Skip to content
  • X

Subscribe

Magazine | Newsletters
  • Food & Drink
  • News
  • Culture
  • Style
  • Home
  • Family
  • Wellness
  • Things to Do
  • Travel
  • Best of NoVA
  • Best Restaurants
  • Top High Schools
  • Best Salons & Spas Poll
  • In This Issue
  • Home
    • Food & Drink
  • Q&A: Ambar’s Carlos Larrea
Carlos Larrea, Ambar
  • Food & Drink

Q&A: Ambar’s Carlos Larrea

From 50 Best Restaurants 2017: Interviews with the front of the house

By Stefanie Gans November 22, 2017 at 10:00 am

Ambar Carlos Larrea
Photo by Rey Lopez

Age: 19

Title: Food runner; training to be a server and barista at Baba, Ambar’s sister concept, a coffee shop by day and cocktail bar at night located in the basement.

Favorite dish: Grilled pork neck sandwich on the brunch menu.

Career goals: “I’d like to make some money and open a bar of my own in my country.”
Larrea was born in Ecuador, lived in the U.S. during elementary school, moved back to Ecuador and then returned to Virginia after high school. It was then that his dad cut his hair into a Mohawk. “I got out of school and wanted to try a new me.”

On holding hot plates: “You get used to it. You become stronger.”
And when there’s a customer in the way, “I just resist it. I give them their time, say ‘excuse me’ maybe, but I never complain.”

[Related: Ambar Review]

(50 Best Restaurants 2017, November 2017)

Trending in NoVA

Fredericksburg’s Belvedere Plantation Owners Confirm Data Center Plans

Thompson Restaurants Takes the Helm of L’Auberge Chez François in Great Falls

16 September Events in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC

Big Dig of Northern Virginia Returns to Ashburn

25 Years Later: NoVA Residents Share Firsthand Accounts of 9/11

things to do newsletter

Our Top Stories In Your Inbox

Our newsletters delivered weekly.

Subscribe

Feeds

RSS Feed Follow in Feedly

You May Also Like

Check Out These 4 Great Happy Hour Spots in Fredericksburg

Deviled eggs at The Black Sheep

Check Out These Great Happy Hours in Manassas and Warrenton

Don’t Skip the Happy Hour at These 5 Spots in Chantilly and Centreville

  • X

Company

  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Writer’s Guidelines
  • Internships
  • Terms of Use

Magazine

  • Magazine
  • Subscription
  • Newsletter
  • Back Issues

Talk to Us

  • Contact Us
  • Submit an Event
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Shopping

  • Subscription
  • Back Issues
  • Plaques
  • Realtor Client Gift Subscriptions

On Newsstands Now

september 2026 cover

Copyright © 2026 Northern Virginia Magazine

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Hey AI.