Ecuador, Be Proud: The First Michelin-Recognized Ecuadorian Restaurant EVER
Sabores, the Spanish word for flavors. From
Quito to Miami, Chef Alejandra Espinosa is reshaping how the world sees Ecuadorian food.
She trained in France, cooked in San Francisco, and now runs three groundbreaking restaurants,
Somos here in Quito, Cotoa, and Cotoita in Miami. The first Ecuadorian restaurant ever to
be recognized by the Michelin Guide in Florida is her restaurant. Today I sit down with Chef
Alejandra to talk about her journey, her food, and why Ecuadorian flavors matter on the global
stage. I’m hungry. Let’s go to the restaurant. A this was amazing. 100 out of 100 in co. Mmm. And good morning and welcome to another beautiful
day here in Ecuador. Today we have a special guest. We are with Chef Alejandra Espinosa. Thank
you so much for being here on the channel. This is really special for me because I’ve been following
you on Instagram. I’ve been following you. You’ve done some interviews in Miami. I I know about all
of these different things that you’ve done. And I’m so excited to jump into some questions that I
have. And I think everybody really wants to know how many passports do you have? For the moment,
only one. I only have the Ecuadorian, but we’re working on the American. But yeah, so far only the
Equadorian with a lot of stamps. Yeah, I believe it. I believe it because I come here every 5
weeks. Oh, every 5 weeks. Incredible. Yes. It’s a lot of travel. You grew up in Ecuador. Yes. Until
you were 16. Yes. And then you moved to France. Yes. How crazy is that? My dad was a diplomat,
a military diplomat. So, the whole family moved there for 2 years. And then me and my brother
stayed there. And I continue with my studies in culinary arts. Uhhuh. And I was supposed to
stay four years but then I stayed 10 almost but I it was a great experience. That’s incredible to
spend so much time there and then study under some really famous chefs. Yes. Can you talk about that
experience? Yes. Um I study at Pvokus. So he’s one of like after escopier the big creator of like the
modern cuisine that it’s applied worldwide with his basis and from that many doors open so I was
able to work at Gizavoa that it’s a three mission star chef that works in Paris and has restaurants
all over the world and Alanukas who also is very well known not only in France but also worldwide
and I will say those were my biggest mentors. And uh yeah it was tough but I feel like now um
it has helped me to have the eye to do things to the next level. So what is something that you
learned from those three chefs? I mean Michelin star chefs in France the heart of food that
is never good enough. You know, you will be doing something and they’ll be like, “No, you
can do better.” And you’re like, “Really?” So, it pushes you to like, “Wait, what?” to change
your eye to like you thought it was good, but for them it’s not good enough. So, you need to
keep pushing every day that you have a different eye to see things and you want them to be in a
certain way. I will say it it teaches you a lot of like discipline for you to be successful because
at the end of the day you need discipline and good basis and I think I got that from friends. Okay,
I’m going to interrupt this video because we have food at our table and I want to explain this
food as we talk to the chef. It’s incredible. Is it working? Amazing. I bet it’s talking. All
right, Moses, you have your drink here. Amazing. It’s has a flower in it. What does it taste
like? It tastes like amazingness. It tastes like amazingness. And then we have some ceviche
here. This is a ceviche special here in Amazing. You can only get it here. Oh, wait. No, you can
also get it in Miami, which is pretty cool. And then we have these delicious empanadas. And oh
my goodness, we have the salsa, we have drinks, we have everything that we need. And we have
the carta the menu here that we’re going to take a look at soon. And let’s try the empanadas
first and then let’s get back to Chef Alejandra. Okay. Which one would you like? Um I could have
this one. That one. All right. Try half of it. There you go. I’m going to eat the rest of this
one. I’m going to dip it in. Go ahead. And this one has a shrimp inside of it. It’s o croante.
And this is h made with the plantain. So, it’s not like a typical uh empanada that’s made with
arena. This is made with plantain. Oh my goodness. It’s so incredibly good. How’s yours? Amazing.
Yeah. What’s inside of it? Shrimp. Yeah, shrimp, I think. How about you, Elise? Speechless.
This is absolutely incredible. And just look at how the table is set up. Look at
everything that they have here that they put it in. It is absolutely beautiful.
