Our Executive Chef, Antonio Carballo, is originally from Chicago but grew up in one of the most famous ports of Mexico, Puerto Vallarta. Having a Mexican mother and a Spanish-Cuban father, he was immersed in the Latin Culture and Cuisine since of a young age.

The beginning of his culinary adventure started by going every Sunday to his great grandmother’s house for lunch and breakfast. There he saw and learned how she made home-made tortillas from scratch, refried beans, enchiladas, enfrijoladas, salsas, mole, and so many more authentic Mexican recipes. He grew fond upon his love for homemade Mexican food and food in general that at the age of 15 he wanted to start learning the basics.

Like most best chefs and cooks, he started washing dishes for his father’s Spanish restaurant, Barcelona Tapas. He quickly learned every part of the restaurant, from being a prep cook and line cook to understanding both the Front and Back of the House as an Expediter, Server and Host. At the age of 18, he decided he wanted to make food and hospitality his career.

Chef Antonio Carballo packed his bags to travel abroad to New York to study at the world’s premier culinary school, The Culinary Institute of America. He was able to work at the university’s fine dining restaurant, American Bounty, next to Chef Jason Potanovich and Chef Brian Kaywork, all while still going to class. By the age of 22, he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management with a concentration in Latin Cuisines alongside having an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts.

After graduating, his career began in Hillstone Restaurant Group as an Assistant Culinary Manager where he learned the organizational structure, systems and operations to be able to run a successful restaurant. After traveling with the company from NYC to Atlanta and finally Memphis, he decided to go back to NYC. He became a Chef de Cuisine for a fast-casual restaurant group called DIG. He was able to open two new locations for them, Nomad and Williamsburg, which the latter became the busiest location of 33 locations. After a year and a half, he decided it was time to focus on Latin Cuisine. He became the Executive Chef for La Esquina in SOHO for another year and a half until he got a phone call from our CEO, Saurabh Abrol to embark in the biggest of his culinary adventures, Meximodo. The rest is history.