Carlos Santos
The Create.Repeat team continues our journey wondering through New York! We stopped into the chat with the owner Carlos at the popular restaurant ‘Nadas!’ Check out their story and interview below.
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Our Story is simple, we are people who love people through innovative Colombian Flavors.
Having arrived from Colombia in 1999 with an over energetic child and only $600 bucks, Olga Santos always dreamt of opening her own business, so, amid the financial crash in 2008, she took a step of faith and opened Aqui Es Santa Fe in New York. Fast forward to 2020, a year unlike any other, it was now that energetic boy, Carlos’, turn to take another leap of faith. With the hospitality industry being flipped upside down, he decided to take their highly touted and unique Empanadas and share them with as many people as possible. A few months later, Nadas was created.
Nadas mission is to bring original and unique Colombian flavors using only the freshest ingredients and recipes, that have been passed along for generations, with some colorful and refreshing twists.
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My name is Carlos Santos, we are at Nadas in the West Village in New York, New York, the center of the world.
Why empanadas?
Well besides them being delicious, my mom opened a restaurant in 2008, during the recession and then we got hit during the pandemic, specifically New York, we closed every restaurant and we started thinking how can we be sure to keep our employees employed. So it started as hospital meals and then we started feeding people in underserved communities in the city – and as we did that we started to drop off empanadas because we saw that at our restaurant they sold really well and they were easy to make and easy to transport. So we started making more and then we posted and went viral and then started doing markets and now we are here.
Where do you get your faith from to keep going?
About four years ago we tried to open up a very similar concept down the street and it didn’t work out, and the building has gas issues and we ran out of money – it was a whole beautiful blend of everything that could go wrong. I think when I failed at that I realized I am not my accomplishments and I am not my business and I am none of these things. And I realized I just love to love people and this is a cool way to do it.
What is the drive behind the work?
A little bit of family, my mom - she is an amazing woman and started this and she has a huge production team not too far from here. But it’s not about us, it’s not about me - it's about our staff, we have people who work for us and families who count on us. It is also for the culture, we get to push Colombian culture forward in a cool and innovative way and we get to share a little bit of who we are.
What advice would you tell your younger self?
I think when I was younger, I thought it was all about me. How quickly can I open these businesses so people will recognize Carlos? There was a part of me that wanted to separate myself from my moms business – but the biggest thing that I have learned is all those pieces, my mom, my culture, my family - all of that is who I am and I am only as good as the people I am surrounded by. So I would just say embrace that - lean into your latino-ness, lean into your family, and lean into God and into your faith and things will pull up!
Why don’t you quit and what would you tell someone who would be on the verge of quitting?
I think it is a mix of having a lot of perseverance and having a lot of resilience. But also, it’s about having a plan. Everyone has a dream but it is not a plan until you put it on paper. Figure out how much you need to get from point A to point B and give yourself some time. But I would say really define the plan and if you have to redefine the plan, redefine the plan.
Do you think cooking is creative?
If food was a woman, I would be married right now. That is the amount that I love food. I think the bible says “taste and see, the Lord is good.” I think food is a beautiful expression of artistry and community and I think it is so awesome to get to share moments at the table with people. I find really beautiful moments happen at the table and food has such a big part of that. I think food is the greatest expression of creativity where we get to taste art tangibly.
What is something that you hope to create that is going to repeat?
Our goal is to make Nadas available at every street market across the nation. I want to create a really good process. But something that keeps me up at night is the well being of our team and our staff. And I think in a culture where people want to cut edges and find an effective way to make their dollar stretch, that they look at people as dispensable. So I think that one of the things that I would like to teach or have ‘repeated’ is to love people well, even when you are an employer. Invest in people.
What do you feel like you are on the verge of?
I feel like I am on the verge of taking over the world! (laughs) I think we have some really cool stuff happening. For the longest time we had been building the plan and you have to play a lot of defensive – you have to be very reactionary instead of getting to plan things out right. So now we are playing offensive, we are starting to look at the plan long term and we are on the verge of some really awesome opportunities in stores, at your home, and here and in New York City!