ALO Demo Kitchen Theater Presentation
Sunday, April 11th | 12:00pm

Héctor Santiago is a native of Puerto Rico whose interest in cooking began while he was in college at the University of Puerto Rico.  In pursuing this interest, he obtained a job working under Chef Giovanna Huyke at a restaurant at El San Juan Hotel and Casino.  Apprenticing such a well-known Puerto Rican chef helped fuel Héctor’s decision to become a chef himself, and after graduating with a business degree he moved to the United States to attend the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park. 

While attending CIA, Héctor externed at the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia, one of the few Five Diamond Hotels in the United States. After graduating from CIA in 1993, he worked in New York City at the Manhattan Ocean Club before being recruited to the Stony Hill Inn, a four-star restaurant in New Jersey, by a former CIA instructor, Chef Sam Hazen.  When Chef Hazen opened a new restaurant in Manhattan, he brought Héctor with him.  As the new restaurant's sous chef, he helped launch The Heartland Brewery into immediate success by serving an entirely made-from-scratch menu to over a thousand people a day. 

In 1995, Héctor moved to Atlanta and worked with the Peasant Restaurant Group for nearly four years and cooked for many special events, including a James Beard Dinner.  After Peasant Restaurants was sold, he worked at Murphy’s Restaurant and then at Duex Plex. 

His passion for international cuisine had risen over the years, however, and his desire to introduce Atlanta to the Latino ingredients he loved inspired him to open his own restaurant.  He shared with his wife Leslie a desire to open a restaurant of their own and it wasn’t long before Pura Vida was born.  “Pura Vida” literally translates as “pure life,” a Costa Rican expression for “life is great” or “that’s life.”  When creating the menu they decided that tapas would be the perfect way for Héctor to express his creativity and passion for Latino cuisine.  They built a menu for Pura Vida that features dishes with ingredients from all over Latin America and Spain.  The menu is heavily influenced by Héctor’s background in Latino cuisine combined with both classic and avante garde cooking techniques.

The restaurant has been a huge success, most recently garnering recognitions such as a listing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Top 50 Restaurants & Restaurant of the Year 2005, the Best Tapas Restaurant by Creative Loafing and CitySearch.com, the Sunday Paper and Jezebel Magazine, and Atlanta Magazine’s “Best of Atlanta,” as well as the Best Margarita, Best Group Dining, Best Place for a First Date and Best Exotic Drinks by CitySearch.com.

Chef Santiago was named “Rising Star Chef” for Atlanta in 2007 by StarChefs.com, and was a long-list nominee for “Best Chef of the Southeast” by the James Beard Foundation in 2008 and 2009.  Recently, Héctor’s brunch menu was named “Best New Brunch” by Atlanta Magazine’s “Best of Atlanta.”  In 2009, Chef Héctor appeared on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” Season 6 Las Vegas.

He likes to keep things fresh and keep learning.  He does “stages” at least once a year and recently done them with José Andrés at Café Atlántico, Jaleo and Zatinya in Washington DC; with Wylie Dufres at WD~50 in Manhattan; and at Mugaritz in Spain.  These “stages” are a way for him to explore what colleagues are doing, learn about new techniques and ingredients. Chef Héctor has also traveled to Costa Rica, Venezuela, Perú, México, Chile, Argentina, and Nicaragua to enrich his style with the food cultures of these countries.

His creations are fresh, bold, creative, passionate and a reflection of his roots.  His philosophy at Pura Vida is “Bueno, Bonito, Barato(“Good, Attractive and a Great Value”).