A chef’s job can be taxing. Apart from the heavy kitchen duty, they have to explain every dish as it is served to the table. Chef Chele Gonzalez has had enough. He would rather a comic strip tell his diners what his new dish a Gallery by Chele is.
The comic strip, made by Dex Fernandez who’s behind the multi-legged figures “infesting” the streets and the art world, tells of the story of Pugita (one of Garapata’s many friends). Pugita is an octopus who wants to be a chicken (apparently sea parents tell their children they can be anything they want to be, too) and ended up being one—an inasal, at least. So close enough.
This is all thanks to Gonzalez and chef Carlos Villaflor who made Pugita’s dream come true by boiling the octopus Spanish-style and then grilling and glazing it the inasal way to taste and feel almost like chicken.
“Chef wanted to tell the story above in the form of a comic rather than explaining the dish verbally as you are served, so I introduced Dex and his character style which I felt fit perfectly with what they needed,” Carmina Sanchez-Jacob, a consultant working with Gallery, tells us.
This ultimately led to Fernandez creating a placemat and graphic art piece that is served with each “Fired! Pulpo” dish. Talk about a collectible!
The new menu in collaboration with Garapata launches May.
Photo courtesy of Gallery by Chele and Garapata
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Writer: CHRISTIAN SAN JOSE
