Tio Mario
July 2, 2007
It has been 20 years since a cart selling anticuchos appeared on the streets of the district of Barranco. Every afternoon Mario Farfán and his wife would sell their anticuchos to passers-by eventually saving enough money to open what is today one of the best anticucherías in Barranco. Mario’s cart has been exchanged for a large restaurant in a prime location overlooking the Bridge of the Sighs which he was able to buy for $160,000 US.
The story of Mario Farfán is not unusual and shows that as many opportunities exist for Peruvians as for anyone else in any other country. “What we have today is the fruit of my labour of 20 years. I worked in construction, but the income was too low to maintain my children of 4 and 5 years”, Mario told El Comercio. So to help the family his wife Teófila began selling sweets from a cart in Barranco. “When we saw that anticucho sellers earned more we decided to switch. That was in 1986.”
Life was hard. Teófila would spend the day making anticuchos on the street and Mario at a construction site. When he finished work, Mario would head straight to his wife to help out. Their two children spent the day under the cart with their mother. Mario eventually left his construction job and the couple put all their effort into the anticucho business.
The couple spent years working the cart and saving what they could, then in 1996 the local authorities decided to remove street trade from the district. The cart was taken away and the couple were forced to decide what to do next. “I had some capital to invest, about $6,000, so we decided we would rent a locale. But we stayed informal (not registering their business with the tax authorities) until 2000, when the mayor said to me, ‘Tio Mario, you have to put your documents in order’. It was then I registered the business.”
They spent a few years in one locale, then some more in another and their business increased and increased. They found they had managed to save as much as $50,000. Seeing their income and predicting future success, they received a large loan from the bank and were able to buy their current property. “We have 10 times the business we had before. We sell about 20,000 palitos each month. On a good day we have S./10,000 ($3500) in sales.”
Tio Mario serves excellent anticuchos and provides good service. Just make sure you don’t ask to thank, meet or even talk to the man himself. “No, you can’t meet him”, his son grunted, with father looking on in the back of the room with a menacing face as his son pointed us towards the door.
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Hahaha! I was not expecting the ending of your story…
(But you made me salivate thinking about anticuchos…)
Smile
I wasn’t expecting such treatment at the end of a nice meal. It came as much of a surprise as the ending of the story. Bad Public Relations but excellent food – probably won’t return though.
I don’t know where you’re from but wherever it is would you expect that a chef would drop everything just to say hullo to you? You sound like a spoiled little boy to me. And I very mch doubt that anyone was “menacing” nor that you were “pointed” to the door. Peruvians are much more gracious than that even when they are letting you know that the chef is busy and can’t chat.
Ha, what nonsense! The old man was sitting behind the bar watching TV. I only asked to take a photo of the kitchen to put on my blog. The son said no. I then asked if I could say hi to his father. The son went to ask, the old man shock his head mumbled something angrily, then we were asked by his son to leave.
Don’t waste my time calling me a liar Claire and I won’t waste mine calling you an idiot.
agradecemos sus comentarios y criticas, esperamos mejorar en el futuro. gracias por visitar el local. muchas gracias apolize about service,soon will better . thanks
la comido una porqueria y la atencion peor
I was please with the food and the services I love they cook the food and the people work in the resturan it was very nice and freinly.Please dont change anything.
Yo me que de encantada con la comida y el servicio no me puedo quejar Las personas que trabajan en el restaurante muy amables y generosas, muchas gracias por su servicios y trabajo por favor no cambie nada en absolucto, los chicharones, salchichas, y el pollo asado era esquisito
A bit late to the ball, but for future readers of the article, it is customary for a Peruvian Chef/Owner to greet their diners. I’ve been to a number of popular restaurants in Lima and in most cases the chefs (yes, even the ones you see on Peruvian television) will try to greet you and get your feedback on the meal. Public relations are a reflection of one’s manners and business sense.
The restaurant business is very competitive in Lima and there is no shortage of good restaurants to go to. I think there is also a higher set of expectations and standards for restaurants, like this one, which are located in tourist areas. No matter how good the food is, nobody wants to go back to a place where they are not welcome.
I agree with Rachel. I have many times send my compliments to the chef with the waiters, and in many occasions the chefs have come out to thank me. Of course, after such courtesy from the chef, I want to come back and bring my friends to the restaurant.
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