And uh I’m going to try some of your drink. Oh, that is delicious. Refreshing. Has
some cacao in it. And it’s an Ecuadorian drink. All of their different drinks here are
from Ecuador. All right, let’s jump back to uh our chef. Yeah. And one thing about those
chefs too that I was learning um is that they really care about family. So the restaurant is a
family. Do you think that that’s something that you’ve done here at Somos? Um I wish I could have
my family more involved, but yes, my husband is fully involved with the restaurant when we opened
here in Kito. He helped us launch it for a year. He’s not a chef. He’s not in hospitality. He’s
a civil engineer who loves to eat and who’s in love with Ecuador and follow me on my vision
to bring Ecuadorian food to the world. So he we moved here after France. We moved to the US
for 4 years and after that we came to Kito to start summers. Wow. And in the United States when
you first moved there. Where were you on the west coast? I was in San Francisco. I was supposed to
be in San Francisco for a week and then I met my husband and stay for four years. Wow. Yes. life
is in unexpected and uh San Francisco also taught me how to not be scared of uh pushing on ideas
cuz I feel I got to San Francisco in 2014 when a lot of things were blooming and like every idea
was good you know I was like oh I have this okay go for it do it and there was so it took me out
of my comfort zone of like oh maybe I will work somewhere to I will start something and push so
it works you know okay I’m going to interrupt for just a second to show you around the entrance and
the restaurant. So, you come in and you have this beautiful little shop with all artistal things
from here in Ecuador. Very, very beautiful shop to come through. You have these stairs that there’s
more seating upstairs. And then you’re greeted by this beautiful oven, which is where my food is
going to come out of pretty soon. Wood burning oven. Beautiful. And then you have somebody to
welcome you right here. And you come through. And what I really love is that you have this
open kitchen right here. And the open kitchen, you can just see so many people working right
through here doing all of the food for all the people here in the restaurant. How cool is that?
And you’ve got a little little Ecuadorian guinea pig, of course. Then you come through and you can
see where everybody is sitting right here. All the beautiful tables, everything handmade here
in Ecuador. The plates and the silverware and everything is just so incredibly beautiful here,
too. You have the chef that’s right over here. Everything gets approved by that chef. And then
as you come through, you get to the bar area. So, here is the the bar area. Look at this beautiful
painting all along this wall here. Absolutely incredible. Ecuadorianborn, globally inspired.
That’s what this is. It’s a a new taste in how you should taste Ecuadorian food. And it is absolutely
delicious. You have the bar and then as you look back, you can see my light, but you can also see
all the art. I did a video with Danielle and he is the artist for all these different art pieces
on the first floor. And then as you go through and we go through and see everybody enjoying life,
enjoying the food and talking to each other, you get to this other part and this is the the
cave. So there’s some bathrooms here and then there’s this cave part and down here there’s these
special events that you can do down here and I’m hoping to come to one with Moses soon and show
him the typical dances and uh different artists come in and they show their art and how they do
it. And what a cool thing. It’s not just food, but it’s also you can learn how to cook. It’s an
experience here at Somos. What an incredible place to come and and eat. And Elise already said for
my birthday, which isn’t until the end of April, I want to come here. Incredible. All
right, back to back to the interview. In one of the recent interviews that you did
in Miami, you talked about how food is an art, but not all art needs to be you have art and then
you run out of money. It needs to be sustainable. How do you do that? It’s you need to plan uh but
you cannot plan everything but you also need to um be smart with the money that you have and start
small and grow progressively. I will say that that’s one of the biggest thing you know you want
to start big and pretentious sometimes for us when we started SOS we open with uh five tables and
it was not finished. Wow. Because we were like we need to open also that you know like if you start
to you wait to be ready you never open. We weren’t ready like our systems crashed like for a week.
Uh the team was not ready. It was really and you can feel like okay I’m going to close this is not
working but then there’s those who keep pushing pushing pushing pushing and we never stop pushing
even after the pandemic even after the many things that happening within a restaurant and I I feel
like that’s been the force for the vision to keep going. That’s incredible because you started
I think in March of 2019. Yes. And then the pandemic hit a few months after you opened. Yeah.
