Argentina's Best Empanadas - Shaping SLC One Empanada At a Time

Photo courtesy of Argentina’s Best Empanadas
Ana Valdemoros grew up surrounded by food. Whether it was a family meal, a get-together with friends, or a neighborhood gathering, food was a staple. Ana was raised in Argentina, a country that blends Italian and regional Argentinian cuisines to create simple, hearty, flavorful meals that always draw from local ingredients. When Ana moved to Salt Lake City for college in 2000, it quickly became apparent that Utah was in dire need of an authentic Argentina experience.
While Ana has always loved food, her first love was community. She was fascinated with how neighborhoods and cities developed and wanted to play an active part in shaping a city’s future. With a degree in City Planning and Economic Development from the University of Utah, Ana began working in local government, spending years working on shaping and growing Salt Lake City and the surrounding valley.
Her passion for community brought her back to her roots, and Ana wanted to bring a piece of Argentina to Utah residents. What was born was Argentina’s Best Empanadas. Like many stories we hear on the show, Ana stretched her wings and learned the ropes by being a vendor at the Downtown Farmers Market. For years she perfected her recipes and received the opportunity to open a brick-and-mortar of her own. Located at 357 S 200 E, Argentina’s Best Empanadas is a small restaurant that brings a whole lot of love, community, and warmth, to the growing Utah foodie community.
Episode Sponsors
90.9FM KRCL — Community Connection and Music Discovery
The Chocolate Conspiracy — A project in pure, raw, honey-sweetened chocolate.
Maddox Restaurant — Featuring completely from scratch recipes in Perry, UT. since 1949, sourced and crafted from the finest ingredients available.
Beltex Meats — A small butcher shop utilizing local meats and sustainable practices. Specializing in the craft of whole animal butchery at 511E 900S
GREENbike — Salt Lake City’s non-profit bike share. Their bikes are ready to ride, one-size-fits-all, and located at popular downtown hot spots. Take as many 1-hour rides as you want for an entire year for only $75.
This episode of The Utah Foodie was hosted by Chase Murdock and produced by Ryan Samanka. Visit our episode archive on Ventricle Presents, and stay connected with us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Copyright © Ventricle Media, LLC
Like many great food businesses in our state, Sweet Lake Biscuits & Limeade began at the Farmer's Market. But before Sweet Lake opened its doors, owner and founder Hasen Cone was working a corporate job in a cubicle, and he wasn't satisfied with his work.
Ana Valdemoros grew up surrounded by food. Whether it was a family meal, a get-together with friends, or a neighborhood gathering, food was a staple. Ana was raised in Argentina, a country that blends Italian and regional Argentinian cuisines to create simple, hearty, flavorful meals that always draw from local ingredients. When Ana moved to Salt Lake City for college in 2000, it quickly became apparent that Utah was in dire need of an authentic Argentina experience.
There’s something about Southern cooking that evokes the memories of warm feelings, lazy afternoons, and cool summer nights. Southern cuisine is all about sharing and comfort, and the focus on family is dominant. While Utah doesn’t necessarily have the same kind of charm as the South, we definitely have the same love for family and large, traditional meals. For Amy Britt, the desire to bring her childhood experience to Utah complimented our community perfectly.
Pierre Vandamme was born in Brugge, Belgium, and grew up with frites and waffle stands serving as the go-to hangout spot for him and his friends. Food mainly served as a social element for Pierre, but deep family traditions and an immense variety of food in Belgian cuisine always kept his mind and stomach intrigued. When the opportunity to move to the United States arrived, Pierre and his wife made the jump to Salt Lake City.
Paul, Warren, Penny Ann, and Cindy are all members of the close-knit Willey family and moved to Utah by way of New York. They grew up around food and were more than familiar with the important role a family-style, comfortable, relaxing restaurant has in a community. After relocating to Utah and gaining experience in the Utah food scene, the Willey team knew that a family establishment serving delicious, consistent, mouth-watering food was desperately needed. From there, Penny Ann's Cafe was born.
Let us make a bold statement: Scott Evans is the personification of what we stand for as a podcast. In 2009, Scott saw the potential of Utah’s food scene, the cuisine and concept gaps in the area, and decided he was ready to do something about it.
