Chef Anthony Lamas of Seviche

"My cultural and ethnic background has impacted every aspect of my life tremendously, it's the way I grew up." I had the pleasure pf interviewing the amazing Chef Anthony Lamas as my 4th interview and as my second phone interview. Anthony Garcia Lamas was born November 26th, 1968 in Torrance, California. He is half Puerto Rican and half Spanish/Mexican, and grew up eating lots of Mexican, Latin, and Asian food. Chef Lamas had many Latino friends and experienced lots of different cuisines and cultures as a child. Lamas recalls his mother being an amazing cook and tells me that she prepared home cooked meals everyday.

When he was around 11, Chef Lamas' uncles and Grandpa opened a family restaurant. At the time, Lamas had never heard of a chef or knew what culinary arts were. But as he grew up around the family restaurant, Chef Lamas learned the trade and became comfortable enough to get jobs.

In the midst of our interview, Chef Lamas gives lots of credit for his success to his mentor Jeff Tunks who saw something natural under Chef Lamas and took Anthony under his wing. It hit Chef Lamas that, "Food is not only a trade, but uses a creative mind." Chef Lamas cooks slightly different at home than he does at his restaurant, Seviche. He prepares simple food with and for his kids and tries to go out to eat to experience many different cultures as he can with his family. He brings his kids to the restaurant as well, because Seviche is in face kid friendly, I remember going there myself many years ago for a father's day dinner out and recently went for my birthday dinner. The food is amazing. I would recommend a visit to everyone!

Chef Lamas says, "Latin food is what I do." He has a few signature dishes and favorite dishes to prepare, ranging back to when he was 11 years old. One dish is Chef Lamas' Moquecka, a Brazilian seafood stew in a non-traditional way with West Coast Flavors. His favorite dish to prepare is ceviche (seviche, cebiche), which is a bright and citrusy South American dish of marinated raw fish or seafood, typically garnished and served as an appetizer. I have a few recipes by Chef Lamas for a Chipotle Potato Soup and his albondigas (spanish meatballs) that I will include in my cookbook.

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