Food Style

Rob’s pizza

Production desing: fff / photo & art: soto / food style: Roberto grau / Production desing: fff / photo & art: soto / food style: Roberto grau / Production desing: fff / photo & art: soto / food style: Roberto grau / Production desing: fff / photo & art: soto / food style: Roberto grau /

mise en place

Roberto Grau, a skilled cook, approached me while I greeted an old neighbor we both know in a coffeeshop at Miraflores . He mentioned he’d worked with the same team we were starting to work in Lima.

diageo & jonny walker

Grau invited me to a coffee, reminiscing about his time as executive chef. He shared an invitation to an event with natural wines at his pizzeria, a few days before I’d had my first orange wine so I couldn’t dismiss the offer. The invitation sounded intriguing, and I was in a crush with the orange liquid.

diageo & jonny walker

Grau started with a catering service, showcasing his Roman pizza, a generous recipe he learned from Boncci in Italy. He convinced me of the value of his pizza and demonstrated his skill in flavoring the dough.

mise en place

He presented various combinations, including blue cheese with quinces in syrup, fresh jalapeños with pepperoni, guanchale with straciatella, and more. These unique and daring combinations challenged the traditional purist and nostalgic versions he said.

We gathered in the kitchen of Chorrillos with his portable oven, photographing ingredients on solids backs of same colors to highlight the flavor combinations. It was tasty and fun.