Bryan Girón has spent a career getting his hands dirty in professional kitchens. The young talent has built quite the resume—with stints at NYC’s Barbuto, Shukette, Jersey City’s Bread & Salt and even one of New Jersey’s 25 best restaurants, Osteria Crescendo. His experience covers a wide variety of cuisines and styles, building a bank of nearly unlimited inspiration in the process.
During the height of Covid-19, Girón, like many in the hospitality industry, felt a need for change. He hit the ground running, launching a concept that would become known as Santelli’s Hospitality—aptly named after his Grandmother who inspired him to cook from a young age. He focused on private chef gigs and the like before making the difficult decision to return back to restaurants. “The money wasn’t there yet and I needed more time to develop [the concept],” he told me.
So, Girón made his triumphant return back to restaurant life, but this time with a new outlook. Furthermore, he doubled down on his love for travel when he had the time to do so. This combination of professional cooking and traveling-fueled research and development allowed Girón to hone the Santelli’s Concept into something refined and resonant.
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A trip to Girón’s birthplace of Honduras is where the young chef began his obsession with flavors from every corner of the Central American country. “I try to take at least two trips a year to learn techniques and about different ingredients,” Girón told me, “I draw inspiration from everywhere I go.”
Just the past few years alone, Girón has traveled to Honduras, Thailand, Mexico, Peru, Morocco and more where he studied the flavors and people of each land, distinguishing the unique qualities of each cuisine and how they work in tandem with one another.
Today, he is finally ready to announce Santelli Hospitality’s first official concept: Perquín, which translates to “road to the embers” in the language of the Indigenous people of the Lenca tribe in Honduras. The first iteration of the multi-course dinner will feature James Beard Foundation nominated Pastry Chef, Claudia Martinez of Miller Union in Atlanta, Georgia. Though he will only cook with Martinez for a few nights, Perquín will exist beyond.
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Perquín’s first official dinner will take place at Nimbus Kitchen in Brooklyn, but Girón hopes to eventually travel the country with his concept, collabing with different chefs and personalities along the way. Down the road, he wishes for his own space, built to his specifications. “My goal is to have my own space with a live fire hearth, hence the name” a cooking style Girón has seen across multiple continents throughout his travels.
Santelli’s Hospitality was born out of a love for food—plain and simple. Inspiration is pulled from around the globe, showcasing that food is a common love amongst people everywhere. Bryan Girón has spent his career doing what he loves—cooking for people—but what many fail to realize is that he was studying in the process. What makes people love food? How can I use this ingredient? What is the defining characteristic of this cuisine? These are all questions Girón has asked himself along the way and through Santelli’s Hospitality he hopes to answer them and tell the story of cooking as a global phenomenon rather than something we do simply because we have to.
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Perquín will take place at Nimbus in Brooklyn at 7 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased here and an optional wine pairing is available.
About the Author/s
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
