ANDINA: A PERUVIAN TALE
Many of us hard heard of Andina, the Peruvian restaurant nestled in the heart of the NW. Celebrating 10 years of being in The Pearl, the eatery has a lot to brag about. Surviving in this foodie town for 10 years is deserves some sort of Olympic gold metal. If we could award said metal, we would proudly place around the neck of Doris Rodriguez de Platt or Mama Doris as she introduces herself. We had the pleasure of enjoying lunch with her and hearing many stories from her former life in Northern Peru. We learned she met her American husband while he was studying in South America, raised a family in Peru and moved to Oregon without much experience of being outside of South America. Years later, missing her home a great deal, her youngest son suggested opening a restaurant to share Peruvian dishes and her childhood with the Portland community. Read on and next time you need a taste of Peru, a cocktail menu with ingredient you have never heard of or a space that put you in instant vacay mode - you know where to go.
E+E: What is the most rewarding part of owning Andina for 10 years?Mama Doris: The satisfaction that my family and I have, knowing that people appreciate and like our food and feeling that our clients are learning to appreciate Peru’s culture and cuisine. The mission of Andina (to be an ambassador of Peru) is being accomplished. In our larger mission, we believe that our food is a bridge between two cultures and makes people of both cultures feel closer to each other and appreciated. Maybe we are even erasing stereotypes that people have for Americans and Latinos and breaking barriers of misunderstanding from both sides.
E+E: How has The Pearl changed over the past 10 years?MD: The Pearl has become a “foodie” place where people of Portland come to enjoy a great diversity and variety of cuisines with excellent food. Many restaurants are portraying different cuisines of the world besides the local and regional. Different restaurants opened doors and found acceptance and appreciation, as it happened with Andina. Besides restaurants, there are fine stores and markets with organic food. All of these facilities are attracting more people to live in the area. They love to live in a neighborhood where they can find anything by walking or strolling the streets, without the need to drive.
E+E: Andina feels like a big family all working together to deliver beautiful food. How did you create such a big, bustling familyMD: My family has two cultures: the American, because of my husband, and the Peruvian, because of me. Our son, the product of those cultures, opened Andina doors with a mission that goes beyond food. We wanted to honor those two cultures creating a bridge with old Peruvian techniques and unique Andean ingredients; but complemented with fresh products from the Northwest. We wanted Andina to reflect also the characteristics of the Latin people that have a strong sense of family ties, true friendship and community. Our staff is diverse and we are proud to enhance and strengthen respect and friendship among them. We want as we do with our food: to erase barriers and stereotypes created by not knowing the real value of each human being.
We have an exceptional manager who understands the value of cultures and knows our mission. He knows how to hire people that are good in nature and able to live and represent the values of Andina.
E+E: Do you have any new favorite dishes? Cocktails?MD: Every two weeks we present a special main dish and dessert. They are always delicious and my favorites during those two weeks. We develop each of them carefully to become representative of our Peruvian gastronomy. I work closely with our chef and our pastry chef to assure the specials are high quality and genuine. All of our food and drinks come with stories that make them more meaningful.
E+E: We know it’s hard to pick, but can you share your favorite memory of Andina?MD: I can pick a bunch of memories that I collected visiting tables, especially when I visit table 25: “the table with good omen”. I’ve seen couples that come for the first time as dates to dine on table 25, then I’ve seen them coming several times, showing every time more affection to each other, until I witnessed among of them some proposals and engagements. The majority of these happenings take place on table 25. Some couples celebrate their marriage in Tupai, our event’s room. Don’t you think that they are real sweet memories, and a privilege for Andina?
My other memories are collected from our staff. We have in our records 5 marriages among people of our staff, who met for the first time in our place and developed their relationship working at Andina. Recently, Eric and Brigitte, members of our staff who met at Andina, had a baby girl whose name is Elena. Elena became the first child that’s part of the Andina extended family.
Andina1314 NW Glisan StPortland, OR 97209