Detail-oriented and demanding, that’s how he defines himself Andrés “Chevy” Piélago, one of the referents of Peruvian food in Argentina. But his professionalism and the degree of refinement that he brings to this type of gastronomy that continues to grow in the country, does not take him away from the roots that he brings from his native Peru.
He remembers the smell of garlic browning in the kitchen while his mother or grandmother cooked chicken and rice for the family. Going to the market to get the best ingredients. The picarones that he bought in the street stalls. Despite having worked in the kitchens of the most prestigious restaurants such as Florería Atlántico, La Mar, La Canoa, Amazonia and La Catedralamong others, Chevy assures that some of his dishes cannot be compared to those his mother cooks: “It’s the hand,” he affirms from a table in sumaq (El Salvador 5729), the new peruvian food restaurant that recently opened in Palermo and that has him as chef, Marcos Montalvo as sous chef and Gonzalo Vargas as head bartender.
News: What is the key to Peruvian food?
Andrés “Chevy” Piélago: The seasoning, the products, the chili peppers, especially the yellow chili pepper and the red chili pepper. That is what our gastronomy is based on, both hot and cold. My cuisine is based a lot on the grill, I throw everything on the grill, octopus, prawns, fish, for me everything is “anticuchable” —the anticucho is a type of skewer of Peruvian origin, consisting of meat and other foods that are roasted on a skewer – and everything can go on the coals.
News: You have a lot of experience in different restaurants, how did you get this proposal to put together Sūmaq?
Piélago: I worked at Misky Wasi, it is a classic, typical Peruvian restaurant, there we started with Miguel Cisneros, who is the owner of Misky Wasi and he proposed this project to me, to make a large, imposing restaurant, and we went ahead, I like them the challenges, we started from scratch, in this place there was nothing, it was a shoebox, it took us nine months to put it together.
News: It was like a birth…
Piélago: Exactly, it was a delivery, now the baby is born, we are very happy.
News: How was the process of preparing the letter?
Piélago: I took what I always did, put everything on the coals and put together the cold part, sushi and ceviche, we put together the menu together with Marcos, my right hand, we worked together at La Canoa, when I started my gastronomic journey after La Mar, and together we did this madness
News: Are you obsessed with details?
Piélago: I love it, I like to handle the colors, I even chose the dishes.
News: Have you always wanted to be in the kitchen?
Piélago: That leaves the house. My grandmother taught me everythingto make the first Peruvian rice, he taught me to cook everything, my first stew, my first ceviche, lentils, everything started from home.
News: Do you keep that essence in your dishes?
Piélago: Always. The most important thing is to be aware of the seasoning, garlic and onion, they cannot be missing.
News: What did they tell you at home when you said you wanted to dedicate yourself to cooking professionally?
Piélago: My grandmother sent me to study cooking, I was very young and she encouraged me. At first she cooked for the whole family and they liked it. It was cheaper to study here, in Argentina, than in Peru, in Buenos Aires there were more options.
News: And how did you continue your journey from home cooking to haute cuisine?
Piélago: I came to Argentina at the age of 18. I started as a bachero, then as an assistant, cook, head chef, there I began to demonstrate my skills, but since I was a child they taught me to cook.
News: What was your grandmother’s favorite?
Piélago: The rice with chicken and potatoes a la huancaina, I always asked for it for my birthdays.
News: Do you remember the scents of your house?
Piélago: Obviously, for me the smell of the house and for all Peruvians, is golden garlic, when the mothers are cooking, even today, that smell takes you back to your childhood.
News: Did you like to shop?
Piélago: Yes, I always went to the market with my grandmother, she was very meticulous when it came to shopping. I bring all those teachings since I was a child
News: How is the work rate in the kitchen?
Piélago: It is very heavy, but not as much as before, the old school was yelling, today it is managed by sectorsheads by sector, everything is easier, before there was a head chef for 10 cooks, here we have 15 cooks, but we have a head bartender, a head chef, my sous chef, Marcos Montalvo.
