Check Out Luis Mino’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Mino.

Hi Luis, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Luis. I was born and lived in Argentina for 27 years. In the year 2000, I decided to emigrate to Denver, to continue my professional development. At that time I was not sure where life would take me but I was very clear about what I wanted. To create a gastronomic space that was faithful to our roots, our tradition, and good Argentine cuisine.

From a very young age, I had fun cooking. I still remember when I spent hours in my grandmother’s kitchen who let me experiment getting all her kitchen dirty. As I began to train and gain experience in the field, I reaffirmed that cooking was the way I wanted to take it. I had countless jobs to be able to pay for my studies and specializations. Since then I have not stopped working in the different fields that gastronomy offers.

We started with a small choripan stall on the sidewalk, until we opened our venture “La cocina de Lucho” in 2018, to transmit our passion for the gastronomic tradition of South America. Since then we have expanded by offering different services such as private catering, restaurant orders, food truck service, and delicatessen. We offer a varied menu of Argentine dishes fused with Mexican and American food. Today I don’t see myself anywhere other than turning on the stove to make people a little happier through our dishes.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was not an easy path, as in any new activity, but I was very lucky and perseverant. We have always faced it with great enthusiasm and the desire to do the best for our customers. You have to have a lot of passion and a lot of determination since the difficulties are behind the corner, and only by having the objectives very clear you can overcome the obstacles that will be found on the way.

My biggest problem when deciding to emigrate and bet on my dream was being away from my family. I think it’s one of the hardest parts of living in another country. Leaving a comfortable life, with a stable job where I earned a lot of money to bet on my passion. The financial difficulties were a great challenge since I did not know what fate would hold for me or if I would have a place to sleep at night.

Another big challenge was the language since I didn’t speak a word of English. Spreading my work in a new culture was a challenge too. There are still many people who do not approach this type of food. We realized that there are some proposals for Argentine food, but that cuisine did not reflect the 100% gastronomic culture of our country, our quality, and the know-how of our “fogones” (fire pits).

PROFESSIONAL LIFE. I have been working in since I was 8 years old in my beautiful Argentina. When I was twelve years old I had my first approach to cooking with my first stall of choripanes, in a rugby club. I had countless jobs such as dishwasher, line cook, and assistant cook convinced that they would take me a little closer to fulfilling my dream.One of my great professional achievements was cooking for Barack Obama in August 2008, when he visited Colorado during the Republican National Convention.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
PROFESSIONAL LIFE. I have been working since I was 8 years old in beautiful Argentina. When I was twelve years old I had my first approach to cooking with my first stall of choripanes, in a rugby club. I had countless jobs such as dishwasher, line cook, and assistant cook convinced that they would take me a little closer to fulfilling my dream.

One of my great professional achievements was cooking for Barack Obama in August 2008, when he visited Colorado during the Republican National Convention. In 2018 an Argentine musician presented his album in the city and a well-known catering service trusted us and offered to take charge of the event. From there a friendship with local people developed and they offered me to sell Argentine food in one of the most popular dance centers here, La Rumba, with only one table on the sidewalk, a grill, and a great desire to improve myself.

Thanks to the impact of our dishes, the owner of the place suggested that we should open our first choripan stand; after a lot of effort, we were able to buy our well-known food truck and visit the most famous neighborhoods of the city. We participate in breweries, numerous events, Latin festivals, and private catering services.

Many people traveled from other cities to try our traditional menu. Orders increased and we decided it was time to have our place so we could experiment with new flavors and recipes. In that search, we received a proposal to work in a renowned nightclub, Stampede, in the city of Aurora where you can find us today. There are still many projects to be carried out.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Gastronomy can make you travel without leaving your seat.

Your best travel and family memories are surely around a table sharing a good dinner. Doubtless, mine are my dad’s family roasts. We got together as a family to see Grandma. To this day we use his original recipe for our acclaimed bread pudding.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lacocinadeluchodnv/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lacocinadelucho2018
• Other: 720-587-5515