Line Cook to Bazaar’s Sous Chef to Senior Sous Chef shortly after. When José finally announced his newest concept (Bazaar Mar), he offered me the position of Chef de Cuisine, a huge honor I strived for and successfully achieved.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not a smooth road – I don’t think any restaurant opening is ever smooth, especially one of this caliber, but it was for sure one of the most organized openings I have ever done. The support from the entire Think Food Group team (José Andrés’s Restaurant Group) was tremendous and I believe together we opened a great restaurant. The biggest challenge we faced is that we wanted to have a restaurant that showcases the best of the sea. Getting live product from all over the world is not always an easy task. No one else is doing it in Miami to the extent we are, so we have to work harder to open the road to these possibilities.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Chef du Cuisine of Bazaar Mar – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
José likes to refer to Bazaar Mar as a journey of the sea. That’s what he said to me the first time we spoke about this concept and I truly believe it. It is a seafood restaurant like no other, with over 70 items on the menu that showcase the beauty of the sea. To develop this concept, we did things almost upside down and looked for the product before we developed the actual dishes themselves. We wanted to make sure that we found the best available product we could find and then proceeded to create the dishes around those quality ingredients, somewhat transforming it to a Bazaar dish but always respecting and embracing the nature of the product itself. When researching what type of products we, as a company and team of chefs, wanted to incorporate into Bazaar Mar’s dishes, one of our top priorities was the respect for the environment and a clear consciousness on sustainability as much as possible. That’s why we have dishes like the Lion Fish, an overpopulated invasive, yet DELICIOUS fish that threatens the native fish and coral reefs in the Atlantic Ocean. By removing these invasive new species of fish from the ocean and onto our menu, we help protect the coral reef in the Caribbean. I’m happy to say it has become one of our best selling items.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I am definitely excited for the second year of Bazaar Mar and some of the changes we have in the works. We plan to launch Bazaar Mar’s lunch in the near future. The lunch menu will include dishes you can enjoy every day that are true to José & Bazaar Mar’s style at an approachable price point.
We also are working on some new additions for our dinner menu. These new dishes will have the same whimsical flare that characterizes Bazaar Mar, but with more influences from sea vegetables and other locally sourced ingredients.
What’s your favorite memory from childhood? – My favorite memories from growing up all centered around cooking in the kitchen.
When I think about my favorite childhood memories, I instantly think about my times in the kitchen cooking alongside my grandmother. As a kid, I learned how to cook by making breads and pizzas with my abuela Rosio. She was the last true baker of the family. I was always amazed by what she was able to do (I think she had a PHD in life, she knew how to do everything!) All my early recipes were hers and she taught me a lot and sparked that passion within me.
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