Empanadas: A Multi-Cultural Dumpling Fusion

KARINA ARONSON, SAM HSIUNG, SOPHIA YAO, & SALLY KING Editor-in-Chiefs, Opinion Editor, & Editorial Director

Located in Campbell, Best Artisan Empanadas Cafe is a multigenerational South American-style empanada restaurant, run by Ernesto May and daughter Stephanie Solorio. At BAE Cafe, empanadas (Spanish and Latin American pastry crescents traditionally filled with beef or chicken) are made with Peruvian-style dough and multicultural fusion-inspired fillings like Mediterranean and Italian.

The following is a Q&A with May and Solorio, edited for clarity.

What was the inspiration behind BAE Cafe?

EM: I wanted to do something a little bit different. There are so many hamburger places, so many taco places, and so many sandwich places; it’s going to be very difficult to compete with one of these places… [but] there’s no place that actually specializes in empanadas. We were trying to find something unique.

Where did you learn how to make empanadas?

EM: My mother. The recipe for the dough [used at the cafe] is the recipe that my mother taught me. She also loved cooking, and she introduced [me] to cooking [when I was] very, very young.

What was it like starting BAE Cafe?

EM: It was taking a leap of faith, just believing in something and going for it and working hard. I [was] studying computer science because I was thinking about the money, and look at me now. I’m doing something that I’m passionate about. I don’t regret it. I love it. I wish somebody had told me to do whatever you want, and instead of studying computer science, I would have gone into culinary. But you know what, it’s never too late. I’m here.

What inspired the fusion element of your fillings?

EM: Throughout the years where I worked at different places, I always learned something new. Whether it was an Italian restaurant, Chinese food, or Mexican, I learned something. We’re always trying to innovate and trying to say “Okay, can we do an empanada with a little bit of a different culture flavor?”

SS: I wanted empanadas [to be] a gateway to other cultures. I [always] love hearing people say, “Oh, I grew up eating something similar like this." That’s what I look