News: What would you like for Sūmaq for the future?
Piélago: That it become a benchmark for Peruvian food, open another branch, a Sumaq bar, a pisco restaurant, for later. We’re just crawling.
News: What was the first big challenge of your culinary career?
Piélago: Build this restaurant from scratch. It’s like my baby. Miguel gave me the right to do everything.
News: I imagine that beyond cooking, you have to be aware of other issues, such as finances.
Piélago: Of course, I have to be aware of the costs, we have to see if we have to remove a dish from the menu, be attentive to the suppliers, sometimes we only come out made, I cannot raise the prices that much, in some dishes we do not generate profits.
News: Does that influence creativity?
Piélago: I try not to think about it. When you’re a consultant, you also have to think about those things, think like the owner, not so much like a cook, but it’s part of a lesson, keep an eye on the restaurant’s economy.
News: Do you get the same ingredients here as in Peru?
Piélago: It’s complicated, but they can be achieved, the base is chili peppers, sometimes it’s difficult to get yellow chili peppers, for example.
News: How did you become a benchmark for Peruvian food?
Piélago: Step by Step. My work is what reflects that. It makes me happy that the client eats something tasty and leaves happy. I hate when they “cholulean” me, I am humble, I hate bacanería.
News: How is the environment with colleagues?
Piélago: Spectacular, we were always friends, there are no fights. We all go for the same goal, to bring gastronomy to a good level in Argentina. We were always very close.
News: Do you like to go to other places to eat?
Piélago: I love it, I look for new places, I like to go out. I don’t see it as competition, I like to give my clients the best, to sell a good product. The Peruvian movement is strong. Just as I am demanding in my restaurant, I am when I go to other places, I swear when I see that something is not as it should be.
News: What do you think of cooking reality shows?
Piélago: It’s good, I’m dying of laughter, at a certain point it’s television, it’s a show.
News: Would you go as a jury to a reality show?
Piélago: Yes, why not?
News: Do you cook at home?
Piélago: Not at home, sometimes my mother cooks my whims, my rice with chicken, my lomo saltado, there’s nothing like my mother’s lomo saltado. I can’t make the huancaina as my mother prepares it, she taught me but it doesn’t come out, the rice with chicken that my mother makes, it doesn’t come out, it’s my hand…
News: Are you bringing your family to try their food?
Piélago: Always, my mother doesn’t like it, but the rest of my family does. My mom is very shy.
News: What are your recommendations if you have to present a menu for an important dinner?
Piélago: The most typical Peruvian. I always base myself on the cause, the anticucho, ceviche, all of that is street food, found in the streets of Peru. Here it is obviously modernized. A chicken cause. The traditional sole ceviche and an anticucho. For dessert picarones, what is sold in the neighborhood on Sundays. When he was a boy he would go shopping in the neighborhood. It’s what I remember from my childhood. And to drink, chicha morada.
News: What do you like to do when you are out of the kitchen?
Piélago: I am very lazy, I leave around 3 in the morning, I get home and go to sleep, I have no hobbies.
News: How do you build your teams?
Piélago: Depending on where I go, sometimes I only advise various restaurants, now I am fully in Sūmaq, I contact those who follow me, I train them, and when you train them they start, and then I recommend them to other places, you have to build teams with people of trust.
News: Are you interested in teaching?
Piélago: I gave cooking classes in a pandemic, you had to row it, but I prefer to be in the service than in teaching.
News: Who are your references?
Piélago: I was lucky to work at Florería del Atlántico and work with Tato Giovannoni and seeing him work was crazy, he was always a reference for me. So was my first boss, I started out as a bachelor in Santé, Palolo was my boss, he set me up with Florería, there I met Pedro Peña, and from there I went to La Mar with Anthony Vázquez.
News: And what are your personal aspirations in gastronomy?
Piélago: The important thing is to go from step to step. I am ambitious, my greatest ambition is to win a 50 Best, I know I am going to win it, it is my first challenge, not my goal.
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