ASHEBORO — The Asheboro culinary community features many international flavors, including familiar cuisine such as Mexican, Italian, Chinese and Japanese food.
For the last two years, local residents and visitors alike have also enjoyed the more unique flavor of Peruvian food, available at Pachamama Peruvian Cuisine at 1222 N. Fayetteville St. in Asheboro.
Owner/manager Roberto Calderon says the restaurant was the realization of a dream — not just for he and wife Claribel, but also for their two children.
“I know it was my kids’ dream, and ours, putting this in a place like this around where we live,” Roberto said. “The flavor is almost unique, so we wanted to implement it, and we know there’s not much Peruvian (food) around here, mostly in Raleigh and Charlotte.”
While the restaurant opened in April 2017, the Calderons recently completed renovations. On Thursday, the Asheboro/Randolph Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting in honor of the occasion.
“It was a mini-market before, so we built the walls, rebuilt the kitchen, modified a couple of things and made sure everything was painted and doing good,” Roberto said.
The name Pachamama means “Mother Earth,” and much of the restaurant’s decor fits that theme, particularly since the renovation.
The restaurant’s menu — which is written in Spanish with English translations underneath — includes a variety of appetizers and entrees.
“The menu is mostly Peruvian food,” Roberto said. “There’s nothing (from) out of Peru. Mostly it’s beef, chicken, creamy stuff, cheesy stuff, seafood as well.”
While the menu is Peruvian food, it inherently includes elements from other parts of the world; a large part of Peru’s culture is the fusion of both native traditions and those of immigrants who have come to the country over time.
“In Peru we have Italian dishes and Japanese dishes, but it’s from Peruvian recipes,” Roberto said. “So that’s why it’s unique.”
While the usual American soft drinks are served, Pachamama also serves beverages from Peru: Jugo de Pina (pineapple juice), Inca Cola (a Peruvian soft drink) and Chicha Morada (juice based from a Peruvian form of corn known as purple corn).
Pachamama’s unique offerings attract customers from around the Piedmont Triad, with many visiting based on referrals from friends and family.
Roberto is originally from Peru, while Claribel is from Honduras. Their adult children, Tony and Delaney, who are both serving in the US Marines, have been influenced by both their parents’ backgrounds in addition to American culture. Amid this cultural fusion — the culinary one in particular — they encouraged Roberto and Claribel to open a restaurant.
“My kids said, that’s why you have to open a restaurant, because you love every food you make,” Claribel said.
Roberto and Claribel immigrated to the U.S. on the same day in 1995, met in English-speaking classes and have been together since. They’ve lived in California, Las Vegas and Miami, and moved in 2007 to Archdale, where they currently reside, to be close to Roberto’s brother.
“I’m very happy to be here,” Roberto said. “It’s a small town but a friendly (town). I’ve had so many people that have come here and given us a welcome.”
Opening Pachamama was not easy, but the Calderons worked together as a family to open their one-of-a-kind eatery.
“It was a lot of work, especially for a family business,” Roberto said. “We were working very hard to get in this place, to get this place open sooner and faster, in a shorter time and (costing) less money.”
Two years in, Pachamama still has many first-time guests, with many trying Peruvian food for the first time.
“The first time, they love it,” Roberto said. “We get very good reviews. They tell me it’s they’re first time coming or their first time trying the Peruvian food.”
Roberto says they are intentional about Pachamama being more than a restaurant, but a family destination — apropos as the Calderon family has, in many ways, reached their own destination as they live out their dream.
“I was scared, because I’d never had a restaurant,” Claribel said, “but when you have love you can do anything.”
