Alex Raij & Eder Montero

Chef-owners, Txikito and El Quinto Pino
New York, New York

Many a couple has broken up after attempting that most

dangerous of romantic pursuits: cooking together.

One partner doesn’t get the pan hot enough; the other partner

adds too much salt. Three days later boxes are packed, DVDs are

being divvied up, and friends are picking sides. Does it always

have to be this way?

Welcome to Txikito, a Basque restaurant in Manhattan that’s

run and owned (along with another restaurant, El Quinto Pino) by

a married couple, chefs Alexandra Raij and Eder Montero.

“We get into really big fights almost every day,” Raij says as

she and Montero explain how they work together without

destroying their marriage. “But five minutes later, we’ve moved

on.”

In their large kitchen (which is underneath the restaurant), Raij

and Montero work apart as much as they work together. Montero

will prep vegetables while Raij cooks chickpeas in a pressure

cooker. When they do work together on a task, careful negotiations

ensue.

Raij takes the lid off the pressure cooker and ladles the cooked

chickpeas into a blender with some of the cooking liquid and the