Hometown: El Paso, Texas
Heritage: Latin
Education: Johnson and Wales in Providence, Rhode Island
Restaurant: Paladar, Mixx
Age: Early 30's
Cuisine: New Latin · Son of celebrated Mexican cooking authority Zarela Martinez
· Helped his mother cook traditional Mexican food for the family's catering business
· By 1984, the family had moved to New York and Zarela opened the acclaimed Cafe Marimba. It was here that 11-year-old Sanchez began his professional culinary career.
· By his 16th birthday, he staged with master chef Paul Prudhomme in New Orleans and in 1992, Sanchez returned to work full time for Prudhomme
· He returned to New York in 1994 to work with chef Douglas Rodriguez at Patria
· In 1996, Sanchez left Patria to become sous chef under Alex Garcia at Erizo Latino
· Thereafter, he headed to San Francisco and worked with chef Reed Hearon at Rose Pistola. After a year, he returned to New York to accept the executive chef's position at the casual restaurant, L-Ray, receiving a one-star New York Times review
· In February 2001, Sanchez teamed up with Eamon Furlong to open Paladar, a pan-Latin restaurant on the lower east side in Manhattan featuring Caribbean, Central, and South American cuisine
· He is a co-developing chef of Mixx Restaurant with Chef Edwyn Ferrari in the Borgata Hotel and Spa in Atlantic City
Awards and Distinctions
· In its first year, Paladar won Time Out New York's 2001 Award for Best New Lower East Side Restaurant and Best Latin American Restaurant in their 2002 Eating and Drinking Guide
Cookbooks
· Sanchez is the author of LA Comida Del Barrio-Latin-American Cooking Across the United States (Clarkson N. Potter, 2003) published in May 2003
Other
· Sanchez was a host on Food Network's Melting Pot
![PHOTO](javascript:popup("http://img.foodnetwork.com/FOOD/2005/06/24/sanchez_e.jpg",350,450))