It hit like 10 months after. It was rough. It was rough because we had 33 employees at that time and
you know in Ecuador you put them on sal on nomina and they are your responsibility but we were in
a sit a situation that was impossible. So it was a really tough moment try to balance how to keep
the business afloat, how to keep our team with us and how to survive ourselves as a family because
I also gave birth to my first baby on March 2020. One of my wings are these and the other one is
this. There you go. Super fancy and super good. You had an interview recently too where you
talked just about that where you said you knock on I think 20 doors and it takes the 21st
door to for them to open. It was really hard in Miami when we opened Cottoa because there’s no
such thing as Ecuadorian food outside Ecuador. So if you’re not Ecuadorian they’re like no they
don’t unfortunately the world has not known where even Ecuador is located. I know. So I’m like
let’s start with the map. So in Cotto in Miami, we actually show them in the map where Ecuador
is and they’re like, “Oh.” And I’m like, “Direct flight from Miami.” Exactly. So for me, it’s an
opportunity to showcase the country, our culture in every single dish. That’s my voice. And you
know, I put salriet in my ceviche and I’m like, you know, sala comes from this region, Manavi. And
I I put some culture into every single bite. So they get they want more. Okay. You know, tell me
from the highlands, tell me from the jungle. Uh, it’s an opportunity that we create in every single
like reservation our clients come. All right, now we’re back. Brief break. I know you want to
keep listening to our interview and our talk, but Moses is grabbing this ceviche and really
wants to try it. He loves ceviche. This is Ecuadorian ceviche and it’s super healthy.
Um, I saw them actually make it and cut it off and they use these little pinchers in order
to put all these little delicate pieces together. Um, the president was just here a
couple of weeks ago eating food at SOS. How cool is that? We’re eating the
same food as the president of Ecuador. How is it? All right, back to the interview. It’s
amazing. I want to try some. You have a different style to Ecuadorian food. Yes. And can you talk
about how that is because you have the influence from France, United States and Ecuador where
you grew up. Yes. So Ecuadorian born globally inspired. Um I never wanted to be like close to I
need to do this like this. I’m like I’ve had the opportunity to travel to live abroad. So let’s put
all that with our culture, our flavors and create our own voice of food. So I will say this doesn’t
our our food does not lose the essence of being Ecuadorian because I have Ecuadorians in Miami who
cry eating a numita but it’s served in a shape of a cornbread because it’s easier to understand
that if I put it in the leaf you like that is kind of you know oh interesting so my thoughts
are always like how can I make a product that’s not too far away from what you know but you still
feel connected and you still explore Ecuador that is how I create my dishes. That is incredible. And
I was looking at the location on the map and your place in uh Miami. Cottoa is between uh uh Taco
Bell, McDonald’s, and Guatemala. I love where we are because it’s very diverse and um yeah,
it’s like yeah, there’s the Spanish Eden Vistro, then there’s the Haitian pizza with oxtail, and
there’s the cuadorian, and then there’s the Taco Bell and the McDonald’s. So, it’s a melting pot of
everything. It’s it’s a it’s amazing. I love where we are because that diversity also inspires us to
create new things. Yeah. Yep. And it’s more of a family atmosphere, right? Yes, here and there.
So, we’re in Kito right now. We’re talking about Miami, but there’s a location in Miami on the
north side of Miami and also where they have the new Bright Line train. You can pick up some fast
food that’s really healthy and Ecuadorian. Yes. So, we started Cottoita, which is the derivate of
Cottoa because we had a lot of demand for clients that wanted food to go and Cottoa really like
try to put this in a box and be like have the experience. The flavor will be good, but I feel we
lose the essence of what we want to provide. So, Cotoita was born to be able to provide a fast food
that it’s a nutritional that it’s h delicious and that you can eat every day because it’s something
that your body craves for more. Yeah. Incredible. So, you can create your own bowl. You choose uh
your ancestral rice with quinoa and then or salad and then you can choose seo de po ornado minestra.
When I first had seo de le chbo se po poo I thought it was this dry dish. It’s the opposite
of a dry dish, right? Yes. It’s completely wet. It has a lot of sauce. Yeah, we have that problem
because clients come like Seco is like no. And I’m like try it. So the day the Brid line opened,
we were among other concepts. So pizzeria, taco, a lot of concepts that people know. So you
know what a taco is, you know what a pizza is, you know what a sushi is. But Ecuadorian, they
were like, I don’t know. So we didn’t have that much people. We were like alone. So we started
sampling clients. Okay. Sample a little piece of panduka, a little some seo poo. Like this trip
most where do you have the Chinese restaurant? We were doing that every single day. That’s the
reason I go to Costco. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love that too. And two weeks after we have lines and
even now we have lines because clients appreciate quality of ingredients, quality of food and the
fact that they are eating a meal and not like fast food or other things. And it started with
a couple of tables here in keto and a dream. And it didn’t go well. And I think that a lot of
entrepreneurs that are watching these videos, they are in the same boat and they’re struggling right
now and they don’t see the the push that you have to give in order to really get something going.
