As a child, I spent almost every summer in San Bartolo. From the age of 6, I was lucky enough to enjoy the fresh fish that this dear beach town has always offered thanks to its small fishing wharf and its fishermen, who would set out to sea from 6 in the morning. At noon, when they came back, many people would be waiting for them to see what kind of fish they had caught from our rich sea. It was always my mother, the person with whom I took my first steps in the kitchen, who would select the fish we would cook for lunch. What I remember the most is that they would bring home the palmeritas, as small Palm Ruffis known, and we would fry them and eat them whole. Then, when it was sea silverside’s season, we would always eat it battered with ketchup. We would also eat many other types of fish, as well assquid, abundant at that time.

As years went by, my passion for sea food grew. I decided to start fishing. However, instead of using the old nets, made of some green cord which fish noticed easily, I went for nylon nets, a true revolutionary method at the time. These nets had threads that were invisible underwater,and thismade it easier to catch fish. At age 16, we would already fish at the rocky area known as peñascal. We would go in the water with our surfboards and, tied to the leash of our boards, we would carry a big tire with the net. Paddling out, we would take the net to those places where the best fishwere, places the fishermen could not reach, for the wild sea made it too dangerous for them. Not for us, though. We would go in at 6 pm and collect the nets at 6 in the morning. That was our source of income and of work, since we would sell part of the fish and set aside the best fish to enjoy it as our first meal of the day. I would cook fish for my friends in a variety of ways. I would make cebiche, baked fish, steamed fish and fry it whole. The Peruvian grunt was the most popular dish at our table.

The second pier, “segundo muelle” in Spanish, in San Bartolo was our inspiration. My friends and I would hang out there. There we would surf and would set out to sea to castour nets. The best of it all, however, was that the pierinspired my restaurant’s name, which has now become a franchise that operates in Mexico and Panama. Such achievement makes me incredibly proud, and all those people who know me from that beach identify with my story.

Today, those experiences lived as a young man prove to be of great use. They refined my palate a great deal and taught me that freshness is the number one priority when it comes to sea food.

To end my story, I am pleased to say that my children are inheriting this cooking legacy. My eldest son, who is only 9 years old, is already taking his first steps. That fills me with satisfaction, for I never imagined he would be interested in cooking. He has already developed a refined palate, which is good,for he will have very high standards when he grows up.

A secret of mine is that I never went to cooking school, let alone imagine we were going to be where we are today. I am self-taught in the best sense of the word, but everything I have learned I owe it to the sea. It was my biggest source of inspiration, and I have to thank it for everything it has given me.

My work philosophy has always been, and will always be, to focus all my energies on that thing I have passion for, and do my best to develop it. I am convinced that, by doing so, everything else will fall into place.Luckily, opportunities have knocked at my door over these 14 years, and I have grabbed them. When someone does something with passion, nothing is impossible. This is the story of my life, and I hope things will never change.

Dani.

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Within a context where the human factor is so important, we feel proud to have chosen as our company values traits only people have: creativity, passion, perseverance and responsibility.

One of the principles upon which our team of professionals bases our performance is being aware of, and attentive to, both our own responsibilities and those of our co-workers’.

We are ready to satisfy our customers in the best way possible, both in terms of the service our highly trained staff provide, as in terms of the quality and speedy preparation of our food.

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