Enjoy the present. Three words and a concept that has been installed since the beginning of the pandemic and of which Gastón Riveira, chef and owner of La Cabrera, is not exempt. He has been working in gastronomy since he was fifteen years old and almost eighteen years ago he opened the doors of the grill that is visited and recognized all over the world. How a new way of living coexists with his passion for food and the constant search to be the Disney of gastronomy.
News: Is it still your main thought to colonize the world with La Cabrera?
Gaston Riverira: I am calm, and I want to be calm, it is a moment that after the pandemic I rethink a lot of things, think about what to do, how to do it, how to continue, what to say, enjoying the family more.
News: What change did the pandemic leave you?
Rivera: Today the bond with my family is stronger, because we live together more and discuss more, but we know each other better. I have three female daughters, one 17 years old, elegant as a champagne, another 16, this one is intense like a cabernet franc, an intense harvest, and then the youngest who is 7, which is a late harvest, appeared when the warehouse was closing (laughs).
News: And for La Cabrera?
Rivera: For gastronomy it was a punishment, and among the entire team of La Cabrera we are rearming ourselves to return to being the army that we were. We had many casualties, people who decided to leave or others who considered themselves fired, as well as many who left the job. People who preferred to make cakes at home and sell them from there, deliver or sign up for Uber. There were a lot of strong trade changes in the pandemic.
News: What was the lesson left by the worst moments of the pandemic?
Rivera: I learned to live in the present and also that when projecting the future, no matter how hard one tries, something like a pandemic can appear in the middle, turning any project upside down. I want to enjoy what is done, sit down and watch and be able to say: how good, how I have fun and have a hobby, which I still haven’t found.
News: Do you have one in mind?
Rivera: I would like to have an inflatable boat to go fishing. Or float and nothing else. There have a glass of wine.
News: And as far as the business is concerned?
Riveira: Business is a brand, it’s something more strategic, it’s something else, business is business, life runs on another side, that’s what I learned. Learn to enjoy moments with family and friends.
News: And what do you enjoy most about the restaurant?
Rivera: I enjoy when people leave the restaurant applauding, saying: “The truth is, I ate like hell, I loved it, I had a great time.” That is, trying to make people live an unforgettable experience, almost as if they had gone to the Disney of gastronomy.
News: Are we Argentines or do we think we are the most grilled in the world?
Riveira: We are the most grilled in the world, without a doubt. We are the ones who like to light the fire, we like the ritual of roasting, those of us who enjoy since we started thinking about the week that on Sunday I am going to make a roast for friends. It’s a rest for the head. Think about what cheese I’m going to buy, what salami goes best with it, what cut of meat I’m going to buy, talk to my head butcher to see what gizzard or chitterling he’s going to recommend for that roast. It is a before, during and after, a great hobby.
News: What amuses you?
Rivera: Gastronomy amuses me, eating well, rich wines, learning and taking a cooking course. The knives, the meat. Traveling amuses me too.
News: You have fun working then
Riveira: I enjoy my work, I live it with a lot of passion. Once a man described to me what that word was and left it engraved on me: he told me that for him it was the suffering of Jesus on the cross and it seemed to me a very clear description of passion. What Jesus felt when carrying the cross and also, a great definition of passion.
News: Has this passion never tired you?
Riveira: Stress is what tires you out, but not your work because that’s what amuses you. Having to run for work is what makes you tired. I love doing what I do.
News: Is there only good meat in Argentina?
Rivera: In Argentina yes and abroad there is also a lot of genetics and a good job done by the winners in many countries.
News: What impacted you the most of the countries you visited?
Rivera: Something that I really like is how ham is consumed in Spain, it seems surprising to me. Just as we eat roast, they eat ham.
News: Do you think about food all the time?
Rivera: I relate everything to gastronomy because I live from it, I like it, feeding is a passion.
News: And how far will La Cabrera go?
Rivera: In Europe we are in Malaga, in Miami perhaps shortly and in the countries that we have been in for years are Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil and the Philippines. In Mar del Plata we are with La Cabrera, which is a restaurant that sells meat like all of our places but with some dishes that Argentines also like, such as pizza bread made in a special oven, an onion pizza that I love and also rabas because we are on the coast. We also have two daily fish in addition to a grilled octopus. We make a fusion with the sea, we always have to tropicalize each place.