They just see this. Exactly. They have to yeah you have to keep going because this was not this when
we started and yeah you have to listen to your customer but also um because when we started SOS a
lot there was a lot of rejection from locals to be like this is not the ceviche you eat in the coast
or this is not the pork that and I’m like we’re not trying to do that we just want to express
our own voice of equalian food. So it was it was rough. I will say the first year was was hard and
there were many times where I was like signal we should just move back to the US and you know like
but there was something inside that was like keep going keep going keep going and you know after
years you just start getting getting like ways to find your way through. Yeah. Yep. And that’s not
easy. That is not easy. You can say it right now, but that is not easy. Even Coita, imagine after
2 weeks, I’ll be like, “Nobody comes.” Or I was waiting there for my clients to come. I will be
close. Yep. Exactly. Coto will be closed if we didn’t push on making everybody that came through
there try our food. Well, I’m I have I am a very like, okay, this cannot not work, you know? This
has to work. Okay, everybody think with me and we’re going to make it work. So that’s how I also
get my teams involved because I feel like 10 minds think better than once. Okay, you need to help me,
you know, it’s not optional. Give me 10 ideas for a new, you know, like things. And when I walked in
here, well, I also opened the door for you. Yes. I was like, welcome to But everyone is so kind here.
You walk in and you feel like you’re a part of a family. And that’s I think the experience that you
get when you come here to Somos in in Ecuador. Is that the same in Miami, too? came in Miami. So,
and I feel that’s the reflection of how they feel within the restaurant, within the project. Um,
we take really good care of our teams. That’s our number one customer. And with that, I am sure that
they will take care of our customers. Exactly. So, we invest a lot in their education, in their
future. We have many stories like our dishwasher and is now getting his engineering degree. Wow.
And he’s a line cook. Oh, that’s amazing. Or our cashier is now the person that received you hobby.
He handles the whole restaurant. So if you want to grow with us, we please and we will support you
in that road map for you to be whatever you want to be. Wow. There’s no there’s no limits. That
is incredible. So the other thing is like how many women are doing this and opening restaurants
in Miami in Ecuador? Is this kind of like paving the way for women in Ecuadorian? Yes, we want
to be I want to be that example but it’s tough. Um I will say I’ve met a lot of entrepreneur
women entrepreneur not only here but in Miami and abroad and there’s a point of in the life of a
woman where you you have to choose if you are not supported. So I’m very lucky because my husband
is like it’s okay. I will stay with the kids and I will support you know. Yeah. But if I didn’t
have that and he was like I don’t want you to stay working late night. I don’t want you to travel.
I mean if you do not get that or from your family like we had a lot of women female chefs that do
not last more than 2 months because the boyfriend the husband or the family are like you cannot work
late. Yeah. You cannot work on the weekends. and they don’t like that and there’s a point when they
where they have to choose their career or their personal lives and unfortunately I will say on a
90% or 95% they always go with their personal life and not their professional. Yeah, I can relate
because uh my wife also works. She’s going to Argentina later today and gone for the week and
then I’m with our son Moses and I think it’s an opportunity for me to be with Moses. I mean she
would love to be here. Yes. And for you to create that special link with your son and my husband
does the same. So no, I’m very very grateful for what for the support I’ve gotten because I
wouldn’t be where I am without that. Yeah, that’s awesome. And also something happened recently
where you are now a UN ambassador for Ecuadorian gastronomy. Yes. Yes. Um, we had the secretary
general coming two years ago almost to Ecuador and in one night we displayed Ecuador in the table.
I told him all of my vision and everything that I’m doing and he was very surprised and like wow.
And like 3 months after his office contact me and he’s like he wants you to come to Madrid and he
wants to give you this special like uh honor. Oh, that’s me too. I was like that. I was like,
“What?” I And I didn’t realize at that point, but um yeah, he believed that what I’m doing, it’s
not only a way that I’m promoting my restaurant, but it’s also a way for me to express that
Ecuador is amazing and that that could be a voice that many other countries can replicate
because gastronomy can be a a road for success for a country. Yeah. It’s a way of uniting people.
