When One Dish is Enough
By: Alaina Boukedes
Photos: Elayne Smith
The door swings open and the string of bells jingle, alerting the employees. Everyone must be getting off of work because the jingle continues, letting group after group enter J Cruz. A small line starts to form outside the door and trickles down the alley that leads up to the restaurant. An orange tabby cat sits at the entrance and acts as the doorman, watching people come in and sit down at busy tables. The customers share their tables and greet each other like family, though this may be the first time they are meeting.
Opened in 1956, J Cruz is owned by the Saldivar family. The restaurant was started by the Saldivar’s great-grandfather and uncle, who wanted to share their love of family through food. It has since been passed down through the family, employing cousins, aunts, and uncles to help out. Their possessions hang on the walls, a reminder of who has been there before. The restaurant itself is unassuming, located down an alleyway in the city of Valparaiso, Chile. If you aren’t looking for it you will definitely miss it, so ask a local to lead you in the right direction.
There used to be a menu, but after constantly being asked for one thing, they narrowed it down to just chorrillana. One would think that a restaurant couldn’t survive on one dish, but when you are the best at what you do, it makes for a lasting family legacy. Chorrillana is a traditional Chilean meal consisting of fries, onions, eggs and beef strips piled high on a dish. The Saldivar’s chorrillana uses fresh ingredients from the local market and is prepared within minutes from the kitchen in the back. On any given day, J Cruz’s customers enjoy hundreds of plates of chorrillana.
“It’s such a strange thing,” says Maya Saldivar.
Saldivar started to work here as a child with her brother and sister and continued to work at J Cruz for 20 years. Her entire family worked at the restaurant at one time or another, but over time, most of them left. No one asked her to leave, so she stayed and will soon inherit the business.
“It’s the people”, says Saldivar when asked what her favorite part of work is.
When first walking into J Cruz, one can’t help but notice the walls, which are buried beneath photos. It has become tradition for customers to leave personal photos from their wallets and now the walls of J Cruz are covered with people’s loved ones. What wall space is left is bathed in antiques and Saldivar family heirlooms. Their grandmother’s vase collection sits in a floor to ceiling cabinet, a collection that has become quite special. There are toys hanging from the ceiling and souvenirs from trips around the world that circle the room. They also ask that customers sign their tablecloths, like a visitor book integrated into the restaurant.
"It's the people."
If customers are not feeling up for chorrillana just yet, they can order a terremoto, a traditional drink of Chile. This drink is quite strong and features Chilean wine topped with ice cream. Terremoto translates to earthquake and locals warn that only a couple of these are necessary before drinkers start to feel like they are in an earthquake. Considering Chile’s history with earthquakes, it's ironic that one of their national drinks would poke fun at the natural disasters, but the locals like to keep a sense of humor about them.
While sipping on a terremoto and waiting for a meal, diners are serenaded by Alejandro Cisternas, a local singer and guitar player who has been coming into J Cruz every day for 20 years. When he’s not singing local songs of Valparaiso, he is helping the wait staff by bringing out food and taking orders, sometimes with his guitar strapped to his back.
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Sharing a table gives customers the opportunity to get to know their neighbors, like the Armijo family. Gerardo, Katherine and 5-year-old Yasmin shared their first meal at J Cruz. A family native to Valparaiso for 30 years, they heard recommendations for J Cruz from television and magazines. They say that it is typical and tradition to eat like this, sharing tables and in one open room.
“We always go to places like this,” says Gerardo.
There is a strong sense of family in J Cruz, from the large shared tables to the reminders of the family's past on the walls. It feels like a living scrapbook to which people are encouraged to add pieces of their own stories. Tourists and locals alike are welcome because the family treats all patrons like one of their own. The music is loud and the chatter is louder. There are people arguing and laughing at the same time, and it feels like a holiday at anyone’s house at any location in the world. To share these experiences over food is what J Cruz is serving, and as a tourist, that is a comforting sight in an unfamiliar place.