With Titi’s, Jesus Villalobos is trying something new while making Cachapas y Mas proud

“I Imade them take off the empanadas,” Jesus Villalobos says with a smirk. “I didn’t think the recipe was quite there.” He’s referring to the menu at Cachapas y Mas, his family’s Venezuelan restaurant, of which there are two locations in New York, known for its cachapas, patacones, and more. Who better to give feedback than Villalobos, who grew up working in the family business, and has basically never left it? “He was right,” his mother, Jackeline Osorio says, proudly.

Playing around with the empanada recipe was the catalyst for Villalobos to open empanada shop Titi’s with his brother-in-law, Nate Ramm, in January at 160-4 Havemeyer Street. The Williamsburg shop continues to be a family affair: Villalobos’s mother helped develop the Titi’s recipes with them, and all the baking still happens in the Ridgewood location of Cachapas y Mas, brought over daily to Williamsburg. “I’m a good cook, but she’s a better cook,” he says of his mom. His aunt owned an empanada shop back in Maracaibo, Venezuela…