Accidental Chef
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Mario Alberto | Photo: Joe Philipson
By Leslee Komaiko
For dineLA.com
Though he cooks better than your Peruvian abuela, let’s get one thing out of the way. Mario Alberto is a L.A. kid. Boyle Heights to be exact. Alberto cooked at Mo-Chica and Lazy Ox before opening Chimu at Grand Central Market in May with Jason Michaud. The restaurant is directly across from Angel’s Flight. Alberto is also on board as chef at Michaud’s Red Hill in Echo Park, expected to open this Fall.
Are there any cooks or chefs in your family?
My mom. She never cooked professionally but she always wanted to open a restaurant. I grew up with her every weekend cooking tamales. I never thought I was going to go into cooking. It happened by accident.
How?
I was studying film and photography before I got into cooking. I was working at a Japanese restaurant.
To pay the bills?
Yes. I was a server. The reason I started working at a Japanese restaurant is I’ve always had a passion for Japanese culture and cinema. I thought I’d learn some Japanese and get some insight. Something about the culture threw me in a lot more. You would walk into the kitchen. It was the quietest kitchen. The only two voices you would hear were the two Latino guys. I was planning to leave the restaurant. The owner was like, “Why do you want to leave? What do you want to do?” I said, “I want to learn how to cook.” I knew he was going to say no. But he surprised me and said yes. The first week one guy was throwing me off to the other guy. So I went to work with the dishwasher. After a week, the chef saw I was interested. So he forced one of guys to teach me to make rolls.
Is there any Peruvian in your background?
None whatsoever.
Are people surprised by that?
Peruvians are very prideful of their cuisine, highly critical. For the most part they have been very supportive. I’ve had some customers follow me from Mo-Chica to Lazy Ox to here. A lot of people used to tell me what they call saucon, the flavor: “It’s strange how you have saucon for Peruvian food.” To be honest I’m just trying to cook good food. It’s nice when Peruvian nationals say, “I really like your food.”
How did you hook up with Jason Michaud [also chef-owner of Local in Silverlake]?
Through a friend. I really wanted to leave L.A. for a while.
Were you burnt out?
Looking for a change. I was thinking of either going up north or to South America.
Still cooking?
Yes. A friend introduced me to Jason. He showed me his space in Echo Park [Red Hill], showed me Local, asked me some ideas I had. I got good vibes from him. He’s genuinely one of nicest guys I’ve met in my life. He means well. I have seen a lot of acts he’s done of kindness. It blows me away.
So you decided you wanted to work together?
He told me I should start pushing to take myself to the next level, developing a style as a chef. That’s what he did. He really ingrained that in me. To be honest I thought maybe I needed more training. I showed him the Grand Central Market space. I told him I would do Peruvian street food. He liked the idea and said let’s do it. Three weeks later we’re signing a lease. Now we’re opening two restaurants in a matter of months. With this I wanted to do something simple, take-out.
But wait a sec. I tried the ceviche at Chimu and it was really complex. I felt like it was something I might get at Providence.
There’s some misperception with fast food and takeout. In L.A. people are always on the run. It’s easy to get our food to go. I thought, why don’t we do takeout that’s good? Change this.
But is this really Peruvian street food?
What amazed me about Peru is how advanced it is, so rich in culinary history. Everyone goes out to eat there. Some of the best restaurants in Lima are the smallest holes in walls. The food was phenomenal. There are these small little spots all over the street where you’d have ceviche or we had amazing estofado de lengua, tongue braised in tomato, at like a hole in the wall in the Amazon.
Let’s talk about the Chimu location. I am a big fan of Grand Central Market. But it’s not exactly known for its serious chefs.
I love Grand Central. I grew up coming here as a kid. John Fante is one of my favorite writers. There are a lot of people who don’t get Bunker Hill and Grand Central Market. The way I look at it, it’s part of urban life in Downtown L.A.
I know it doesn’t rain much in L.A. But are you concerned about that? [Chimu is outside.]
