Chef Jose Duarte’s Spring Awakening
Chef Jose Duarte at Tambo 22. Photo: courtesy of Jose Duarte.
February 10, 2021
Chef Jose Duarte had just opened Tambo 22, a Peruvian-inspired restaurant in Chelsea, Massachusetts, when the COVID pandemic hit. Forced to shut down within weeks, “Tambo’s been in extended periods of hibernation for the last year,” says Duarte. But even with the closure of his other two establishments, life has never stayed too dormant for this active and loquacious chef.
Duarte’s ambitions are as big as his personality. His down-to-earth demeanor belies his extensive accomplishments and ventures, which he lists in dizzying succession. A native Peruvian of Italian descent, he launched his first restaurant, Taranta, in Boston two decades ago. Duarte was a local pioneer of sorts, evolving the North End’s historically intransigent dining scene by introducing Peruvian influences into the restaurant’s Italian menu.
“It was a synchronization of food through cultures,” he explains—think cassava root gnocchi, spicy aji amarillo meatballs, and fish with Pisco-Sicilian blood orange-Incan golden berry sauce. The well-received restaurant became Duarte’s laboratory and platform for merging culinary experimentation with his passion for sustainability. And the energetic chef has been on a tireless mission to innovate the food industry ever since.
His commitment to environmental, economic, and social causes is as comprehensive as it is enthusiastic. In an “act locally” ethos, Taranta’s blackboard once displayed an exhaustive checklist, from powering delivery vehicles with recycled cooking oil to sourcing biodynamically and ethically produced foods and wine.
But Duarte’s vision and actions extend globally too, from championing traceability and accountability in food production to organizing better farm labor practices. And he’s even managed to produce a documentary, “Fair Tomatoes,” chronicling his staff’s hands-on involvement in the process.
Abroad, he’s developed a strong partnership with Santa Cruz Lodge, a retreat center in Huaripampa, Peru, to preserve Andean culture and agricultural traditions. And he’s a big evangelizer of documenting and promoting the country’s diverse gastronomical heritage (“3,600 varieties of potatoes, 600 varieties of corn, 700 tubers,” he points out). He’s even collaborated with M.I.T.’s Media Lab and FAB Lab Lima to analyze and harness Peru’s unique microclimates and growing environments. “I think that technology and innovation and food are going to become very close,” he adds.
If there’s a singular theme in Duarte’s mission to make the world of food a better place, it’s his desire to strengthen the interconnectedness of food and food resources, in what he calls a “symbiotic collaboration.” Whether it’s creating unconventional connections between food cultures and traditions, raising greater awareness of how it’s sourced, or advocating for environmental responsibility in how it arrives to the table, his vision is to develop strong, interwoven connections based on and around food.
Nevertheless, the pandemic has tested his energy and enthusiasm; the closing of Taranta after a twenty-year run hit him especially hard. “We lost all the corporate business, the events, concerts, graduations, and travel tourism,” he says, rubbing his whitening beard. “We went back and forth with the landlord—back and forth, and we couldn't get into an agreement.”
But Duarte is resolved to keep Taranta’s spirit alive. He’s continued to offer popular menu items via pop-ups in the area, as well as at Trattoria San Pietro, his wife’s restaurant in Norwell which he’s been helping to run. While he hopes to resurrect Taranta some day, he’s channeling its mission of sustainability through Tambo 22.
“We're working on bringing in products from Santa Cruz Lodge,” says the seasoned chef. “They're producing an amazing Andean agave that’s already set for export, and we're going to be featuring it. There’s artisan beer that’s from the area, quinoa Quechua, chocho beans… they have a lot of things that I want to connect us with.” Duarte has been clearly gearing for Tambo’s spring awakening, and he’s hopeful to start outdoor dining as soon as weather permits.
When asked about his post-Covid ambitions, he rattles off a list in typical Duarte style: resuming travel adventures with his family, shedding some Covid weight, organizing gastronomical trips to Italy and Peru, and developing agritourism at Santa Cruz Lodge. “Oh, and a pizzeria,” he adds with a very wide grin. “I’ve always wanted to do Neapolitan style pizza.”