In April, Grub Street learned that Mo-Chica master Ricardo Zarate was planning to open Moche, a new Peruvian restaurant in a renovated hotel space in Downtown. Clearly the concept had some organizational hurdles before becoming a reality and now Zarate confirms to Squid Ink, “Moche will be like Nobu Peruvian, something like that. We’re working on that, but it’s a little bit stuck. Unfortunately I can’t say much about that. I think it’s going to happen, but it’s going to take awhile. Maybe another six months, hopefully less.” In the meantime, Zarate is no longer doing double-duty, having left Wabi-Sabi in Venice about a month ago to put mo’ focus on Mo-Chica. He’s currently busy creating an anticucho skewers bar somewhere around Pico and Beverly, while also trying to bring the Mo-Chica model into Whole Foods. Anticucho should be open with a robata-style open kitchen and liquor license sometime around September if all goes to plan.
Q & A With Mo-Chica’s Ricardo Zarate: Moche, Ditching the Venice Commute + A New Anticucho Bar [Squid Ink]
