MEET THE CHEF

Chef Adriana on ABC's The View

Chef & Owner Adriana Robleto

My name is Adriana Robleto and I'm the face behind Pinto. My passion for food started at a very young age and was nurtured by my grandmother. The highlight was always staying over at her house and be awakened by the distinctive smell of bitter orange, garlic and mint stewing away. She used to make copious amounts of food and sell it out of her house. Her food became a household name, people would line up to buy Dña. Haydee’s famous Nacatamales and Relleno for Christmas. Shortly thereafter my mother and aunt decided to open a restaurant and showcase my grandmothers’ recipes and so La Cocina de Dna Haydee was born. This became my dreamland, a place where I discovered how to make connections with strangers through food and service. I realized that creating a meal with passion and arduous work and seeing someone enjoy that, fills me with joy and a sense of accomplishment. I knew that this is something I wanted to do for the rest of my life and thankfully my parents fully supported me.

I attended school in Chicago for Food and Beverage Management and Culinary Arts where I discovered other cuisines and techniques that I would later employ in my own cooking. After school I went back to Nicaragua and worked for the family company for a few years and later I would open my own place, El Mercadito – The Little Market – a place which I loved and put all my effort into for 2 years. I was forced to close it down due to the socio-political crisis in Nicaragua and came to California in February 2019.

At the end of last year is when I concluded that it was time to launch Pinto, even though I do not yet own a restaurant or a space, I decided that I had to do it, didn’t matter how and that’s how Pinto Foods was born. Bringing you Nicaraguan and latin flavors from my home to yours.



Pinto was created when I was still in college as one of my restaurant concept projects, over 10yrs ago. I always wanted to create a brand/concept with my Nicaraguan roots as the focus. Over the years, I have edited the project as I gain more experience and through various trial and errors. Pinto Foods is a blast of Nicaraguan and Latin flavor that will entice your palate. Perfect for sharing with your family and friends. I recently partnered with an app called Shef to bring Pinto into more homes and make Nicaraguan food more accesible. Thank you all for supporting my dreams and helping making Nicaraguan food a household name.