Episode 10: Francisco Prieto from Machi’s Barbecue.

In this episode of Making a business I talk to London-based entrepreneur Francisco Prieto about his journey to creating Machi's Barbecue a Street Food business selling authentic Argentinian Asado in the heart of London.

Francisco left Argentina at 5 years old when his parents moved to London. But his family ensured that even though he was living in England he knew he was from Argentina and so made certain that he grew up with the culture and way of life of his birth, with home-cooked food and a life shared with family and friends.

Here Francisco talks about working with people from many other nations in London's restaurant scene, working for nig names like Pizza Hut and Pret A Manager. He talks about how he thought the the food was of a very high quality and always fresh but recalls him and his colleagues feeling isolated from the business they worked for and that the staff worked for each other rather than for the company.

I learn that Francisco worked for the civil service because of his desire to make a difference and a strong social conscience. Here he met many hard working and good people who joined for the same reason as him but found many of his colleagues became disillusioned with politics. After 8 years he took voluntary redundancy and realised his dream of starting his own food business.

Formed in 2015 the business was started by Francisco, his brother and a friend, but because of differences of opinion in how the business should be run they went their seperate ways. His focus with the business was always about providing high quality, healthy food at reasonable prices so that everyone can enjoy it.

The name of his business is an abbreviation of his childhood nickname, his family called him Machita, meaning little macho. Machi's only serve Argentinian beef and a specific cut, called the rump tail. I learn that Argentinian beef is so good because the cows there are British breeds but with much more space, 11 times bigger than the UK. They also have the best buthcers in the world because they were trained by the British before Industrial farming.

Finally and very importantly we discuss Chimichurri! The much loved Argentine condiment and its origins, what his recipe is and how it compliments the meat perfectly.

I really enjoyed this podcast. Francisco is an intelligent and caring person who is proud of his roots. His personality shines through his business and food, he enjoys what he does because its fun and has meaning to him, it perfectly reflects who he is and where he has come from. He is an inspiration.