Liliana Helueni She is the figure and owner at the head of the restaurant that bears her name with her daughter Mariel. His family history, and a career of years, leads to an entrepreneurship that already occupies more than 20 years in the culinary scene of Monserrat. His Sepharadí Arabic cuisine proposal is a reference within a neighborhood further from the fashionable Foodies poles. Far from being an obstacle, their diners return again and again to be treated by Liliana and his team, in a simple but very homely atmosphere, where his typical creations shines, between entries, plates to the pot and even Arab desserts. Each creation is elaborated with first -line raw material and artisanal stamp: an invitation to discover real flavors and a gastronomy that surprises with its variety and quality.
Journalist: What value does family history and tradition have in your link with the kitchen and your restaurant?
Liliana Helueni: History and tradition in our kitchen is all for two reasons. One, because it is the profession of our ancestors. My great -grandfather worked that, my grandfather worked on this, my mother worked on this, I work on this. It is natural and what we know. In fact, I have many cousins that studied other things. We always end in gastronomy because it is like our known place. In fact, we talked a lot with a client, Javier Sinay, who is a journalist. The profession of our ancestors marks us: consciously or unconsciously we end up in that world. And on the other hand, the tradition is crossed in ours food because we basically cook what our grandmother cooked, what we ate in our homes. It is closely related.
Q: After opening its doors in 2001, what are the learning acquired in more than 20 years?
LH: To us since 2001 the business changed us a lot. I would tell you that we learn that change is permanent. Not to stay where we are, to always be open to change. What we do today, out there in a year will stop being. We learned to generate our imprint of work and maintain our own identity. An anecdote, when between 2006 and 2008 there were not too many sales, I suggested my mother to sell cupcakes, and refused totally: “My fort is Arab food, if someone wants to eat cupcakes that goes to a place of cupcakes.” That helped us a lot to maintain our essence.
Q: And the challenges in this current economic context? How do they go through it from its item?
LH: The challenges in this context are, first, to control the expenses. The gastronomic item has a lot of spending loss: we have very good employees who take great care of the product. And on the other hand, be very attentive to the client, respond at the time the consultations, if there is any problem, solve it at the time. If for example, he lacked something or did not like it, be very empathic with them, take care of them. Those two things help us to cross, let’s say what is known as the crisis of the item.
Q: What do you highlight the most of your proposal? And the most ordered dishes?
LH: It is a homemade proposal, with very good flavor, focus on the product and niche. We are always looking to improve suppliers, and raw materials. Our product is very manual and wake up memories. In fact, many clients are excited, because they tell us that our dishes evoke the meals of their childhood. In addition, we receive diners from the Arab and Muslim community, who know they are foods that are no longer getting city here. The best sellers is the open lahmayin, the kibbe, the Zembuzak, and after the pot dishes, the children wrapped in the grip leaf, the stuffed onions, the Persian chicken.
Liliana Helueni 5
Q: Is there a secret or key to your kitchen to stay in force?
LH: The secret is to have an identity and not fashionable, let’s say. Do not negotiate it because it is its own, ours. Yes you have to be very attentive when there is something to change. In the history of Liliana Helueni, the experience, quantity of years and knowledge that one acquires, is a key tool to be able to make good decisions. And something personal is listening to intuition. There one thinks that it is only feeling, but in reality it is reached from experience and information that one collects. So, generally I try to listen to what I feel, what I think is endorsed for 25 years of experience.
Q: In relation to this issue, what do you think of trends or fashions in gastronomy?
LH: Let’s see, fashions are good. It is necessary to know how to use them to make it an impulse and not to be the main thing about my business. For example, the pistachio managed, for example, 9,000 pesos per kilo. And now the same supplier asked me for 50,000. I did not buy directly. I use only what I have in stock and then I will see. If I incorporated, for example, some dates that I made stuffed, I incorporated with a pistachio paste that I am doing, with each kadaif that I am doing. But it is another product of the 50 I do. It is not my star product.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
