¿What is the Sombrero Latino?
''Lo más importante en esta vida es lo que comes, con quien lo comes y siempre acompañado con un buen vino. No pides más nada, no hay.''
Gustavo Valle, Fundador Sombrero Latino 1996
"The most important thing in this life is what you eat, with whom you eat it and that it is always accompanied with a good wine. Don't ask for anything more, it doesn't exist."
Gustavo Valle, founder Sombrero Latino, 1996
I arrived in Germany with my brother, sister and mother in 1999, after having lived in the USA and Chile. My father and mother, both native Chileans had started our family away from South America and therefore always appreciated a place where they could 'feel at home'. Hence when my father began travelling to Germany he found this restaurant where Latinos would gather and he always felt more than welcomed. After a year of this lifestyle of working on his own to visit the family on occasion he decided the whole family would relocate to Germany.
After leaving our bags in the hotel we would be staying at until we found a home he took us to Adolfstr. 3, into what seemed to be an old German restaurant. Upon being seated we were quickly surrounded by people speaking Spanish that wanted to help the new Latino family in the neighbourood. It quickly became a family favorite where we would celebrate special occasions, look for guitar teachers, magic mirrors, host reunions and generally anything you could think of.
Experience, love and adventure called to me from outside Germany, beyond the household, so I left as a teenager with a fervent desire to create a better world. Every visit back would involve an Entrecôt or Bife a lo Pobre, some Empanadas and a bottle or two of Chilean red at the Sombrero. Fast-forward to the year 2020 and I found myself with love in my heart, plenty adventures under my belt and news that our favorite place was not going to make it through the pandemic.
Luckily my partner is a brilliant chef with extensive experience in gastronomy and her skill is far greater than my nostalgia. So after taking the biggest risk we could imagine we decided to ensure this venue that has been a restaurant since 1905 and a Latin American Steakhouse for the past 25 years would remain part of Wiesbaden to continue to welcome guests for years to come.
Now that you have made it this far we sincerely hope you also join us in creating new stories and join our attempt to respect the traditional while celebrating youthful creativity within a historic, cozy, and familiar atmosphere.
¡Bienvenidos al Sombrero Latino!
- Sebastian, Joanna & Familia, 2021