Exactly. Um I’m a Christian and you look in the Bible and you see Jesus. Jesus always had food
around him. Anytime he is with people. Yeah. It is a way to share your culture cuz I think food is
the culture. It kind of makes it up. And then it’s a way of forming new relationships and to Yeah. to
relax and to actually open yourself up, you know? Exactly. Like, okay, let go of whatever you were
having in the 2 minutes before. be here and yeah, I feel a meal is the best way to connect. I agree.
I agree. So, you have this beautiful restaurant right now and uh my family is waiting upstairs to
eat some of your delicious food that you have. Um, one thing I wanted to mention too before you you
talk about how people can find your restaurants and and your new projects and things like that
is you’ve been mentioned what you’re the only one Ecuadorian in Florida in the Michelin Guide. Yes.
How incredible is that for Ecuador in general, the whole entire country? Yes. And how does that make
you feel? It’s incredible. I was so excited, not for me, but for Ecuador. You know, I I always feel
like it’s not it’s not that I’m of course I want my businesses to be successful, but I believe that
everything that comes along with my purveyors, my staff, my teams, like I see their faces in
every single accomplishment that I that I get. I feel it’s a big responsibility but it made me
so happy because I was like this will open the doors like if another chef wants to open something
there’s a point of reference there was none like we did not exist so now it’s like oh yeah yeah
we know Kottoa yeah let’s give it a shot so yeah Kotto was the first Equuadorian restaurant to be
in a Michelin guy not only in the US or Florida in the world because there’s other equalian chefs
that have other type of concepts that have been in the Michelangel but not an Ecuadorian restaurant.
Wow. The category not even existed. Wow. They wanted to put me laughing food and I was like no
you’re going to put Euquadorian because I yeah we are Latin but this is more specific than that.
That’s awesome. And even in resi open table all of these platforms I’m like you put Ecuadorian you
don’t put the Yes. Yes. Yes. We have Ecuadorian now. That is incredible. Yes. I’m so proud. I’m
like Ecuadorian. That’s so cool. And there are so many people that are watching from Rome, Spain,
all over the world right now at this video. And I hope you leave a comment for her because you see
all of this right now, but she really put in her time and effort to get to this place and now is an
ambassador sharing gastronomy with the world and sharing Ecuadorian cuisine. You have a new book
uh with recipes, right? Yeah, we’re we’re working on it. I hope it will be released this uh January.
It will be a combination of the seven years of sus and the cotoa. So yeah, you can take a little
piece of us every everywhere you go. That’s incredible. And I think it’s it’ll be on Amazon
and things like that for people to to purchase. We also want to do a tour of some next year in some
strategic cities around the US and the Europe. And we will promote the book and the I’m working
on a repertoire of Ecuadorian dishes that we want to export to the world. Oh, amazing. Because
Peru was very smart on how they sold themselves to the world. It’s like, you know, when you go
to a Peruvian restaurant, you have your pisco, you have your ceviche, you have your lamos,
salt, and your cows. You know, you have like certain dishes that everybody, if you ask, they
know it’s Peruvian. And I want to create the same for Ecuador because we cannot promote all of our
dishes. We need to be realistic. Exactly. What can we promote that actually will work and that
will stay in the mind of the consumer and be like, I want more of that. Exactly. But we need to be
consistent. So I want to be like, okay, let’s do five. And then we do it and we keep going. Not
only me, but with other restaurants. I want them, okay, you have to have panda yuka, you have to
have this. So we all have the same things in our own expression, of course. Y, but it’s the same
offer that everybody relates that it’s Ecuador. Wow. Wow. That’s incredible. If you need somebody
to help promote it, I’m here. I mean, I will come to France with you and all over the world. I
mean, write it down. Write down this moment. No. What are the projects that you have coming
up and how can people find you here in Keto online and uh and your book coming out will
be on Amazon and things like that in Miami. You have a lot going on. It’s incredible. And
I have two kids. I have two and five. Yes, it’s a lot. My mom is like, “I don’t know
how you do it.” My husband is, I’m like, I just keep pushing. And also, I love what
I do. I love it. I love it. It’s not like I wake up and I’m like, I have to go to work.
