What do the pope and this Miami chef have in common? Love for Peru.
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Chef Valerie Chang Cumpa accepts the Best Chef South award at the 2024 James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards. Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for James Beard Foundation
If you didn't already believe that eating at Maty's was a religious experience, get this: Chef Valerie Chang Cumpa hails from the same Peruvian town where Pope Leo XIV served as bishop.
Catch up quick: The Chinese-Peruvian chef — a member of the award-winning Chang family that ran Itamae together — grew up in Chiclayo, Peru, before moving to Miami at age 10.
- Pope Leo, a naturalized Peruvian citizen, served as bishop of Chiclayo until 2023. His ascendance to the papacy has brought newfound attention to the Peruvian community there.
- One restaurant, Las Americas, has a sign outside its door that reads: "The pope ate here."
- "In Chiclayo, we're very proud of our food," Chang Cumpa tells Axios.
What they're saying: Chang Cumpa says she had her first communion in Chiclayo's main cathedral, where Pope Leo has held Mass. Some of her family members have met him before.
- Chang Cumpa was on her way to work last week as she listened to the newly elected pope's first public address.
- When the pope switched from Italian to Spanish to send a message to his Peruvian diocese, she was beside herself.
- "I honestly thought he was going to speak in English. When he said that about Chiclayo, I couldn't believe it. How beautiful. My home town."
The big picture: Chang Cumpa, a James Beard Award-winning chef, celebrates her family's roots at Maty's, her Peruvian restaurant in Midtown named after her late grandmother.
- One of the many family photos that hang on the wall — of her great-grandparents' wedding — is from 1928.
- "It's beyond the food. It's a love letter to thank my grandma for everything she did," Chang Cumpa said in a recent episode of Toast web series "Signature Dish."
State of play: Chang Cumpa tells Axios that Miami's diversity has propelled the 305 into the culinary capital it is today.
- In her own family, Chang Cumpa says she doesn't take the awards or recognition for granted.
- Her brother is Michelin-star chef Nando Chang of Itamae Ao, and their father, Fernando "Papa" Chang, heads up B-Side at 1-800-Lucky.
- "We're still immigrants. We still have that immigrant fight and that desire to do right by our parents, who did a lot of fighting."
Zoom in: On the Toast show, Chang Cumpa says the most popular dish at Maty's is the scallop cebiche — a savory seafood dome covered with sliced grapes and topped with cilantro leche de tigre.
- "Basically every table that comes in to eat orders one of these," Chang Cumpa tells host Sophia Roe.
Chef's recs: Here are chef Valerie's favorite Peruvian restaurants in Miami (that are not owned by her family).
- Sabor a Perú en Miami
- La Mar by Gastón Acurio
- Barra Callao
- Locura Marina Peruvian Restaurant
- Chifa Du Kang
- Ranchito Mi Peru 2