LORENE CANTAROVICI: DRAWS FROM CHILDHOOD MEMORIES TO BRING DENVER AN ARGENTINA DELICACY.

• Author: Sukin, Gigi
• Position: GOOD COMPANY

Lorena Cantarovici: Owner, Maria Empanada

Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Age: 46

What Lorena's reading: "Setting the Table," by Danny Meyer

Favorite empanada: Choclo or creamy corn

Website: www.mariaempanada.com

Born in Buenos Aires, Lorena Cantarovici was raised by her single mother, Maria. Times were tough, and she and her mother were on the verge of homelessness throughout much of her childhood. But what she lacked in funds and furnishings, she made up for in family and a rich culture.

Cantarovici eventually worked for Argentina's largest private bank, Banco de Galicia, and became the youngest branch manager in the country. She left a career in finance and accounting in Mexico and moved to Denver 16 years ago. Cantarovici began re-creating her grandmother's empanadas in 2010, using the imprint of her early life in Argentina as a recipe. Motivated to bring the Latin American cuisine to her new home, she committed to entrepreneurship, starting small and selling empanadas from her garage, mostly to friends and family.

Fast-forward, and this year, Cantarovici was named the Small Businessperson of the Year in Colorado by the federal Small Business Administration, with three brick-and-mortar locations and big hopes for a future empanada empire.

ColoradoBiz: Why empanadas?

Cantarovici: My family, we were very humble. [My grandmother's home in Cordoba] didn't have electricity or running water. The bathroom was outside. I used to live with my grandparents for three months out of the year when I was growing up. I loved it. I would feed the chickens and the ducks. I had a pet goose who I took on a leash around the river.

My grandfather built an 'Horno de Barro,' a clay/brick oven, outside where my grandmother would bake bread, cakes, as well as bake empanadas. She would also fry empanadas in a pot of oil over a kerosene burner.

We fold each empanada by hand. Every empanada flavor has a unique fold, or repulgue, an art which is fast disappearing. Maria Empanada makes close to 40 flavors and our recipe book continues to expand. We only serve typically 14 at a time and specials that rotate with the seasons or with exceptional produce or products that we find.

Sometimes, I find myself trying to re-create the life of my empanada. Since the beginning, my frustration was with the dough because of the altitude. The corn empanada was the most tragic one. They all exploded. The only one I was able to grab with a spatula, I grabbed it and threw it, and it...