Immediately after jogging Peruvian pop-up La Chingana for in excess of a year, chef Arnaldo Castillo is opening his 1st restaurant in Poncey-Highland this summertime. Castillo is teaming up with veteran Atlanta restaurateur Howard Hsu (Sweet Auburn BBQ) to open a 130-seat Peruvian cafe referred to as Tio Lucho’s on North Highland Avenue in June.
Found in the previous CO sushi space, the restaurant bears the affectionate nickname (“Uncle Luis”) Castillo’s father acquired from the Atlanta Peruvian neighborhood functioning in numerous Peruvian dining places throughout the city. “I wanted to pull from that memory and honor him in that way,” Castillo claims.
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Castillo’s father, who has given that moved back to Piura, Peru, was regarded for his ceviche in Atlanta, something the new cafe will feature on its coastal Peruvian menu. Castillo options to pull from loved ones recollections and experiences in Piura and Lima to set up the seafood-large menu at Tio Lucho’s, which blends Peruvian techniques and recipes with Southern ingredients. Glimpse for dishes like tiradito (very similar to sashimi), lomo saltado (sirloin steak stir fry), and a few favorites from pop-up La Chingana on the menu, which is developed for sharing.
Castillo is joined in the kitchen area by chef Manuel Lara, earlier the sous chef at Serpas Real Food items. His fiance, Julie Hinson, who currently crafts the desserts for the pop-up, will acquire the first dessert menu for Tio Lucho’s, pulling from the most well-known sweets served at La Chingana.
Count on cocktails encouraged by Peruvian flavors and standard beverages as effectively as Spanish and Latin American wines by the glass and bottle. Beverage advisor Sonny Howell is performing to develop the beverages menu for Tio Lucho’s with bartender Dillon Slay, who worked at the rear of the bar at Kimball Property and now runs cocktail pop-up the Hourglass.
Castillo claims La Chingana helped the chef make the basis for Tio Lucho’s, providing him the area to experiment with dishes and even more check out Peruvian delicacies, lifestyle, and the country’s record. Now he would like his to start with cafe to be a neighborhood spot in an place of Atlanta that also holds sentimental worth for him.
“It’s a full-circle second for me,” Castillo says. “I initially began doing the job for Hector Santiago at Pura Vida how at any time lots of several years ago, and it was my very first encounter into wonderful eating and farm-to-table delicacies. The fact that I get to open up a restaurant proper throughout the avenue is pretty great.”
Hsu, who co-owns Sweet Auburn BBQ across the road with his sister Anita, suggests Poncey-Highland is a growing neighborhood with a supportive neighborhood, making it an appealing place to open a cafe. He and Castillo linked at a pop-up collaboration amongst La Chingana and Sweet Auburn BBQ last drop, exploring the connection between Chinese and Peruvian meals.
“I was just like, ‘man, this guy — he’s got anything special’,” Hsu says. “I felt like I clicked with him, so which is constantly crucial to me.”
The two ultimately began discussing Castillo’s cafe aims. The chef now experienced the enterprise prepare prepared as well as the identify and branding in place.
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“We each come from immigrant households and backgrounds, and I believe we value the American aspiration,” suggests Castillo. They also share comparable views on foodstuff. Both equally really feel it is vital to depict their cuisines, traditions, and cultures “the appropriate way,” Castillo provides.
Like the foods menu, the design and style for Tio Lucho’s will mirror the mix of Peruvian and Atlanta cultures located at the cafe, crammed with lush plants and vivid colors during the area to evoke a coastal sense.
Some of the style and design elements from the prior sushi cafe will stay, which include the bar and patio. Castillo and Hsu tapped Peruvian artist Franco Bejarano to develop a mural in close proximity to the bar incorporating the vibrant Peruvian font acknowledged as “chicha” that reads, “En Atlanta, se comer rico” or “In Atlanta, you take in good.” Graphic designer Dio Jensen, who is also Peruvian, is designing the symbol for Tio Lucho’s, and nearby artwork will adorn the partitions as a nod to the restaurant’s roots in Georgia.
To start off, Tio Lucho’s will provide dinner, Wednesday by Saturday, with designs to sooner or later incorporate Sunday brunch and lunch. Castillo and Hsu are kicking off a sequence of pop-ups shortly to introduce Tio Lucho’s to the local community before it opens.
Time is by now flying by for Castillo, who marries Hinson in Might, adopted by the opening of Tio Lucho’s in June. The truth of opening his very own cafe hasn’t entirely sunk in however, Castillo states, and in all probability won’t until he’s in the kitchen area at Tio Lucho’s.
“Until I’m breaking down my to start with snapper to make ceviche in this article, then it is game time.”
675 North Highland Avenue, Atlanta. @tioluchos.