Pizza king Sami Ladeki plans Vegas Peruvian restaurant

He’s known and respected as the grandfather of San Diego and La Jolla restaurants after spending nearly 30 years running the 15 Nevada and California locations of his pizza empire. But 73-year-old restaurateur Sami Ladeki has no intention of slowing down — and his new Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria, a showcase of Peruvian food, has become an instant hit in the coastal communities of Southern California.

Now, he admits his sudden success with Pisco has him thinking of bringing the concept to Las Vegas and joining the lineup of his restaurants in Green Valley, Spring Valley and at the McCarran International Airport. When he opened the Pisco Rotisserie and Cevicheria on Fiestas Patrias (Peru’s Independence Day) at his colorful 5,000-square-foot location in Liberty Station, San Diego, 600 people waited in line along with a llama in the garden patio area to enjoy the Japanese-, Chinese- and Spanish-inspired flavors, techniques and foods.

Over dinner at Pisco, Sami told me: “Peruvian food is about to become really big. The country’s cuisine is amazing because you have the ocean, the Amazon and the Andes. Lima has become a culinary capital because it’s such a melting pot.”

His chef and partner are Emmanuel Piqueras. who is from Lima and is the host of a Latin American TV cooking show filmed in New York. He is also Peru’s culinary ambassador at international events cooking for such dignitaries as the Queen of Spain, the First Lady of Peru and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Manny has already won raves from the Southern California food media for his sauces, spices and ceviches. Emmanuel began his professional career at age 22 and after graduating from Peru’s Cordon Bleu in 1999 he moved to Spain to train alongside the master of New Basque cuisine, chef Juan Mari Arzak at the San Sebastian culinary mecca, Arzak, which has won 3 stars and been named one of the world’s 50 best restaurants.

He points with pride to his ahi tuna causitas, salmon tiradito and chicken aji de Gallina. I tasted all at Sami’s insistence and gladly report they are unique and sensational. “I love this food so much I eat in my own restaurant every night,” Sami added.

He redesigned his Liberty Station pizza venue into a blaze of color with original art from Peru and artwork by his wife, Sharon. Sami proudly pointed out to me the national Peruvian flag, which was presented to him in a salute to his commitment to food from the Latin American country and keeping ancient cooking techniques alive.

“Peru has risen to popularity as a gastronomic capital with its distinct worldly flavors. It’s definitely the newest trend in food,” Sami said. The cuisine is comprised of a unique marriage of expat influences drawing heavily from its Chinese, Japanese and Italian inhabitants over the years. It’s a modern take on indigenous food preparation utilized by many of the world’s top restaurants. It’s a resurgence of the Novandina-style of cooking. When I eat in Las Vegas I go to Nobu at Caesars Palace because of his Peruvian influences. He really helped put Peru on the culinary map.”

In sparking a new interest in Peruvian cuisine because of the fresh ceviches and rotisserie chicken dishes, Sami has been asked to open its first offspring in Las Vegas.

“There’s a piece of land that could be ideal for a stand-alone Pisco eatery, “ he told me. “I’m thinking seriously about the next one being in Las Vegas. I don’t think we would be converting one of our Las Vegas pizza restaurants into a Pisco. We’ll keep it separate and unique. ”

And with that, we ended our meal with a toast to his continued seven-decade success story with a Pisco Sour — the Peruvian national spirit. Sami has nearly two dozen cocktails that feature the grape-based liquor to choose from. So you just know we had more than one!