They overcame an El Niño phenomenon, a pandemic and today they are the best Chiclayo food restaurant in Lima

In it old town restaurant The family atmosphere stands out. It is the same owners who receive you and guide you through a space where the Lambayeque culture is present in photographs of the historic Pómac forest and the popular little wordsin addition to paintings of mythological Mochica and Chinese chola characters, a representative figure of Mochumí, the land where Cecilia Ríos was born, the chef behind the menu of this restaurant

It was at the end of 2018 that they opened their premises in Lima and, although they had to overcome several adversities along the way, today more and more people visit them seduced by some dishes that prove that in the north there is one of the best cuisines in Peru. a kitchen that embraces you with the same kindness as its chef, who in every detail of this restaurant seeks to show the warmth of what Chiclayo’s motto of being “the city and capital of friendship” really means.

– The history of Pueblo Viejo begins in Chiclayo…

We started in 1996, many years younger, with a lot of energy and above all with the desire to present Chiclayanos with a totally different proposal. Chiclayo food used to be eaten either at home or in picanterías, but there was no special restaurant for our food. What we did was present the Chiclayano with a beautiful old-fashioned restored house, decorated in the most attractive way, with lots of wood to evoke other times. We thought a lot about the architecture of the place and made an art gallery. Everything was a set of three wonderful things: architecture, art and how important it was to bring food, even from the countryside.

– In that way?

At the Pueblo Viejo restaurant in Chiclayo I presented the first sweaty fish, what we used to do at home when my mother was alive, homemade food. Having lived many years of my life between the countryside and the city, because my father has been a farmer, I was excited to see how we had been able to capture everything in that wonderful work that was the restaurant, because I consider that what we did in Chiclayo was a work marvelous and remained in the memory of many Chiclayanos. Unfortunately, I only had it for nine years, but it remained in people’s memories. Many tourists said: “Whoever goes through Chiclayo and has not been to Pueblo Viejo, has not gone through Chiclayo.” That fills me with pride to this day. I currently have clients from Chiclayo who seek us out because they remember going to Pueblo Viejo more than 20 years ago and now they have the joy of finding the same seasoning here and Cecilia in the kitchen and it will be like that until God willing.

– Why did you choose the name Pueblo Viejo?

Because it was the old kitchen, forgotten: making the little fish on the panca, presenting a chirimpico in a restaurant, a dish that used to only be prepared on a birthday, in a house with the giblets of the kid, it was not usually eaten in a well-placed restaurant. , as the Chiclayanos deserved.

– And how was born your vocation for cooking and for rescuing the Chiclayano recipe book?

I think the answer lies in the day-to-day life of my childhood and adolescence, having grown up in an environment in which the family union revolved around pots and stoves. My mother, Maruja Asalde, was a great cook, a woman with extraordinary seasoning, and I was the daughter closest to her. She was always close to her to help her do what is now called ‘mise en place’. All of that remained in my memory, I never had a recipe for it, it was just watching and learning. I believe that it is in the DNA of each person and that remained in the chip for me. In my restaurant I sell meals from home, those meals from my childhood: sweaty fish with arroz alverjado or a delicious rice with duck on a Sunday.

– They never taught you?

They never taught me and I have never prepared myself in a school, but I did take courses when I could in the summer. And when I came to Lima with this project, I tried to have boys who brought me the technique, boys from school. With them I learned to ‘portion’, I learned with them to have measurements because I have always cooked by eye. That has been my kitchen: to the eye.

– Tell me more about this adventure in Lima. Why do you decide to move?

Moving to Lima was a great challenge. It was due to El Niño in 2017, by my husband, an engineer dedicated to agriculture. It was a very difficult economic time for both of us. Our children, already grown and professionals, convinced me that I had a great capital under my arm that I was not using. I thought about it, we made the decision with my husband and with great sadness we left Chiclayo to bring our home cooking to Lima, without changes, pure cooking, very Chiclayo.

– Did you think about it a lot?

It was a project that we did not schedule so much, it was a decision that was made in a very short time and things happened to find the beautiful house in Miraflores where the restaurant is now. The cooking, the seasoning, the recipes were already established and the other step was to hire the team and give them all my recipes, which are the ones that are permanent in the restaurant. We have modeled some presentations to be at the same level. I felt that I was facing a monster in Lima, because of the great competition there is; However, I believe that the diner values ​​and feels when a dish is prepared honestly, with products that are clearly from Chiclayo, which is the most important thing on the Pueblo Viejo menu: Chiclayo ingredients.

– They left Chiclayo because of El Niño and when they arrived in Lima they were surprised by this event as unexpected as the Covid pandemic was in 2019.

We opened in Lima in September 2018 with great excitement and high hopes, at no time did we think that something was going to go wrong, on the contrary. We spent half a year of 2018 very well, in 2019 we also had a large public from Chiclayo. The pandemic is coming and we really were left with one hand behind and the other in front, but something pushed us forward.

– What thing?

The chocolate pancakes. At the moment they give the order that it could be sold (during the restrictions due to the pandemic), the corn pancakes were the saviors of Cecilia and Pueblo Viejo: we sold them frozen and customers bought them a lot. This is how we were able to maintain ourselves all that time until it could be opened little by little. And little by little we have had very difficult times. It was very sad for us to return to the neighborhood and find that many of our neighboring colleagues who had businesses had closed and were never able to open again. We have continued with strength, with that Mochica punche and we continue forward until now, thank God.

– And now they are planning to extend the opening hours with this second floor that they have and that is already operational.

Pueblo Viejo began as an NN in Lima, nobody knew about it and little by little we learned a lot about everything that was needed in terms of advertising and even social networks, which we were totally unaware of and now we know are very necessary to make your business known. food, as well as ‘word of mouth’. People began to spread the word and thus we have had not so slow growth after the pandemic. It was even surprising for us and we are very grateful to our audience. We saw some very long things and it really anguished me to see my clients waiting so long. That is why we decided to expand the restaurant and also go to the second floor, which we already have operational. We have not yet made an official opening, but soon we will have service on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 12:30 to 11 pm That way, if the client could not come in the morning, they can do it at night . Or what happens with tourists who make their route all morning and in the afternoon want to eat Peruvian or northern food and can’t find a place, well, find an option in Pueblo Viejo.

– Is the public of the restaurant still being mostly from Chiclayo?

All of 2018 and 2019, yes, very Chiclayo. After the pandemic, I would tell you that the public is 70% from Lima and also foreigners.

– Is the menu you had in Chiclayo very different from the one you offer in Lima?

I have had to adjust because of the logistics. I don’t have the chirimpico in Lima, which was a very important dish on the menu for me; nor the pepián de pava, because it is very difficult to find the criolla free-range turkey in Lima. I did find a delicious yucca, chiclayana yucca, and that is why I decided to make the yucas stuffed with shrimp and huancaína sauce. We also have the stewed tongue with yellow potatoes, which is also a highly sought after dish here in Lima and that few restaurants sell because it is generally prepared at home.

– I think it is unanimous for Peruvians that Chiclayo food is one of the best, what is missing for it to have more exposure abroad?

I consider that Chiclayo food is a pillar of Peruvian food. I believe that the problem for it to come out is the product, getting it abroad makes it difficult to take Chiclayo food to other places. In the United States, in Florida, I know that there are Chiclayanos who do manage to have some products to be able to sell fusion food, but in other places it is much more difficult to get products such as loche or ají amarillo, which are the basis of Chiclayo food, or kid milk. But I think they should give much more importance to traditional Chiclayo food. There is a need for more support for traditional Chiclayo food, I don’t see it in the showcase, we must be more united to make a nice project that can go out and cross borders.