Link to the Show / Show NotesSEATTLE – In the down economy some people are turning to off-the-books business models. High-priced underground restaurants have been popular with foodies, but some families have begun selling meals from home kitchens just to scrape by. Anna King found one such business — a black-market Peruvian restaurant. She has our story from somewhere south of Seattle.
Inside Lupita’s cramped two-bedroom apartment I’m immediately enveloped in the aroma of strong spices. It’s as hot and moist as a sauna in here.
SOUND: Frying pan
It’s ALL seems to be happening at once: She’s frying seafood. Blending a warm cheese sauce. Then pulling cold lemon-soaked ceviche out of the fridge. Helpers shuttle past with dishes for her final inspection. — And each family-sized Peruvian platter looks like something out of a magazine. Lupita speaks through interpreter Melissa Hoyos.
Lupita interpreted by Melissa Hoyos: “When you’re going to eat something, you eat with your eyes first.”
But Lupita’s kitchen is illegal. In fact, Lupita isn’t really her name, it’s just what we’re going to call her here. Lupita used to work as a chef for a prominent Seattle-based company. But she lost that job. Now she’s turned to her own tiny kitchen to make money for her family of [...]
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