I I actually wake up and I want to go to the restaurants because I’m so excited about
everything that’s coming up. So, in Kito, you can find us in Elo Portugal. The restaurant
is open Monday to Sunday, lunch and dinner. Yep. Right next to Park Metropolitano. Yes. So, I
usually go up there to go biking. How great is it to come here for a beautiful restaurant
experience? And there’s dances. There’s different experiences you can do here. So, we create an
experience downstairs. It’s a laava demos. We promote art and culture and food. And there’s
a traditional dances that we have on Saturdays where you can have a tasting menu. You know, like
the Mulan Rouge in Paris. We want to do ours here, but with our culture. Cool. That everybody’s
like, I want more. I want to see. I want to dance in a way that it’s to the level that I want
Equal to be seen in the world. And then in Miami, you can find us in Cottoa or Cottoita. Cottoa
is in North Miami. You can find us on Cotto that rest. There’s only right next to the Taco Bell
in McDonald’s. Yes. You cannot lose yourself. There’s like a Taco Bell in front of us. That’s
United States. I’m so sorry. You have the choice. Cotto. Yeah. And then Kotto is in the Bright Line
station. So it’s the train that connects Miami with Orlando. We you cannot lose us. You will see
us. There’s a huge banana there and we you can smell the seo and chip and you like okay is there
and then we’re working as I mentioned on the book that will be available on Amazon in January in
both of the restaurants and we are planning to expand Cottoita to many other cities. So we’ll see
next year where we land but there’s opportunities open. Wow. So, this has only been seven years of
your restaurant open. I can’t wait to see what happens in seven more years than where you are. Me
neither. I’m very excited. I’m very excited. Now, we are 70 people that work in this project here
and in the US and I feel we can do anything. We set ourselves the goal to do it. And I told them
because we did a manager’s retreat, nothing is impossible. Nothing. If we work hard and we have
the route, we will go. That is absolutely true. And that’s why you have so many workers going on
to continued education and you’re inspiring them not only to work here but to do big things in
the world. How cool is that? Thank you so much for this time together. This was incredible. I
wish you all the best in the future. And if you want to find her, her name is right up here on uh
on Instagram. You can follow her and all of the information is right below. You can follow me too.
Greeny Latino, but I’m not as important as she is. This was incredible. Thank you so much for this
time together and I can’t wait now to eat some of your food. Yes, that’s good. All right, we’ll
see you guys next time, but for now, ciao scout.
☕ Apoya mi aventura:
Cómprame un café: buymeacoffee.com/gringoylatino
Discover the incredible journey of Chef Alejandra Espinoza, the Ecuadorian chef who trained in France, cooked in San Francisco, and is now redefining Ecuadorian cuisine on the global stage. From her acclaimed restaurant Somos in Quito to Cotoa and Cotoita in Miami—the first Ecuadorian restaurant ever featured in Florida’s Michelin Guide—Alejandra shares her story, her passion, and her vision to elevate Ecuadorian flavors worldwide.
🎥 Mi equipo de grabación:
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Micrófono, trípode, dron y más, todo enlazado arriba.
📱 Sígueme:
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📧 Contacto comercial: gringoylatinojon@gmail.com
0:00 – Introducción y sabores de Ecuador
1:45 – La historia de Alejandra: Quito, Francia y San Francisco
4:30 – Experiencia con chefs Michelin en Francia
6:00 – La visión detrás de Somos Quito
10:00 – Cotoa & Cotoita: Ecuador en Miami
13:00 – Retos y triunfos como chef emprendedora
20:00 – Mujeres en la gastronomía y apoyo familiar
23:00 – Reconocimiento Michelin en Florida
26:30 – El futuro: libro, tour y expansión
30:00 – Mensaje final y dónde encontrarla
24 Comments
Exitos 🎉
Saludos a tía Elisa y Moisés
Excelente reportaje y videos me gustó.
Increible el emprendimiento de la chef.Se nota que está muy preparada.
Que ganas de probar ese ceviche ecuatoriano!!
I hope she comes to Tempe/Phoenix area. What a great interview!
What an honor for Ecuador! Great video thanks Jon!
Can you told me the name of the restaurant in Quito ?
