WRIGLEYVILLE — Vivian Jones seems most at home when talking about her food.
As she prepared arepas at Puesto Sandwich Stand on Tuesday, Jones chatted about the stuffed corn flour flatbreads, explaining which type of maize is best and which fillings she prefers.
"This is really common in South America. Colombians make theirs like a big pancake and top them, but we do it the Venezuelan style," she said.
Vivian Jones prepares a Cuban sandwich while her boyfriend and business partner Armando Quintero slices sandwich meat in the background at Puesto Sandwich Stand. (Ariel Cheung/DNAinfo Chicago)
At Puesto, the $4 arepas can be filled with everything from beef sirloin to bananas and Nutella. Four months after the colorful restaurant opened a block south of Wrigley Field, an arepas brunch bar is in the works, along with patio seating opening next week.
"Nobody else [in Chicago] has these arepas, and nowhere else can you get a Mexican pozole soup and a Cuban sandwich together," Jones said.
Puesto Sandwich Stand offers a variety of arepas, including the pictured mango salsa and queso cotija. An arepa is a stuffed corn flour flatbread, traditionally made in Venezuelan and Colombian cuisine. (Ariel Cheung/DNAinfo Chicago)
Puesto offers a range of $7 sandwiches like a steak torta, California fresco and a bolio stuffed with Jamaica flowers. The restaurant has a few small plates and an espresso bar, as well.
Jones, a 28-year-old self-taught chef, said she felt free to test out unusual flavor combinations and explore combinations outside the lines of traditional Latin American cuisine. With Jones' business partner and boyfriend Armando Quintero hailing from Mexico, however, the food still has an air of authenticity.
"I did a lot of research and talked to friends from South America. Armando uses a lot of family recipes for the bases of our soups and the steak. A lot of it has just been life experiences — knowing people and having friends from all different parts of Latin culture," Jones said.
She and Quintero developed the idea over the past nine months before opening the restaurant at 3349 N. Sheffield Ave. at the beginning of January. Jones, who studied graphic design in college, carefully thought out Puesto's pastel color scheme and artistic touches.
The recently opened Puesto Sandwich Shop, 3349 N. Sheffield Ave., offers Latin American sandwiches, arepas and an espresso bar. (Ariel Cheung/DNAinfo Chicago)
"It's been great to have all this creative freedom, from the menu and the food to the entire theme of the restaurant. Between me being a designer and him being a handyman-slash-sound tech, we've been able to do it all ourselves," Jones said.
Both have worked in the food industry for years, working in "every type of dining experience, from fine dining to sports bars," Jones said. Quintero helped with the design and sound engineering at Madison Public House, Innjoy and Sushi X before launching Puesto.
Working together can be challenging, Jones said, but it's also brought the couple closer together.
"We've learned a lot about each other, and it's fun because we can constantly bounce ideas off each other. I don't know if anybody would be able to do it as efficiently as we have without having to hire several different groups to do different things. It's been a really great collaboration," Jones said.
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