LOWER EAST SIDE — A former skate shop owner and home cook has opened what he claims is the first Uruguayan restaurant in Manhattan, serving up traditional food like a ham and filet mignon sandwich.
Gonzalo Bava, 43, opened Charrúa on Essex Street in December, after working as a waiter and manager at various Manhattan restaurants like Max in the East Village and Novecento in SoHo for the past 14 years, he said. Before that, he ran a skate and surfing shop in Uruguay for seven years, he said.
Bava said the restaurant — named after the country's indigenous people — serves traditional Uruguayan fare, similar to the homemade meals his mother and grandmother cooked when he was a child, he said.
“It’s simple food,” Bava said, describing Uruguayan cuisine. “Basically, it’s based on the freshness of the ingredients.”
The country’s food also has European influences, from the Spanish conquistadors who colonized the country and the Italian immigrants who settled there, he said.
The menu includes dishes like its signature sandwich: the “El Canadiense” chivito, made with filet mignon, melted mozzarella cheese, ham, sautéed onions, red peppers, lettuce, tomato, green olives and a hard-boiled egg with mayo on a brioche bun.
Other dishes, Bava said, include three types of empanadas — beef, tuna and corn — as well as a pork and beef chorizo, a “very rich and buttery and sweet” grilled sausage that is served with a red criolla sauce made with red onions, red peppers, tomatoes, corn and olive oils and vinegar.
Bava, who has lived in Alphabet City since he moved to the United States in 2001, decided to open the restaurant as a way to pursue his passion for cooking. Although he has no formal training, he said, he learned to cook by watching TV shows, trying out recipes and watching his mother and grandmother prepare meals.
He also realized that there were only a few Uruguayan restaurants in the city but none in Manhattan, he said.
“I know it’s not an easy task but I think we are capable and we’re going to do good, hopefully,” he said.
Charrúa, located at 131 Essex St., is open from Sunday through Thursday from noon to 11 p.m., except on Monday. It is also open on Friday and Saturday from noon to midnight.