What a GREAT VIDEO! Thank you so much for letting us know about this place. I will definitely try this Restaurant. Her English was so good, specially considering it's her third language!
Hey Jon, I love your American accent. Where are you from? I can't figure out what part of USA you are from.
Saludos desde chone ecuador 👋🤠🎉
Que hermoso video y todo excelente 👌 👏👏👏 linda familia Dios los bendiga ❤❤
Sigan asi con su idea de Comida Ecuatoriana 🙏🙌…
Saludos desde Italia de un compatriota..
My favorite food is from Spain 🇪🇸 and Ecuador 🇪🇨 ❤ obviously Ecuador my number 1 🌟😍👌 love all’s the soups 🍲 so delicious 😋 caldo de pata de res ❤ caldo de bolas de plátano verde 🌟😍👌 sopa de fideos con queso ❤️❤️ sopa de lentejas o de frejol, locro de papas , locro de acelga , sancochos, caldo de hueso blanco 👌 crema de espinaca , o de zapallo ❤ hornado 🌟🌟🌟 mote con chicharrón , guatita 🥘 seco de pollo, llapingachos ❤ ají de tomate árbol ❤, ceviche de camarón o de conchas negras cangrejos de manglar delicia encocado de cangrejo , arroz marinero , empanada de verde con cangrejo o camarón , sopa de cangrejo yummy yummy , sanduche de chancho en Guayaquil , bollos , cazuelas, omg chifas en Ecuador 🇪🇨 are amazing specially in Quevedo Guayaquil chaulafan mix with tallarín saltado best combination the wonton soup there is spectacular, fried wonton delicious 🤤 I hate Chinese food from 🇺🇸 😅 but in Ecuador “Chinese “ food taste delicious … food in manabi also is amazing
In Ecuador you need to try avena polaca ask in the street where you can find it lol 😅 is 10/10 also yogurt frozen but drinkable 😅at the local naturissimo omg another level , rompope from manabi and (dulce de leche ) known as manjar in 🇪🇨 omg manjar from manabi yummy try viche in manabi a yummy warm shrimp fish crab soup with green beans sweet potatoes green plantain fava beans chayote with a bit of sweet but it’s just a little hint 😅so good 👍 in Cuenca cascarita very thin and super crunchy skin pork also motepillo motesucio yummy 😋 chugchucaras empanadas de mejido empanada de morocho de viento 👍 if you are in Quito go to crepes&waffles that’s not from Ecuador 🇪🇨 but all of Ecuadorian love it 😍 there you are going to eat the best beef stragonoff of your live omg the sauce is everything and the best ice cream my favorite flavor arequipe and yogurt frutos del bosque ❤ and avellanas is also good taste like Nutella milkshake
😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋
Cuanta excelencia en tu producción Jon ahora mostrando nuestro Ecuador en todas sus dimensiones olores colores sabores geografía … felicitaciones
Te felicito ❤❤❤❤ Eres un Orgullo te sigo desde Quito….
are empanadas fried or baked? (I prefer baked)
❤❤❤❤❤❤ ❤❤
For Delicius, éxitos❤
Excellent! I hope to visit that restaurant next time I go to Ecuador. It looks awesome 👌. Great info!
Very exciting, wish you all the best.
Love from Tenerife Sur
Holaaaa gracias por la entrevista a Alejandra Espinoza y sus restaurantes, en Quito hay algunos restaurantes en listas como The Best 50's Discovery, The Best 101, American Express One to Watch, WORLD CULINARY AWARDS. Restaurantes cómo: TRIBUTO, NUEMA, CLARA, QUITU, PEZ VELA, SOMOS, ZERO LAB, y en Ecuador igual.
ECUADORIANS I CALL YOU TO FIGHT FOR OUR CHILDREN THE SECURITY IN OUR COUNTRY IS ZERO THANKS TO THE PUPPET OF TTROOOMP…NOBOA BY FORCE OUR GALAPAGOS ISLANDS OUR MINES AND THE AMAZON ATTACKED THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE THEIR LANDS THEIR FAMILIES MEN OR WOMEN …. THE FAR RIGHT SEEKS TO DESTROY THE LUNGS OF THE WORLD AND THEY DUMP WASTE IN OUR JUNGLES WE ARE NOT THE GARBAGE DUMP OF THE WORLD …. WE ARE THE LAST NATURAL RESOURCE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD …. HELP