Biography

Aarón and his twin brother Rodrigo, an attorney in New York City, were born in 1976, in El Paso, Texas, to Zarela Martinez, a restaurateur and the author of several cookbooks, and Adolfo Sanchez. He began cooking at an early age, helping his mother prepare traditional Mexican foods for her catering business. In 1984, the family moved to New York, and his mother launched the acclaimed Café Marimba, and Sánchez began to cook in a professional kitchen. At age 16, Sánchez' mother sent him to New Orleans to spend the summer working with chef Paul Prudhomme. In 1994, Sánchez graduated from The Dwight School, and began to work full-time for Prudhomme in New Orleans. Aarón has a son named Yuma and a step daughter Sofia Piana.

Career

In 1996, after working under Prudhomme, Aarón returned north to study culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1994, he returned to New York, and worked in the kitchen at Patria under nuevo-Latino chef, Douglas Rodriguez. Sánchez met his future business partner, Alex Garcia while working there.

Garcia left Patria in 1996 to open Erizo Latino, taking Sanchez to help open the restaurant. Reviews were positive, referring to the restaurant as "casual" and "earthy," and "the fare is enticingly wholesome, and the kitchen's best dishes make a fine introduction to the cooking of Central and South America."

Sanchez then became executive chef at L-Ray, which specialized in foods from the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. This was followed by another executive chef position at Isla, a restaurant inspired by pre-Revolutionary Cuba. Sanchez then moved to San Francisco, working under Chef Reed Hearon at Rose Pistola.

Eamon Furlong hired Sánchez in 2000, to open Paladar, a pan-Latin restaurant on the Lower East Side. It opened in February 2001, and won Time Out New York's award for Best New Lower East Side Restaurant that year. It went on to be named the Best Latin American Restaurant in their 2002 Eating and Drinking Guide. Paladar had been reviewed as being "colorful, lively circus of a restaurant that’s equal parts serious cooking and serious partying," and was named a Critic's Pick by New York magazine. Sánchez sold his interest in the Paladar restaurant in 2010.

Sanchez went on to become chef of Mexican New York eatery Centrico. Centrico closed in 2012.

He opened the taqueria Johnny Sanchez in Baltimore with fellow chef John Besh in August 2014. The pair opened a second Johnny Sanchez location in October 2014 in New Orleans.

Television appearances

• Melting Pot - co-host with Alex Garcia on Food Network.
• Boy Meets Grill - Guest on episode "Latin Style Sizzle"
• Iron Chef America - against Masaharu Morimoto in "Battle Black Bass" in Season 2.
• The Next Iron Chef - eliminated in Episode 4, "Creativity Under Pressure".
• Chopped - recurring judge; First Runner-Up on Chopped All-Stars
• Throwdown! with Bobby Flay - Puffy Taco episode. Gave Bobby tips on the puffy taco.
• Chefs vs. City - co-host with Chris Cosentino on Food Network
• Heat Seekers - co-host with Roger Mooking on Food Network
• Aaron loves New York - host on Utilisima
• The Taste - Guest judge on episode "Guilty Pleasures"
• Taco Trip - host

Bibliography

• La Comida del Barrio: Latin-American Cooking in the U.S.A., 2003, ISBN 978-0-609-61075-6

Simple Food Big Flavor: Unforgettable Mexican-Inspired Recipes from My Kitchen to Yours 2011

[ Source: Wikipedia ]