Street: At Penn there has been a lot of buzz about Distrito. Did the proximity to the surrounding college campuses have any impact on the style of your newest restaurant?
Jose Garces: Distrito was always going to be the way it is — the concept was not necessarily tailored for the university. It was always going to have a fun, energetic concept. The Proxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0
cation actually happened through a friend of mine, who is the landlord of the Hub.
Street: We heard a rumor that there was going to be a taco window outside of Distrito — is this still a possibility?
JG: Actually, that area is where the karaoke room is now. It’s a private room that you can reserve specifically for parties of 10-16 people.
Street: How many nights of the week are you actually in the kitchen at Distrito?
JG: I was there every night initially and now as much as I can. I alternate between the Philadelphia restaurants and try to go to Chicago at least once a month to visit Mercat a la Planxa, my restaurant there.
Street: While you were a chef at Alma de Cuba and El Vez, you said that you would someday like to “build an empire.” Now that you have four widely acclaimed restaurants, how would you differentiate your business model from Steven Starr’s?
JG: Consider us more of a boutique restaurant company. We’re more family oriented, not as corporate structured. We pay more attention to detail. A little more intimate, I guess.
Street: If you could have one dish from each of your three Philadelphia restaurants to form a complete meal, which dishes would you choose?
JG: I would start with the Ceviche Veracruz from Distrito [red snapper with olives, capers and tomato], then for mid course I would have the Moules Basquaise from Tinto [mussels and chorizo in a basquaise sauce with lemon aioli and frites] and finish with the Chuleta from Amada [dry-aged prime ribeye with carmelized onions and herb-roasted fingerling potatoes].
Street: Your first cookbook, Latin Evolution, was released this fall. How did you differentiate yours from other celebrity chef cookbooks?
JG: It’s a book that is involved with different genres of cuisine: Spanish, Latin and Mexican. Also, the recipes are in small plate format which makes it different. It is geared toward the ambitious home cook or the young professional.
Street: You recently beat Iron Chef Bobby Flay in a face-off on the Food Network. How did it feel to win against such a highly regarded chef?
JG: It felt great — gratifying competing and doing well. Winning over Bobby Flay wasn’t as special as just winning in general — could have been anyone out there [Also exciting, Distrito was just lauded as one of the best new restaurants of the year in Esquire magazine].
Street: So what can we expect from your latest endeavor, Chifa [a Peruvian Chinese restaurant which will be opening at 707 Chestnut]?
JG: There will be dim sum and Latin specialties like empanadas and arepas. Also a noodle section and a rice section, everything fused together. We will make it really unique and exciting. I would say it’s going to be pretty sexy.
Street: Now that you have your own mini-empire in Philadelphia, have you considered expanding to New York City?
JG: Down the road at some point. Right now we are getting everything up and going, taking some time to manage it all.
Street: Do you have any other new concept ideas we should look out for?
JG: Yeah, one is a whisky bar. It will only serve two food items: a burger and veggie burger, and duck fat French fries. The other is an American charcuterie.