On this episode of The Utah Foodie, we sit down with Peter Korth, the founder of PJK Creamery, your new favorite ice cream supplier. With 16 playful flavors and seasonal flavors appearing monthly, Peter has accomplished something that many in Utah have not: he’s made ice cream an experience.
On this episode of The Utah Foodie, we dive into the blossoming craft chocolate scene that can be found in Utah. We’ll explore why chocolate in Utah is gaining such popularity, the process of how a simple cacao bean can turn into delicious chocolate, and what artisan chocolatiers have learned through their wild and delicious chocolate journey. With insight from the founders of The Chocolate Conspiracy, Millcreek Cacao, Solstice Chocolate, and Caputo’s Market, we receive a Master Class on what chocolate means for Utah.
Join us as we hear from the experts at Blue Copper, Publik Coffee, 3 Cups Coffee, Three Pines Coffee, and Watchtower Cafe. While all of these businesses are connected by a common thread, they all offer their own unique and personalized touch, philosophy, and feel to a coffee experience.
Adam Malmborg was destined to be an entrepreneur. His mind was always running with ideas, and his creativity and problem solving needed to be free from the confines of the 9-5 grind. One day while wandering at a market he stumbled upon a lemonade stand that had a long, winding line. Adam was blown away by people’s commitment to buy a $7 lemonade in the summer sun, and his mind began to race. What other cold, delicious treats could be provided?
Cathy Tshilombo-Lokemba was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was surrounded by the spices and flavors of the country. But her path was a winding one, and she ended up traveling and living all over the world. With stops in Europe, New York City, Dallas, Phoenix, Cathy, known to many as Mama Africa, planted roots in Toole, Utah. While many wouldn’t consider Utah a mecca of diversity, Mama Africa only saw an opportunity. A chance to bring Africa to Utahns, and help share her culture and her food.
When the recession arrived in 2008 the pain was felt everywhere. Fortune 500 companies, local mom and pop shops, and governments around the world all slowed down and the cost of living made margins thinner and thinner. For Liz Butcher and the Butcher family, their farmer’s market side business felt a massive crunch. As more people joined the markets to sell produce, Liz began brainstorming alternatives. And what she dreamed up was even bigger than the family's produce business.
One of the most prominent leaders for the third wave coffee revolution is Publik Coffee. The word “Publik” is derived from the Dutch word “Community,” and the feeling of community can be found in every chair, barista, and warm piece of toast. Publik’s dedication to creating a community for coffee lovers of all backgrounds has led to an accelerated expansion into The Avenues and Ninth & Ninth.
In early 2015 Allie Curzon and her mom Jessica Curzon were driving through Salt Lake City when they were hit with a craving: they wanted a doughnut. While Utah has some fine doughnut options, none would work for the Curzon family because they are vegan—and vegan doughnuts can be hard to come by.
Founded by Philip Grubisa in 2014, Beltex Meats is a whole animal butcher shop that has one goal in mind: bringing back the neighborhood butcher. Only using animals from local farmers, Philip and his small team make sure that nothing goes to waste. From steak, chops, ground beef, sausages, pot pies, charcuterie boards, and dog treats, Beltex Meats is a butcher shop that brings expertise and sustainability to every product they craft by hand.
For Cori Hoekstra and Mike Tuiasoa, geekdom wasn’t a trend. It was a lifestyle. With strong roots in the Salt Lake City geek community, Cori and Mike were more than aware of the community's needs. With Cori’s background in coffee houses and restaurant management, and Mike’s desire to have ownership of a project, their shared dream of having the freedom to create something on their own motivated them to look for opportunities.
Patrick Crowley doesn’t have a typical start in the food industry. With a background in water conservation, a majority of Patrick’s professional career was dedicated to hydrology and analyzing water resources. This passion led to the discovery of a TED talk by Marcel Dicke titled “Why Not Eat Insects?” This talk ignited a thought in Patrick’s head that couldn’t be squashed. Was there a more sustainable way to get our protein?
