chef-name: Ramiro Rodriguez Pardo

Ramiro Rodriguez was born in Lugo, a province of Galicia, in Spain. As the younger son in a traditional Galician family, Ramiro was expected to become part of the clergy, but he was more attracted to the aromas in the kitchen. He entered the Jesuitical Seminar at Lugo, where he studied to be a priest. There he learned the cooking arts that all Galician families pass from generation to generation. Ramiro escaped to the kitchen between his seminary lessons. In the end, when he finally decided not to be ordained, saying he changed “the black robes of a priest for the whites of a cook”, he took a break by visiting his uncle in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He had no idea that journey would last so long.

He worked with Gatos Dumas, one of Argentina’s famous chefs then opened his first restaurant “el Palacio de la Papa Frita”, then Otto”s. He then combined his talent with chef Dumas and opened the Drugstore in La Recoleta, and the three Clark’s restaurants and Lola. These were restaurants to see and be seen. He then opened Restaurant Catalinas for the next 20 years, and Great Chefs caught up with him in 1998 to tape four dishes for their “Great Chefs of the World” television series, preparing a Foie Gras with Mango & Papaya appetiser (EP 222); an entree Salmon Fillets & Shrimp (EP 247); and a dessert of Flambeed Bananas with two sauces (EP 240). He also did a Salmon Carpaccio for the Great Chefs magazine.

In 2000, he opened Sinclair’s Restaurant and in 2007 he retired and became the Food & Beverage director at the
Hotel Feir’s Park “Cuisine du Park”. In that same year, Chef Ramiro was appointed President of the Grand Academy of Gastronomy of the Americas.