It is difficult to summarize a talk with Max Raide. The Chilean gastronomic entrepreneur, who was also political and was in the press, is generous with his words and opinions. Also, passionate about your projects, so it doesn’t cost you to extend them. The result is an interview that, even at the distance of a screen (and a mountain range), becomes warm and close.
News: He was in Mendoza presenting the idea of a gastronomic route through the Andes. How would it work?
Max Raide: We made a dinner as part of this new initiative, the trans -Andean route. The idea is to put together the seven countries that crosses the Andes mountain range, because not many know that it begins in Ecuador and ends in Patagonia, it is much more associated with Peru, Chile and Argentina. On March 5 we will make a second dinner in Buenos Aires, at the Hotel Faenaalso with chefs from Peru. And in April we are going to make an encounter in Quito, Ecuador, and another in May in Chile with more than 50 guests, first in Santiago and then in Patagonia. A door that has no limit was opened, because it has to do with the reciprocity of the countries, which goes beyond borders. The Andes mountain range is a unique place in the world, and not everyone knows what can be found there.
News: What do you dream for this project?
Raide: The most interesting thing is the union of these countries. I think it can give rise to come other things, from the economic, political and social point of view. There is tremendous potential, because we can make gastronomic guides and become a tourist destination. And I would like it to be a common point in which these countries will be integrated around objectives. Of course, the doors are open to other Latin American countries, but somewhere you had to leave.
News: Could then a Latin American identity? Because today there is not.
Raide: There are many countries that have communicated to tell us that they wanted to add, and not even they knew they were part of a trans -Andean route. The future of the planet is in Antarctica, and we are just discovering Patagonia, so imagine the potential there may be and how we can continue adding. You can raise awareness of products and their good use. Gastronomy is the best place to generate dialogue, outside political or cultural conflicts. A good dish and a good wine can generate tune around many problems. We must not enter the conflict of whether a pisco is better in one country or another, the important thing is to show both to demonstrate how well the category is.
News: What does the diner seek today? It seems that it is no longer enough for food to be good.
Raide: I think it’s about the concept of experience. If you ask me why Don Julio is the best grill in Latin America, it has to do with that. It is not only about flesh and traceability, but, in addition, since you get until you go are an example of the evolution of gastronomy. Hospitality, how they raise the product story, how they work the theme of wines -because it is a museum in the history of wine and I have not seen it in the best restaurants in Europe. I think the future of gastronomy goes there.
News: When you feel to think about your own projects, do you also take these legs into account?
Raide: Years ago we had a Fine Dining that was called European and was one of the most successful in Chile. The pandemic came and we never opened it again. We brought Casa Las Cujas, a restaurant we had on the beach, people already loved. We start working more in what is experience, dishes. I feel that there is a change generationally, people no longer want to be sitting for three hours. People like to share and have few spaces to do it, and the restaurant is a place for that. They want to talk, drink wines and try dishes, tell him a story, but also to have their friends.
News: And how do you see the growth of the awards that are delivered in the field?
Raide: The awards are very important to know the places. Peru did an extraordinary job in turning a gray city into a destination that people travel for four days, and does not even go to the beach. That was greatly influenced by the prominence given to him platforms like 50 Best. There are those who get trapped in the place they occupied in the ranking, but the most important thing is that one is positioning the world as a gastronomic destination. In that sense, the trans -Andean route also goes, that people see that there is a tour where there are certain restaurants and wineries that provide added value. In Chile there is only one restaurant that is among the best 100 in the world, Borago, and when people come to know him, then he will also know other places. He will go to the wineries, to other restaurants, perhaps to the north, to San Pedro de Atacama. What they did in Lima is not built from one day to the next.
News: How do you train your vision as a gastronomic entrepreneur?
Raide: It is very important to travel inside and outside the country. Also generate connectivity and reciprocity, approach opportunities and products. Pandemia was a disaster for our industry, but I value the link that generated us with the producers. Because many products stopped exporting and had to start positioning the restaurants. When working together, 1 + 1 is 3.
News: What is it like working with your brothers?
Raide: It’s very nice. We are three, I am the eldest. We have different but complementary roles, the success formula is in the combination of all. The operational part is handled by Domingo, and the commercial part, Juan Pablo. I am the most strategic head, the one with the most long -term vision. My wife also works here and my mother is in charge of the Restaurants’ gardens. We had to live the pandemic, when nobody entered, and although it was difficult, I think our grandchildren will be able to say “at least our grandparents had the social awareness of keeping people with work.” This is a very demanding and demanding world, worse than politics, but it also has the satisfaction that things are done as a team and you are proud of what you are doing. That is why we never had a franchise, because it was not our history.
News: He mentioned that he was in politics, how was that other life?
Raide: 20 years ago I founded an institution called young leaders, which later opened to Latin America. The idea was to put together a generational network that worked around opportunities. We made forums, invited people and generated conversations in different countries. We also got into the United States, and it was interesting because each country had its own reality. And I got to gastronomy because in these same meetings we organized a lot of bankers and began to offer to do it in universities. We decided to take this culture of Starbucks to make a different experience, because there are usually no good coffee shops in universities, and we have more than 10 stores.
News: A few years ago he lived a very violent episode, in which to defend some women he ended up brutally beaten. What was that legal situation?
Raide: It was fair outside one of the restaurants, when I was going home with my lady. I wanted to stop a situation of harassment and were criminals with a fairly strong record. They attacked me and took out the worst part, lost the vision of the left eye. The only positive thing is that they could get out. I made a rather media crusade, because I realized that one of these characters had previously killed and I wanted to turn this case into an emblematic. They were imprisoned and in the coming months they will also condemn those who leaked the medical cards of mine and my lady. This is a face other than gastronomic, but it has to do with the responsibility one has in society.
News: In your work teams there are usually women?
Raide: I have women in the teams, but I am also interested in the union. It is about generating a work environment. I am not a feminist, but when I was in the press, I pushed the women’s agenda very strongly. Yes, I’m interested that the spaces are won by the people who deserve them. The gastronomy work system has been changing. Today the kitchens are quieter and there is greater horizontality. But that does not mean that we do not have to be demanding. I always tell the team that you have to work so that whoever steps on our restaurant has the moment of greatest happiness as possible.
News: Would a restaurant open in Argentina?
Raide: Yes, but with a local partner. I would love to work a concept like beach cuisine, I would put all the chips on the products that have to do with the sea. For example, in Argentina, half of the people do not know that there is smooth, they eat much more Chernia, and the smooth is 10 times better. With meat, sea and rivers, they have a potential triumvirate.
