66 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {food coloring} If Arturo Bazan, executive chef and co-owner of Callao in Los Altos, had his way, Bay Area foodies would learn to embrace the cuisine of his native Peru the way they do Mexican food. “Everyone knows tacos. But if you want to know more about ceviche, I want to give people that knowledge,” he says proudly. “It’s part of me. It’s part of my culture.” A native of Peru’s capital city Lima, Arturo has been cooking since he was 10 years old. With both of his parents working long hours in law enforcement, his mother decided to arm her child with some basic cooking skills so he could take care of himself. As he got older, he relished the responsibility of cooking for the family. “I have an amazing Mom and Dad but they didn’t always have time to cook,” Arturo recalls. ”It made me feel important because I started preparing food for my parents. Then I wanted to try preparing more interesting foods and experiment.” That curiosity in the kitchen guided Arturo toward a culinary career, which led to working in some of Lima’s finest restaurants alongside award-winning chefs. But strangely enough, he didn’t feel fulfilled. “In Latin America, people work because they’re passionate about what they do,” he explains. “But I got tired of the routine. I wanted more. I wanted to make homemade, authentic, real Peruvian food here in America. The food of my culture, like my Mom used to make.” So when his friend Juan Carlos Sosoya invited Arturo to join him in opening Jora, a food stand in the San Pedro
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTcxMjMwNg==