Meet Christian Saber | Chef & Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christian Saber and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christian, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I grew up in the family business in Buenos Aires. My dad was an immigrant to Argentina and worked his way up making leather goods and women’s clothing. We were always helping with whatever needed to be done, but my passion was cooking. I studied to be a chef and always dreamed of owning my own restaurant. When I met my wife and we married in Argentina, we decided to start a family back in Colorado where she is from. I worked all kinds of different jobs at first to make ends meet, but on the weekends I would make empanadas for family and friends. They started to ask me to make them for parties and holidays. My wife and I got to talking and decided to go for it. We talked about opening a Parilla (Argentine steak house) at first, but we needed a lot more money. We decided to start with empanadas because it was the food we missed the most from my country. It was scary and also exhilarating. When we opened, we had a two-year old and a month-old baby and $13 left in our bank account. We had no idea what we were doing, but we put a lot of heart and hard work into making it work. We would start together at 3 in the morning and finish at midnight. Those first few months were exhausting, but we started to figure it out and found some really good people to help us. Our first cook is now our production manager and one of our first cashiers is now manages the restaurant. As scared as we were, I think we both knew we would make it work. It was our dream. We knew enough about business to get started and not enough to scare us out of the idea. Maybe if we would have known how hard it would be we wouldn’t have done it, but I am so grateful we did. I think the best things in life require risk, hard work and a lot of love. Rincon is our home and our children are growing up with flour on their cheeks and plenty of time washing dishes! That in itself has been worth the risk.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
There is so much room for creativity in the shapes, flavors and presentation of food. Empanadas are an art in and of themselves. We make every empanada by hand, because I feel like there is something special about the touching the food we eat. We hand cut every onion, pepper and spice. We knead and fold the dough by hand. The shape of each empanada tells you what is inside, but is also tells you a little bit about the person who made it. Every step should be a part of the experience and I hope it helps bring people together. We need each other. There is magic in sitting down and enjoying good food with the people we love. That is why I cook.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We love when friends and family visit us in Boulder from all over the world. We would start with breakfast at Luciles, a hike up Red Rocks, lunch at our restaurant (of course), maybe some beers at Upslope’s tap room. We always make time for Pearl Street and sushi at Japango. At least one day we would have a big backyard asado (bbq) and go for a mountain bike ride or visit Valmont bike park.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My wife

Website: rinconargentinoboulder.com

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Yelp: Rincon Argentino Boulder, CO