Maria Rondeau & JuanMa Calderón

Photo by Suzanne Kreiter

On this episode, our guests see themselves as artists first and culinarians second. Maria Rondeau, a designer and artist, along with JuanMa Calderón, an independent video producer/director are the co-owners of Celeste in Somerville, MA and Esmeralda in Andover, VT. Nominated as a Semifinalist for the James Beard Award in the Best New Restaurant category, Celeste was also named among the 2018 Best New Restaurants in America by Esquire, and voted Eater Boston’s Best New Restaurant the same year. This summer, the artists opened Esmeralda, where they offer celebratory experiences in the setting of their home and share Peruvian cooking traditions, including pachamanca, the ancient method of preparing food in the ground. It was recently named Esquire’s Best New Restaurant.