Everywhere, Latin lovers are capturing our palates and our passion. Hungry for daring spices and exotic ingredients, gourmands are putting Nuevo Latino cuisine at the top of their dance card. Nowhere does the blood run hotter than at ¡Pasión!. And no one fires that passion like Guillermo Pernot.

Pernot, a native of Argentina, has the culinary skill to choreograph Latin flavors into a seamless tango of taste. The exquisitely complex effect has drawn raves and awards. In 1998, Food & Wine magazine named Pernot one of its Best New Chefs, and that same year, Restaurant Hospitality listed him as one of 10 Rising Stars. As Philadelphia magazine put it in its annual Best of Philadelphia issue, he is a "Chef to Watch."

Pernot, who is self-taught, began his career in a Pennsylvania bed-and-breakfast, where he astounded patrons with his seven-course dinners and eventually earned praise in Fodor's, America's Wonderful Little Hotels, and Inns and Getaways for Gourmets. He spent two years as chef de cuisine at Treetops Restaurant in the AAA Five-Diamond Rittenhouse Hotel. The immense success of his next venture, Vega Grill, paved the way for ¡Pasión!.

Rick Nichols of Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine wrote that the carnitas de puerco were "the best combination of texture and flavor I've had this year." Judy West of Philadelphia Weekly loved one of Pernot's signature dishes, tamal cubana with sun-dried cherry mojo. "The coarse cornmeal gives the tamales a toothsome texture, while the slow-simmered, shredded pork, mixed with a judicious amount of lard, assures a rich, delicious flavor," she wrote. "The sun-dried cherry mojo provided the perfect counterpoint." And in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Craig LaBan described the Chilean sea bass as "one of the most memorable renditions I've ever tasted."

Pernot credits Douglas Rodriguez with giving him the confidence to follow his culinary destiny. Follow your own destiny to the Beard house for this Nuevo Latino Easter celebration.