By CALLY ANDERSON
Tiger Media Network
On October 16th, Downtown Hays featured the opening of a brand new restaurant unlike anything yet seen by the area, Fusion by Manuel.
At the young age of 16 years old, Fusion Chef Manuel Hernandez began his culinary journey in Spain. He grew up helping his mother work in the Embassy of Spain. This included building materials, helping with cleaning vegetables, and going to the market to buy materials needed for the kitchen. Following his passion for cooking, his journey took him to different restaurants in Mexico City, Chicago, Denver, and finally Hays.
With his diverse background in restaurants, it was an easy decision for Hernandez to focus on his own restaurant not having just one singular style.
“I’ve been working in these restaurants with different cuisines and I always enjoyed the diversity of food,” Hernandez said. “That’s why I choose, instead of being one thing, I can make many items with a little twist to be able to make it more approachable for people that is not used to different ethnic cuisines.”
While the menu is inspired by his cooking history, in Manuel’s words, “I wasn’t planning on doing anything like this on my own.”
Prior to leasing the building, Manuel was working on several other projects which included some that fell through.
“I was running September 9th and I saw the sign that it was for lease,” Hernandez said. “I called them the next day and they called me back. On the following Monday, I was signing a lease to start our journey.”
A short four weeks later, Fusion was open for business. Hernandez encourages guests to stop by and be ready to try something new.
“Give it a try and be open to try new things,” he said. “The guests can expect very unique items.”
Items such as paella, baba ganoush, chicken wings, chicken pad thai, empanadas and falafels to name a few. Each weekend on Fridays and Saturdays, from 4-9 p.m., Manuel expects to do a weekend special dish.
“You work for your own dreams or you work for someone else’s,” Hernandez said. “So I was like ‘I am very talented too and I can have my own place.’ And here it is, Fusion by Manuel.”
Fusion by Manuel is located at 700 Main Street in Downtown Hays, Kansas. For their full menu, visit either their Instagram page @fusionbymanuel or their website https://www.fusionbymanuel.com/.
You must be logged in to post a comment.