About Me

Hola! My name is Javi, aka Javierito, aka Jav Sanchez! I am currently a third year Emergency Medicine Resident in New York City. I am a first generation Cuban American, born in the one and only 305 aka Miami, Florida. My mother and father, Lourdes and Javier, both immigrated from Cuba in the 60’s with their families. So, it is easy to say my Cuban heritage runs deep. While growing up they ran a clothing company with my uncle and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, Abuela Nena, Abuelo Kiko, Abuela Vivian, and Abuelo Martin. As expected I was raised constantly eating Cuban food and as you can guess, it quickly became my favorite type of food. There was nothing like my grandparents cooking. Though I do have to give a lot of credit to my dad who is a master on the grill and my mom who is a wizard in the kitchen. 

Moving to New York City after finishing Medical School, in 2017, was probably the biggest transition I have ever made in my life. I had recently gotten married to my wife, Nilda, and had to spend 6 months apart because she had to study for the New York Bar while working her job as an, abogada (lawyer) like my Suegra says.

New York is honestly one of the greatest places to live and I had always dreamt of living here. We decided what other time than now would be the best time to make this move. We are young, newly married, and have our entire lives ahead of us. But as some of you may know, us Cubans are basically attached by the umbilical cords and they never really get cut off, more like extended through the years. So, mine right now measures about 1,285.6 miles to be exact. So of course when I moved to New York I had my weekly cravings of Cuban food and let me tell you –  New Yorkers don’t know what Cuban food is even if they were dropped in the middle of Islas Canarias and had some croquettas shoved in their mouth.

Growing up we would have our weekly dinner’s in either Casa Romeu or Las Vegas. Most of the time they were on Thursday nights because that’s when the Tres Leches would be fresh and it’s honestly the best dessert there is in this world. So, with my limited options of Cuban food in the city, I had to resort to my 3×3 kitchen in my New York apartment to whip up all my favorite meals. Which eventually led me to creating this blog. My goal is to bring home-style Cuban food to your table along with other recipes I create along the way. I hope you enjoy it, and find a little bit of my Cuban heritage in every meal you make. And as our beloved Queen Celia Cruz used to say “Yo le pongo sazón, son! son! Le pongo sazón!” Because there is no such thing as a Cuban dish without Sazón.