Cover Tamara Chavez is the chef and co-owner of Canchita Peruvian Cuisine and Tinto
Tamara Chavez is the chef and co-owner of Canchita Peruvian Cuisine and Tinto
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Tamara Chavez’s journey to being a chef and co-owner of two restaurants in Singapore wasn’t an easy one, as she tells Tatler in this exclusive interview which charts her culinary career from Mexico to the Lion City
If you have visited Canchita Peruvian Cuisine and had the pleasure of seeing 34-year-old Mexican chef-owner Tamara Chavez helm the kitchen, seamlessly creating one delicious dish after another with her team, the idea that she was born to be a chef might immediately come to mind. However, she tells Tatler over a cup of coffee before dinner service that this wasn’t always the case. While she started hustling in the F&B industry at the age of nine to “earn some money”, one of her early supervisors from Burger King (where she worked part-time as a cook and runner at the age of 15) told her early on in her career that “this industry isn’t for you … go home and don’t come back.”
This comment, she shares, came after she fainted during a hard day’s work of preparing burgers and cooking fries, as well as doing errands for the kitchen team, in the fast food joint full of hungry customers.
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Despite that unfortunate incident, it made Tamara yearn for the high-energy and frenetic environment of the kitchen, telling herself that “this is what I want to do [in my life].” So, instead of attending a traditional university, she enrolled herself in a cooking school in Mexico City and kickstarted a formal career in the restaurant industry which she has been a part of for more than a decade.
The path to get to where she is now—chef and co-owner of Canchita Peruvian Cuisine and Spanish restaurant Tinto, which she opened with husband Daniel Chavez—wasn’t an easy one, she recalls. “A lot of kitchen staff in Mexico have worked in America before, but were deported because they entered the country illegally,” she explains. Most of them, she elaborates, are often older and are hungry for work and “they don’t often have the passion nor patience to mentor [the younger generation], leading to bad experiences.”
Above Business and life partners Daniel and Tamara Chavez
Business and life partners Daniel and Tamara Chavez
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She has had a glass blender explode in her face because no one in the restaurant taught her how to use it to blend hot liquids properly, and at her last job in Mexico, she got into a major accident when she was put in charge of making baguettes, pão de queijo (cheese bread), cakes and desserts in a Brazilian restaurant.
“There was a gas oven and I didn’t know it wasn’t turned off so gas had built up inside the oven overnight. When I lit it, it exploded and sent me flying like a scene from a movie … I had burns on my face, and my hands and body were badly injured.” But the worst part for Tamara wasn’t the injuries, it was not getting proper compensation for what happened at work. “My boss claimed not to know me and refused to assist with the expenses, even though I worked there. The owner said he couldn't do anything for me. That's when I realised the harsh reality of working in restaurants in Mexico. As a chef, you don’t have any security or protection. You are just a temporary worker with no rights or support.”
In case you missed it: Daniel and Tamara Chávez to open Spanish restaurant Tinto on May 9
Above Camarones a la diabla, served for brunch at Canchita Peruvian Cuisine
Above Ceviche Verde at Canchita Peruvian Cuisine
Camarones a la diabla, served for brunch at Canchita Peruvian Cuisine
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In Search of Greener Pastures
When the opportunity to work in Singapore came as the chef de partie of Mexican taqueria El Mero Mero in 2014, she grabbed it even though she didn’t speak English at that time. “During the first month, I cried a lot. By the second month, I stopped crying and started doing things and learning the language”. Eventually, she decided not to return to Mexico and further honed her culinary skills instead by training at the prestigious El Mercado in Peru. There, she trained alongside award-winning chef Rafael Osterling, whose eponymous restaurant was ranked No. 19 in Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2022, before joining former mentor and now-husband Daniel as the head chef of now-defunct Ola Cocina del Mar in 2020.
While Ola Cocina del Mar closed in 2021, Tamara and Daniel opened Canchita Peruvian Cuisine to much acclaim, which celebrates their Latin American roots with creations like ceviche, tiraditos and tacos. They expanded their portfolio in 2023 with the addition of Tinto, offering authentic paellas, fideuà, tapas and Spanish wines. Both restaurants are located in Dempsey Hill so they can easily oversee their two concepts.
Above Spanish cuisine is spotlighted at Tinto, Tamara and Daniel’s second restaurant in Singapore
Spanish cuisine is spotlighted at Tinto, Tamara and Daniel’s second restaurant in Singapore
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Transitioning from business to life partners wasn’t easy, but Tamara tells us that they have settled into their respective roles within the company. “I am in charge of the kitchen and curating the menus and he oversees the business and operations.” Their mutual love for sharing their Latin American roots and heritage has inspired them to launch Latinada— Singapore’s first and only Latin American festival—in 2018. Initially, it was a small-scale event at Tono Cevicheria where Latin American chefs working across Asia came to Singapore to host culinary events. “Over time, the festival has grown, and we are immensely proud of Latinada not just as a business but as a testament to our belief and passion for Latin America and its cuisine,” shares Tamara.
While she has her hands full being the chef and co-owner of two restaurants on the island and an advocate for Latin American gastronomy, Tamara isn’t resting on her laurels as the couple have bigger plans for the future. She and Daniel are opening another restaurant in the CBD soon and are planning to bring their concepts overseas in the near future. But she does all these with a smile on her face and a spring in her step—after all, Tamara believes that if what you’re doing is your passion, it wouldn’t feel like a job at all.
