Pal Pueblo

The restaurant without menu of Alfredo Morales

Alfredo works his magic in an old vineyard with a large garden, well laid out tables and a large house with a gallery in a hallway.

He was born in Cabrería, a small town in the loneliest part of the Jujuy puna. During our lunch conversation, in response to our avid questions, Alfredo recalled that in his small town primary school was taught in a single classroom, so the blackboard was shared by three different grades at the same time. This made him realize that it was more useful to pay attention to the teacher's instructions to his older classmates. Thus, he was gaining time and when he was just a teenager he packed his bags and went to live alone in the capital of the province. In Jujuy he trained as an electrician and, to earn extra money, he began to deliver groceries door to door. In this incipient relationship with the kitchen, he recalls, a catamarqueña employee was fundamental, who opened him to the first techniques of regional and Arabic gastronomy. Once he became a professional chef, the fires took him to Tucumán and Mendoza. As fate would have it, in San Juan he met the mother of his children, a native of Jujuy like him. He has excelled there for two decades.

He is talkative, energetic, tireless, passionate, Alfredo says that his intention is to create a cuisine that generates an impact around him. To begin with, his choice (since there is no menu) is decided on the day, based on the seasonal foods he finds in the nearby markets plus what his trusted suppliers offer. Then it is not until mid-morning that he defines the menu, forcing him and his team to play with creativity to masterfully cook the dishes. 

His particular work philosophy involves him with people who do not come from the gastronomic world. Thus his maître is Mauro, a metallurgist; the waiter Nahuel, a specialist in web development; the "Parri", Luis, is in charge of the municipal grill but at Pal Pueblo he is the chef who assists Alfredo. But a clarification: he prefers to be called just a cook. 

For each new project he is called upon, he sets complementary conditions that exceed his own personal benefit, such as the realization of regional fairs, the training of small producers or the teaching of workshops in local schools. 

Thus, this cook with roots from inland marveled us in this memorable five-step lunch. To crown it all, Alfredo did not hesitate to sit at our table and join us in the delight, making us discover an olive oil, El Mistol; a signature chardonnay, Elefante Blanco; and a new young criolla reserve called El Cansao, which we took as a gift to taste at sunset before visiting the Talampaya Park.  

To recapitulate, that sunny midday at Pal Pueblo, in the beautiful Santa Lucía, our menu developed as follows: 

By the way, he recently opened another new project in the very center of Santa Lucía, Mesa Uno, which we regret not being able to visit and which we have left pending for another visit to San Juan. At the same time he manages a catering company, in charge of supplying schools during the week and social events on Saturdays and Sundays. Community manager? He says that no one is able to interpret it so he takes care of the photographs for social networks. And he even takes reservations on his personal whatsapp.

Alfredo's spirit is like a vital whirlwind. It manifests itself in his sociable personality, in his complete openness with close friends or strangers, in the affection and devotion that his employees show him, but also in his dream of returning to Cabrería after thirty years of wanderings or in that daily moment when, however, he comes religiously to sleep a little while with his children, before school. 

Alfredo, since that Sunday, beyond the perfect manufacture of his unique and delicious dishes, became one of those people that @tripticity_ thanks to life for having put it in his path. 

Pal Pueblo, our first destination in San Juan, in addition to a first-class culinary experience, also left us a new friend, whom we can't wait to see again.