Behind the Counter: Chef Manuela Carbone of Brasero Atlántico

Behind the Counter is where Nycci Nellis sits down with the chefs, sommeliers, bartenders, and hospitality leaders who make this town's food and drink scene what it is, the people doing the real work long before you ever pull up a chair. This time, we're talking fire, family, and the untold stories of Argentine cuisine with Chef Manuela Carbone.

I met Manuela when Alex Resnik and Renato "Tato" Giovannoni were getting ready to open Brasero Atlántico in Georgetown, and I was immediately impressed by the way she took command of live fire cooking. There's a particular kind of confidence it takes to stand in front of an open flame and make it do exactly what you want it to, and Manuela has it in spades.also if you haven’t had her black bread … well … I don’t know what to say other than it is my kryptonite.

Born in Buenos Aires, Chef Manuela Carbone is a globally trained culinary leader now serving as Executive Chef at Brasero Atlántico in Georgetown. She trained at Gato Dumas Colegio de Gastronomía and El Obrador Culinary School, then honed her craft in some of the best kitchens in the world —> COI in San Francisco, Chila in Buenos Aires, and Ekstedt in Stockholm and rising to Senior Sous Chef and representing Argentina on its 2019 Bocuse d'Or team, where she earned Best Commis Chef of the Americas. Fluent in English, Swedish, and Italian, she's since held executive chef roles at Canta Lola, SushiClub Brickell, Hideaway, and Fisher's, blending Nordic, Mexican, and global influences into bold, seasonally driven menus. She brings a rare mix of technical precision, creative vision, sustainability-minded thinking, and multicultural fluency to every kitchen she leads  and at Brasero, it all comes together over the fire.

More Than Steak: Brasero's Executive Chef on the Untold Stories of Argentine Cuisine
 

NN: What is something people underestimate about Argentine cuisine that you'd like to challenge through your leadership at Brasero?
 

MC: I think people often see Argentine cuisine as only steak and asado, when in reality there is so much more to it, and so much more culture involved in the everyday food. Beef and parrilla are, of course, a big part of the country's identity, but Argentine cooking has developed so much further because of our history and our connections to other countries and cultures. At Brasero, I try to challenge this perception by always showing something more. We work with a lot of fire at the restaurant, but there are many more stories to tell through other products, not just beef, but pasta, vegetables, empanadas, sauces, and desserts (and not only dulce de leche, I promise). My goal is always for guests to understand the whole culture, not just think of us as a steakhouse.

Waves of Spanish, Italian, and other Latin American immigration shaped Buenos Aires itself. 

NN: How consciously are you tracing that lineage on the menu, versus just cooking the food you grew up with? How much does that specific, layered urban identity, versus a more general "Argentine" idea, inform how you think about the menu?
 

MC: I think it's more natural than conscious. Buenos Aires is a city where all cultures meet and live together, generation after generation, and that influence is everywhere: in how people cook and eat, and in how they work and live. Some influences are stronger, like the Italian and Spanish, but I think they simply became part of the Argentine way. All those layers of culture and history mix together, and that's how we think about Brasero. It's not about recreating dishes, but about using history as a foundation to cook from, respecting the techniques and products they came from while evolving them into our own way.

NN: Dishes like tortilla de papas or flan speak to the communities that shaped Argentina over generations. How do you decide which immigrant traditions to spotlight, and which to leave out?
 

MC: For me it isn't about choosing what to spotlight and what to leave out, but about showing what we feel most represented by, and what surrounds us in everyday life. We've absorbed so much from different cultures and influences that it would be nearly impossible to capture everything in one menu. Instead, we focus on the traditions that show our identity and have stayed with us from earlier influences. Tortilla, flan, pasta, empanadas: all of these have roots elsewhere, but Argentines have made them their own. That transformation is what interests me most, and it's what we highlight at Brasero: everything that becomes a part of who we are. 

NN: The king crab empanadas are described as a nod to a time when the ingredient was an everyday staple in coastal communities, not a luxury item. How much of your menu is built around reclaiming foods that were once humble, working-class, or regional, now told through a different lens?
 

MC: A lot of our menu is built this way. Many ingredients we now consider luxurious or rare have very humble origins, and there's something beautiful in highlighting that. The king crab empanada is the perfect example. It's a wonderful representation of Argentina's coastal region, and we simply adapt it here to our needs and tastes. It also takes extra work on our end to bring out the finesse in these ingredients, elevating something everyday and giving it new meaning.

NN: As executive chef, how do you balance honoring the specific culinary history behind a dish with adapting it for a Washington, D.C. audience that may not know that history at all?
 

MC: Here in Washington, D.C., we try to find the soul of each product, represent where it comes from, and make it meaningful for our guests. Even if they don't know our history, they can still taste the storytelling behind it. DC has so much culinary diversity, so we try to make our food approachable. We refine our presentation and work with ingredients available here, while staying true to our flavors and techniques.

NN: Is there a dish you'd consider the clearest expression of Argentina as a country built by immigrants, and what does it mean to you personally to put it on this menu?
 

MC: It’s very difficult to choose just one dish or product, but I think empanadas are probably the clearest expression of this idea. The influences behind empanadas came from many different countries, and almost every country has its own version, but Argentina developed its own regional styles, fillings, and techniques. Every family, every house, every region and province has its own way of making them, right down to how they're folded. I think that's what makes them so meaningful. For me, this represents the idea of taking on influences and making them truly your own. That's what I want Brasero to represent: a cuisine that respects its roots but continues to evolve. We don't recreate the past. We give it the importance it deserves.

Talking to Manuela, it's easy to see why Brasero Atlántico has become one of the restaurants everyone in this town is talking about. She's not interested in cooking asado and calling it a day, she wants every plate to carry a piece of Argentina's story forward, and that kind of intention is rare. Next time you're at Brasero, skip past the steakhouse assumptions. Order the empanadas. Ask about the fire. And say hello to the chef who's clearly still just getting started.