His mother’s love for cooking is the springboard to his own culinary success
The Peruvian city of Chiclayo, lovingly known as La Ciudad de la Amistad, which translates to the ‘City of Friendship’, yields a certain down-to-earth charm with its narrow, cobbled streets where hawkers sell all manner of wares.
The Pimentel district of the city is one of its main attractions with Playa Pimentel, a famed beach where sunseekers mingle with local fisherman unloading their daily catch. Here, booths line the sea front, in which the occupants are rustling up authentic Chiclayo street food served beachside.
One such dish is ceviche, a concoction of fresh fish marinated in lime juice and mixed with chilli, coriander, onion which is well known as Leche de Tigre; a wonderfully light meal perfect for those lazy, hot summer days.
In one of the booths, Pricila is working on a secret ceviche recipe that has been handed down to her through the generations. Business is brisk. Her school-aged son, Eber Villalobos, is playing his part.
He’s a great kitchen assistant helping his mum yet simultaneously, he’s also learning the secrets and techniques of creating authentic ceviche, among other local bites; the tools of the trade, if you like, which are to stand him in good stead in a future yet to be told.
Fast forward to now and Eber sits on the opposite side of a table in a bijou restaurant. At 36 years old, he’s still plying his culinary trade by the water’s edge, but now he’s in charge as a prominent chef at a hotel of high repute, the Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers.
“My mum is so proud of me,” he says. “My name is even on the door.”
Pachamama by Eber Villalobos is an exclusive pop-up restaurant paying homage to Mother Earth through an array of original Peruvian dishes, not least, ceviche. The original end date of 9 March is likely to be extended such is the popularity of the pop-up that is serving Peru on a plate, in every delicious sense.
The quietly spoken Eber possesses the same charm and down-to-earth manner of his home city of Chiclayo.
“I really enjoyed cooking a lot while working with my mum,” he says when asked what inspired him to enter the world of hospitality. “It’s where I learned all the techniques, the correct order of each ingredient that would produce the best ceviche.”
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Armed with the necessary culinary tools, Eber eventually set his sights on Peru’s capital, Lima, where his uncle was a chef.
“I also wanted to become a chef, so I left for Lima where I started working in a well-known restaurant.”
It was here he met one of his mentors James Berckemeyer, the owner of the renowned restaurant Al Grano in which Eber was working. Today, James is behind COSME Restaurant in Lima, where his casual cuisine known as “comfort food” has made his restaurant one of the most popular in the city.
“I started in standalone restaurants before moving into the hotel industry to expand my knowledge of different cuisines,” says Eber. “I then had the opportunity to be part of a team in Chile, working on Peruvian Nikkei cuisine, a type of fusion cuisine that combines Japanese and Peruvian elements. It was an opportunity that supported my growth.”
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Eber’s next culinary step took him to Urugay, his final destination prior to heading to the UAE in 2011, landing in Dubai.
“I was part of the opening team for ToroToro by Chef Richard Sandoval and eventually moved to Abu Dhabi when the brand expanded to Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers.”
Today, running Pachamama, Eber can be found exploring products and concocting new recipes for the menu, always with sustainability in mind.
“We try to use locally sourced food products as much as possible,” he says. “Even on site here at the hotel, we have a hydroponic farm so we can pick fresh lettuces and all manner of herbs that we can use immediately in the kitchen.”
Creating new dishes is a passion for Eber. “Even when I am in bed and I wake up in the morning, I am, like, we need to make that dish, how can we make it? At the centre of a new dish, or any dish in fact, is flavour and presentation. I will push myself and the team to create perfection, each and every time, with my mother, Pricila, in mind!”
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