Karen Barroso

I am a chef specializing in Mexican cuisine. I live in Arlington, Virginia, right outside the nation's capitol Washington, DC where I own and operate three restaurants.

I opened my first restaurant in Arlington, Virginia when I was only 21. Guajillo Grill, is Arlington's source for the flavors of Mexico. A few years later, I opened Casa Oaxaca in Washington, DC's Adams Morgan Neighborhood, to be followed later by Here Cafe-Bar inside the Artisphere complex.

I learned how to cook by watching my Guillermina; I spent every summer as a child in Mexico in her kitchen, learning how to perfect a mole, picking the ripest tomatoes and chiles for our salsa en molcajete.

People in the DC area complain about a lack of authentic Mexican restaurants, but Mexican cuisine is alive and well in my kitchen!