When life gives you an opportunity, you have two choices. Either ignore it or go all in. For Pat Ford, life's opportunity came in the form of a mid-life crisis. After a successful career as a real estate developer, the energy and excitement that came from his job began to disappear. The constant pressure of deadlines, demanding bosses, and commuting kept adding up, and Pat was in need of a change.
Amour is the French word for love, and that's the perfect way to describe how the local jam company Amour Spreads began. It was in 2011 that John and Casee Francis were looking to start a new chapter in life. They felt they were in a rut with their careers and needed a change, or as they say in the episode, they wanted a sign: something that would signal to them what their next life chapter had in store for them.
The story of Creminelli Fine Meats begins several hundred years ago, in a small town in Northern Italy. It was then, in the late 1700s, that a man called Francesco Creminelli would open a humble cheese and salami corner shop business that would come to change his family’s history forever.
Vertical Diner and Sage’s Cafe are two leading restaurants in Utah that promote plant-based foods on their menu, with large offerings of exclusively vegetarian and vegan dishes. Today, vegan and vegetarian menu options aren't uncommon, but it was rare back in 1998, and the thought of opening a vegetarian-only restaurant in Salt Lake City seemed impossible.
Scott was comfortable in his career as an air traffic controller and DeAnn was a sales manager at a local Utah business. But their kids were growing up and leaving the house, and behind the scenes, Scott and DeAnn's homemade chocolate was becoming much more than a hit among friends and family and was turning into an obsession.
Growing up in Southern India, Venkat was all too familiar with the power of a home-cooked meal. It was what brought the family together, and was a detailed process that delivered high-quality, flavorful food that warmed the soul.
When Venkat moved to the United States to pursue graduate school, the thought of opening his own restaurant was always in the back of his mind. Though the local Utah Indian food scene was slowly growing, he felt it was missing truly authentic Southern Indian cuisine. But with an established career in the chemistry field, the timing never felt quite right.
When Adam Terry founded Waffle Love in 2012, it was more than a labor of love. It was a dire necessity. With a family to support, bills to pay, and no other options, launching their unique and delicious waffle food truck was fundamental.
On this episode of The Utah Foodie, we sit down with some movers and shakers in Utah who know a thing or two about the best breakfast and brunch spots throughout the state! This episode is the second installment of our monthly series, "Food Tips From Foodies," where we bring in some of Utah's best food critics, chefs, podcasters, and food enthusiasts to talk about everything and anything in the Utah food scene.
Jake Boyd has always been passionate about organic food and environmental sustainability but didn't know the best way to make an impact. After working full-time and moving to Park City to explore the famous Utah ski slopes, his childhood roots came full circle and he ventured into the food world. Having been raised by parents that grew up farming, the passion and drive to start a company from scratch that focused on non-GMO, sustainable, organic snack foods.
On this episode of The Utah Foodie Podcast, we sit down with Moudi Sbety, co-owner of Lazis Foods, to hear his entrepreneurial journey in the food business, making hummus. Laziz is a local maker of Middle Eastern spreads like their popular hummus, muhammara, and toum garlic sauce that can be found in a variety of local grocery stores like Whole Foods and Liberty Heights Fresh.
On this episode of The Utah Foodie Podcast, we’re joined by Amy Riolo, award-winning author, chef, TV personality, cuisine and culture expert, and educator who makes frequent appearances on television and radio programs in the United States and abroad, including Fox Television, CBS, The Travel Channel, Martha Stewart Living Radio, WHYY, and now... the popular podcast that is The Utah Foodie.
Tony Caputo: we all know the name. He’s the man, of course, behind Tony Caputo’s Market & Deli, a culinary staple in downtown Salt Lake City. Caputo's has been a large part of the Utah food scene since 1997 when Tony opened up across from Pioneer Park. It’s part deli, part market, and today, a large third part that is their online store, where they ship out hundreds of boxes each day filled with fine cheese, chocolate, meats, oils, and jam. In fact, they’re the largest premium chocolate company in the United States.
AJ Wentworth attended the world's largest nutrition school in New York City, after spending years as a health coach and working at a retreat center in rural Arizona where he taught his patients about raw food and holistic, healthy living. To put it simply, AJ doesn't have the background you'd expect of a chocolatier.