Ají y Sillao, the Peruvian neighborhood restaurant in Madrid that dazzles Silicon Valley customers

In the motley Madrid neighborhood of Quintana, a small place with just over two meters of façade, attracts attention for its simple decoration, but full of care. White doors and walls, light, tables impeccably dressed with checkered tablecloths and vases with plants. A place that despite its simplicity is cozy and from which affection emerges. The same one that Miguel Chong (Huaral, Peru, 62 years old) puts to each of his dishes and that his wife, Julie Denegri (Lima, 56 years old) serves with immense kindness. A combination that has turned Ají and Sillao into a destination for customers of all kinds, by word of mouth and by a Google rating that almost borders on perfection: 4.9 points out of 5, with a total of almost 500 reviews. "All the recipes come from his Cantonese grandfather," Denegri says, pointing to Chong.

The grandfather in question was called Federico Chong Wong and the first thing he did when he arrived in Huaral – north of Lima – after having emigrated to the United Kingdom before, was to build himself a clay oven and cylindrical sugar for roasting. That was, in fact, the first idea that Chong and Denegri had when in 2019 they decided to shelve their previous jobs as computer engineers – she, as a teacher and he, as a machine assembler – and wanted to open a steakhouse to go. That initial project remained in that, in an idea, discarded after verifying that what people really wanted was to sit at the table to eat everything that came out of Chong's hands. This is how Ají y Sillao was born, in reference to two of the basic ingredients of Peruvian and Cantonese cuisines: chili pepper and soy sauce.

Julie Denegri, 56, and Miguel Chong, 62, opened the restaurant three years ago after leaving their respective jobs, she, as a teacher, he, as a machine assembler. Samuel Sanchez

And it is that what is served here, in addition to classics of Peruvian cuisine such as causa and ceviche, are dishes fused with Cantonese cuisine, that Chong inherited from his grandfather, who became a partner in a chifa restaurant – as this fusion cuisine is called – in the Plaza de Armas of Lima. "Everything you eat here is what I've eaten all my life at home," interrupts Denegri, who recalls with emotion how visits to Huaral on weekends were an eye-opening experience. "When I started going I said, 'But what is this?' I, who lived in the capital, where you always go in a hurry, saw my mother-in-law, for example, grind the chili. It was an almost ceremonial act in which mothers and aunts gathered to cook. It was as if time stopped and everything afterwards was reflected on the plate," says Denegri, who began dating Chong when they both met at university.

Chaufa rice with roasted chicken and pork. Samuel Sanchez

Causa limeña con gallina. Samuel Sanchez

Siu mai of pork and prawns, handmade. Samuel Sanchez

Sea bass ceviche. Samuel Sanchez

Peruvian-oriental roast duck with pickled turnip. Samuel Sanchez

Chong and Denegri are practically alone in the crusade to manage and care for Ají and Sillao. They only have the help of a nephew and, in all this time, they have had to learn through books, online courses and the trial-error method how to manage with four hands a restaurant with seven tables and about 15 diners, which on weekends is usually full. "At first I wanted to throw the wok through the air," recalls Chong, who only cooked for friends and family before. He can be seen, while waiting for his meal, sautéing dishes in an immaculate and tiny kitchen, just seconds before they leave for the table. "We do not have it precooked," says the chef, who recognizes his perfectionism and insistence on seeking excellence in each elaboration. Hence, it is he who, despite going to bed at dawn, gets up at five in the morning to go to Mercamadrid to choose the genre or has tried the recipes again and again in search of the best version. "We make the cause with chicken because it has more flavor and we use a potato whose texture is similar to the one originally used in Peru (the yellow potato)," he explains, without wanting to reveal the variety used.

From Tuesday to Friday, at lunchtime, the couple serves a menu of the day at a price of 13.50 euros in which you can choose a starter and a traditional Peruvian dish or fusion, drink and dessert or coffee. But in addition, the menu has a varied offer of elaborations ranging from the best known, such as lomo saltado (18.50 euros) and chaufa rice (10.90 euros) – whose meat is previously roasted and that they give the option of being mixed, with two types of meat instead of one. Ceviche deserves special mention, which they always make with sea bass because "it is the best fish" for this dish and which they accompany with some "squid chicharrones", whose batter is soaked in tiger milk (20.90 euros).

Miguel Chong takes a roast duck out of the vertical oven. Samuel Sanchez

There are dishes, such as pork and prawn siu mai (10.90 euros) that are pure craftsmanship. The dough of the siu mai (steamed dim sum) is made by Chong himself by hand, in the same way as the filling, which he meticulously chops "with a machete" so that the bite is fine and everything is well integrated. The same goes for wantan soup (13.90 euros), an ancient Chinese recipe, which has become one of the "most demanded dishes", impossible to remove from the menu. "People come in summer and ask us even if it's 40 degrees outside," says Denegri. From Chong's hands also come desserts, including lucuma ice cream and some alternative drinks to soft drinks such as chicha morada, which instead of buying packaged, makes it following his mother's recipe, boiling the ears of purple corn along with "pineapple peels, apple, cinnamon and cloves."

The list of fusion dishes also includes sea bass in lime sauce (16.50 euros), pork with tamarind (12.90 euros), sautéed noodles with beef, tomato, onion and chili pepper (17.90 euros) – Chong recalls that there is a different chili for each dish – and the preparation that for him is the star: the Peruvian-Cantonese roast duck (25 euros for two or three people). "In my town there is a typical Sunday dish: duck in chili with rice and beans," says Chong, who on weekends, from 12:00 noon, also makes sandwiches for breakfast: pork rinds, huaralina sausage and ham from the country. "It's what's called brunch here," his wife says half-laughing.

The restaurant has part of the kitchen in view of the diners. Samuel Sanchez

After more than three years almost without rest – they opened eight months before the pandemic – Denegri confesses that her husband is "tired", but both are immensely grateful to their clientele, composed in 90% of cases by people who are not of Peruvian origin, and arrivals, mostly from outside the neighborhood: Pozuelo de Alarcón, Majadahonda, Arturo Soria... and even Paris and Silicon Valley. "They had come to a congress. The first day they went to eat downtown, then they Googled and came here. They went back to lunch and dinner the rest of the days," she recalls. Have you thought about growing? "I don't want to have a place of 50 tables. At most 15. I want to deal with the client, not lose the essence," he replies.

Chili pepper and Sillao

Address: Calle de Elfo, 112, 28027, Madrid
Phone: 654 647 167
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, lunch and dinner. Sundays, meals only.
Website: www.ajiysillao.es