To be honest, I’m worried about a lot of things. I ask myself sometimes what the hell am I doing? I should be working upwards to do a really nice restaurant, move in that direction. My life and my choices have been unconventional. Sometimes I feel the need to do certain things. This might work out. I have failed at a lot of things. I’m sure eventually I’ll win one and when I win it’s going to be big.
Let’s talk about your food. The lomo saltado is ridiculous, the best I’ve had.
The most important thing is getting a really hot wok. You add the oil and drop in the meat and let it sear on one side, take it out of the wok, wipe it down, put more oil then do the tomatoes and onions, then add the meat and sauté real quick with sauce. You gotta get some sort of caramelization.
Is this dish usually cooked in a wok?
Yes. It is traditionally cooked in a wok. It is an interesting dish. It kind of evolved through Chinese immigration to Peru: the culture kind of integrating or taking something and evolving it into something else.
And the fries? They might be my favorite fries ever. How do you do them?
We use peanut oil, the best oil for fries. The type of potatoes we use is Kennebec. We blanch them at 325 for five or six minutes, then fry them. Right before the order’s out, we fry them a third time. But really it’s the blanching.
What dishes are you really excited about? I imagine you might get tired of making lomo saltado.
Estofado de lengua is one of those dishes I tried in the Amazon. I wanted to do a version of that. People have been responsive.
Is tongue a hard sell?
People in L.A. are open to trying new things. One thing I learned at Lazy Ox was people were always interested in trying something new.
And your staff, are they from other restaurants you’ve worked at?
That’s been a struggle actually. But I’m happy to have the guys I have.
Do you feel like you and Ricardo Zarate (Mo-Chica, Picca) are responsible for a two man Peruvian food revolution in L.A.?
Finally people are starting to notice Peruvian food. I think the flavors are very complex. I think it’s approachable. Everybody’s going to try to do it now that there’s a market. I think it’s a good thing so long as people don’t bastardize it.
On to Red Hill. I assume you won’t be the day to day chef there.
Yeah. I will.
How can you be in both places?
This thing [Chimu], we’re trying to run it like fast food. This restaurant is very tight, recipe based, very exact. It took painstakingly long to measure everything out.
But my understanding is that you cook every dish.
Right now yes because I’ve had some issues with people not working out. I’m also trying to save on labor. But eventually we’ll hire someone to run it. Once Red Hill opens, I’m going to focus on that. I’ve already developed four menus.
Why four?
Depending on the seasons. But things might change. The menu isn’t set. It could be a lot for the staff. You have to see if the staff is capable of pulling off what you want to pull off. There are a lot of variables.
I’ve heard you characterize the cuisine as “urban American.”
Growing up here, I was exposed to a lot of different cultures and cuisines. My palate is in that direction, in terms of ingredients from other cultures. The way I look at cooking, there’s a sociological term called acculturation: the second generation takes the form of the dominant culture and interprets it. That’s the way I look at my cooking. I’m a second generation immigrant. So there will be a lot of cooking American cuisine being played upon with ethnic flavor.
Will you open for dinner only initially?
It all depends. If we get our beer and wine license in time, we’ll probably start with dinner, if not brunch and lunch. I’m just trying to do everything day to day.
I have not mastered that yet. How do you do it?
I have no choice.
Do you get out at all?
I really don’t. My favorite restaurant is SPQR in San Francisco. It’s a modern Italian place in the Mission District with great food. Either you’re not making enough money to go out to the places you want to eat and also the hours.
Any spots in or around Grand Central Market you especially like?
I love the guy who does carnitas on the Broadway side. The thing is I always like to eat something different. We like to make staff meals here.
You mentioned that your mom would have liked to open a restaurant. What does she think of all this?
I think she always kind of wanted me to live an average life. I chose this route. It’s funny. She’s the most critical person. She means well. But she’s critical every time. I’m like, “Why don’t you enjoy it for what it is?” She tells me the sauces aren’t hot enough. But I’m like, “It’s not Mexican cuisine.”
Chimu
Grand Central Market
324 S. Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 625-1097
www.soulfoodofperu.com
Chimu on Facebook
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