Coming to the Taste: Ricardo Zarate

How many of Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs were working out of a food court? Yet that’s just what Ricardo Zarate accomplished at his first hit restaurant, Mo-Chica, which was located in Mercado la Paloma near the USC campus.

Since then, of course, he’s gone on to posher places. Zarate and business partner Stephane Bombet opened Picca at the south end of Beverly Hills in 2011, which was instantly honored as one of the best new restaurants in the United States. This year he re-opened Mo-Chica in a nicer space downtown. And he and Bombet are already making plans on what to do with the old mercado stand.

Raised in Lima, Peru, Zarate is one of 13 children and started cooking at a young age. After graduating from the Institute of the Americas cooking school, he moved to London for 12 years. He came to Los Angeles in 2003 to take over Sai Sai at the Millenium Biltmore, then moved back to London to work for the renowned Gordon Ramsay. In 2009, he returned to Los Angeles to open Mo-Chica.

Zarate will be doing a cooking demonstration at the Flavors of L.A. session Sept. 1. Tickets are $65 and are available on the website.