Joaquin was born and raised in Mexico, but has a history of cooking Italian food and was the head chef and co-owner of Nonno’s Ristorante Italiano at Whitney Way and Odana Road. I haven’t been to Nonno’s in years, but when I reviewed it in 2014, it was exceptional. Joaquin and his wife, Julia Fabiola Lopez, moved to Santa Ana, California, from Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1998 and to Madison a year later when Joaquin took a job cooking at Tutto Pasta on State Street.