Right after almost a decade in Columbia restaurants, local chef will get his own chance

21 April 2022

Whenever Hector Sanchez was hurt while serving in the Oughout. S. Marine Corps, this meant the end of their military career but the begin of something new. Sanchez had been dealing with PTSD and other accidents in the time after their military retirement in 2012. Yet after cooking for their two children one night time, he found himself attracted to the field and the way this worked as a therapy designed for him. Now, almost 10 years later and stints within local kitchens, the 39-year-old Columbia chef launched The particular Bodega ghost kitchen within March. “What I like regarding food is it’s culture, you can learn people… besides, you understand, being therapy for me plus… even though we’re not within Italy or in The japanese if I cook some great pasta or tonkatsu, that may transport you to that nation so that’s why I really, actually fell in love with it, inch Hector said. The set opened up The Bodega within Phill Pretzel Factory upon Rosewood Drive. A ghosting kitchen is essentially a cafe without its own physical place that only offers shipping and take out — the particular style of business has become well-known in Columbia. The ghosting kitchen, The Bodega, became available in March of this yr after the Sanchezes moved their particular food truck, also called The Bodega, to a a lot more permanent location in the Rosewood neighborhood.

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“We were looking for a place exactly where everybody can kind of simply come that was stationary, plus everybody can come just consider our food so we were hoping to find a ghost kitchen idea. And lo and see… we met John (Bailey) and he was running the particular ghost kitchen and he provided us a shot, ” Aida said. Bailey, who owns Philly Pretzel Kitchen, had been permitting food trucks, which require a place to cook in order to function, to use his spot considering that last summer. When this individual heard Aida and Hector needed a spot, the collaboration was a natural fit. The particular restaurant serves New York-style street food like neapolitan pizza, with made-from-scratch money and topped with ricotta cheese, and chopped parmesan cheese, a sandwich born within New York that features ground meat and onions topped along with melted cheese. The set both grew up in Ny, but Hector has invested most of his life within South Carolina. The end of their military career brought your pet back to Columbia, with his spouse and two children. Right after discovering his love designed for cooking, he decided to have a chance — with no encounter in the kitchen, he landed as being a line cook at Primary Street’s Bourbon when proprietor Kristian Niemi decided to provide him a chance. “(He was) desperate to learn and eager to obtain stuff done so yeah, I am talking about, I never doubted that will he’d be successful once this individual found his niche, inch Niemi, who is also a experienced, said.

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After about a calendar year working under Niemi, Hector bounced around at a couple of places in Columbia — namely Sapori, an trendy Italian restaurant in Lexington and Rise Bakeshop, below City Grit Hospitality Team co-owner Sarah Simmons. Each restaurants have now closed, yet Hector credits these dining places, and his drive for cooking food, for giving him the abilities he needed to move on in order to his own spot. The Sanchezes originally started The Bodega as a food truck, right after Aida began posting pictures of the food Hector has been making on social media. “I started posting things that Hector was cooking at the home… and I mean, we had individuals salivating on our timeline, inch Aida said. “It had been just a calling, people has been just like, ‘We need your own food’ so we were such as, ‘Okay, let’s start. A few see what we can do to have the people what they want. ‘”Despite Hector’s appreciation for those mentors, this individual said his goal has been to do eventually own their own place and The Bodega is usually allowing him to do that. “I got sick and tired of cooking other’s food and I wanted to put the food out there because all in all this is my heart. This really is me on a plate, inch Hector said. The Sanchezes hope that their ghosting kitchen is another stepping rock to their final goal — opening their own brick-and-mortar place in Columbia. Their cafe is located inside of the Philly Pretzel Factory at 2800 Rosewood Dr . and is open Wednesday and Wednesday from three or more p. m. to ten p. m., Thursday plus Friday 3 p. mirielle. to 9 p. meters. and Saturdays from one p. m. to nine p. m.

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