Chef Cristina Martinez Featured on Netflix's - Chef's Table Series

Chef Cristina Martinez Featured on Netflix's - Chef's Table Series

Chef SpotlightThe fifth season of Netflix's Chef's Table is made up of some of the very best episodes yet. Its here you will find the tale of culinary star Cristina Martinez from South Philly’s Barbacoa. A fantastic story of an undocumented immigrant plus passionate activist delivers an essential viewpoint for the docu-series. The story starts with fear. Getting out of an abusive marriage, Martinez made her way to the United States. She finds her way to Philadelphia going door-to-door at local restaurants enquiring about any job openings.

Chef Martinez's claim to fame is Barbacoa — a lambs dish spiked with citrus fruit and slowly-cooked over an open fire. It's a native recipe of Chef Martinez's hometown Capulhuac, Mexico, said to be the home of the dish.

Martinez had gotten married at just 17 years old then started out working with her husband's family, which also bought and sold barbacoa, however, her first spouse, as well as his family members, ended up being abusive. A few years following the marriage, Martinez’s little girl, Karla, was born. Once Karla becomes a teen, Martinez became devoted to sending her to boarding school as the best choice for the future. To afford her daughter's schooling, Martinez left her life in Mexico and husband to emigrate to the US. Following an exhausting journey over the desert starting at Juarez, Mexico, and ending up in the U.S., she landed work chopping veggies in a restaurant. Martinez then ended up working her way up to the pastry chef.

Ultimately she relocated to Philadelphia and proceeded to work in dining establishments, all the while sending money to her daughter, which she has not seen in several years. While working as a dishwasher with Marc Vetri's, she came across Benjamin Miller, and the two married in 2012.

Soon after, Martinez launched South Philly Barbacoa on East Passyunk in South Philly's, Italian Market. Martinez and Miller's belated son, Isaias Berriozabal-Martine, also started his very own restaurant. El Compadre, before his death at the age of 23.

Chef Cristina Martinez Featured on Netflix's - Chef's Table Series

Along with Martinez, Netflix's Chef's Table is going to also showcase chef Bo Songvisava from Bangkok, Barcelona's Albert Adria, and also Musa Dağdeviren of Istanbul.

Martinez during the episode was very open about her undocumented status and utilizes her role as a celebrated chef and restauranteur to promote the rights of undocumented workers across the food sector.

Philadelphia's Latino Chefs & restaurateurs -  Philly's national reputation as a thriving, open-to-all city extends to its flourishing culinary scene, which features a multitude of executive chefs of Latin descent. From nationally renowned luminaries with multiple successful restaurants (Jose Garces, Guillermo Pernot) to upstarts making a solid name for themselves here (Jezabel Careaga, Adan Trinidad, Cristina Martinez), these talented chefs come from all over Latin America, the Caribbean, and South America, bringing a highly diverse set of flavors and traditions to the communal table

7 Facts About Philadelphia's Latino Community - Philly honors Hispanic Culture thought the year with food, fun, and fiestas. Revelers can catch the Latino spirit at the Mexican Independence Day Festival on Penn’s Landing and the Puerto Rican Day Parade on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Thought the year, arts and culture lovers have more to look forward to the such as last year's opening of the El Corazon Cultural Center in El Centro de Oro and the North American debut of the exhibition Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910-1950 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.