EL CHOLO 1025 Wilshire Blvd Santa Monica, CA 90401 310.899.1106 www.elcholo.com
Brooke Williamson CO-CHEF & CO-OWNER, HUDSON HOUSE Q: If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be? Brooke Williamson: That’s a really difficult question because I’m a mood eater, so I eat depending on what I’m in the mood for, and what I’m in the mood for always sounds like something I could eat for the rest of my life. I tend to gravitate towards kind of clean Asian flavors, so I would say that one of the dishes I frequently eat and crave is the Papaya Pok Pok salad from Ayara which is a Thai restaurant in Westchester, and then the squid ink spaghetti with bottarga and sea urchin from Bestia. Those are both pastas that I crave a lot. So, for me it’s either clean Asian flavor or pasta. Q: What does it take to run a restaurant successfully? BW: I think keeping in mind that the customer wants to feel appreciated, while at the same time holding up to the integrity and standards that you feel like you need is important. I think it’s a balance. I think it’s a constant struggle of balance, but part of the reason why I’ve done TV is to sort of keep people’s eyes on us, and to remind people that we’re still there.
Mike Mininsky GENERAL MANAGER, EL CHOLO Q: If you could eat one thing in LA for the rest of your life, what would it be? Mike Mininsky: So much to choose from but I’m going with my gut, literally, Original Tommy’s Double Chili Cheeseburger and Chili Cheese Fries. Q: How do you personally, or your restaurant, stand apart from the rest in such a large industry? MM: I take a genuine interest in my guests’ experience. El Cholo staff is here to exceed your expectations. If you leave thinking, “Wow!” then we’ve done our job. Q: What does it take to run a restaurant successfully? MM: The focus needs to be on two things: food and service. If you aren’t serving great food to happy guests 38 LOCALE MAGAZINE
then you’re in trouble. I lead by example, making sure that not only are the guests happy, but my staff as well. No one likes a grumpy server. Q: What is the most popular dish at El Cholo? MM: Depends on who you ask! Tacos al Carbon was the first thing I ever ate at El Cholo and remains a staple for me. Although the all-time best seller is our #1 combination. Q: What are the most popular desserts/drinks? MM: Our El Cholo Margarita was introduced in 1967 and still holds the top spot for guests, but our version of a skinny margarita, La Flaca, has been extremely popular over the past three years. Personally, the Gran Tradicional has always been my favorite.
Q: What is the most popular dish at your restaurant? BW: The pretzel burger and the brown sugar pork ribs. They like fall off the bone, but are crispy on the outside, and packed with flavor. I love the brown sugar pork ribs, personally. It’s one dish that my son, Hudson, always wants every time he goes there. Q: What are your three can’t-livewithout ingredients? BW: Well, you can’t really make a dish with only three ingredients, but I would say three ingredients that I use a lot that I wouldn’t want to live without when building other dishes are fish sauce, fresh lime, and olive oil. HUDSON HOUSE 514 N Pacific Coast Hwy Redondo Beach, CA 90277 310.798.9183 | www.hudsonhousebar.com