About
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Mario E. Castrellón is a chef and owner of various restaurants in Panama. He has been a young entrepreneur who has already opened 3 different restaurants in the past 5 years, one of them being a local direct trade coffee roaster called UNIDO which is developing a new NGO where the 10% of each coffee sold will be used for projects supporting producers and the communities in the coffee growing regions of Panama. After finishing his studies in hospitality and tourism in Sant Pol de Mar (EUHT) in Barcelona, Mario decides to return to Panama with the vision of the new trends in Spain and the goal of defining a new cuisine to his country. After being the chef at two restaurants in Panama City, he begins to know the local palate, and decides to venture in opening his own restaurant, MAITO, where he presents his own concept of Panamanian food. In MAITO, Mario identifies an evolving Panamanian cuisine that is building a body with each passing day. Currently MAITO has inspired its menu with the Panama Canal, convinced that this wonder of the world is the main reason for the mix of techniques, influences, origins and flavors that can be identified with the flavor of the country. Through the years of investigation looking for Panamanian traditional ingredient, Mario has reached to different communities of difficult access where he learned of lost produces that the regular Panamanian does not consume or know off. With a joint venture with Nutre Hogar, one of the first NGO of the country that fights malnutrition, Mario became a loyal volunteer who has helped on various projects like building and teaching the first bakery of Kankintu in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Mario is a Fellow of the 12th class of the Central American Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
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