72 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {food coloring} ABOVE: Chef Roberto Juarez makes plump ravioli carbonara at Roja Los Altos. For Roberto Juarez, the road to becoming Roja’s executive chef and co-owner was paved with plenty of hard work and determination. When he moved to New York City at the age of 20 by way of Puebla, Mexico, he admittedly didn’t have too many career paths available. He did, however, have a love of cooking. “My aunt would teach my mom how to cook and I would always help them in the kitchen when I was a kid,” he remembers. “So when I got to New York and I didn’t have a lot of job options, I chose restaurants.” Roberto started from the bottom, first as a dishwasher, then making his way through almost every job in the kitchen. “I didn’t care if I was getting paid more
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