Listen below for an on-air segment with 97.9 The Hill’s Brighton McConnell as he is joined for a conversation presented by Alpaca Peruvian Charcoal Chicken with team members Brenda Conover, Laise Santos and Atika Touch — and invited to share in samples of the food and drink available at Alpaca and discuss some of the restaurant’s unique menu offerings and inspirations.
Alpaca Peruvian Charcoal Chicken is a local chain of restaurants — native to the Triangle and heavily inspired by the flavors, traditions and culinary methods of South America — and recently, a new location opened its doors in Chapel Hill.
” It’s something that’s kind of unique, that we don’t have a lot around here,” said Brenda Conover, catering director for all Alpaca locations. “It’s Latin-inspired food. We’re really known for our Peruvian charcoal chicken that’s slow-cooked, marinated for 24 hours, slow cooked in our special charcoal ovens that we created basically and built … Yucca fries, tostones … I feel like most people will be like, ‘oh, I’m not sure that I’m gonna go out for, you know, Peruvian food or Latin-inspired food.’ But once you go, it’s common food, but it’s really good food.”
The menu at Alpaca may seem simple — and service is certainly fast, according to Atika Touch, catering manager for the Chapel Hill location, but no effort is spared in the slow-cooking of featured dishes or attention to detail and authenticity paid to everything plated at any Alpaca restaurant.
“Everything’s family-ran, as far as the business, and a lot of family members in the actual restaurants,” said Touch. “They work really well together. They work fast — and even though we work fast, as far as the service, it’s a very thorough cook process. So, slow cook, but once everything’s out, everyone’s kind of enjoying everything as it comes through.”
“The original, how Alpaca started, was with the current owner’s mom,” said Laise Santos, business development manager for Alpaca. “So, she came down from Maryland, she had a business opportunity down here, and she saw that there wasn’t really a pollo a la brasa concept down here … They wanted to keep it simple, but inspired in something that everyone could enjoy. It’s not everywhere that you can go and find sweet plantains and green plantains and Yucca fries.”
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