Coup to cafe: a Chilean-born chef’s tale

This is the valiant tale of Alcione Vinet, owner and chef of Capitol Hill’s Park Cafe. It’s a story of modern America.
 
Once upon a time, 30 years ago, the Chilean national was a student of sales and marketing on a five-year course in Limache, 93 miles northwest of Santiago. But his efforts would be derailed by a coup d’état.
 
Three years earlier, Gen. Augusto Pinochet had come into power, taking the post of president in 1974. By 1977, he had started a program of economic reforms, which included privatizing and deregulating businesses.
 
The deregulation made Vinet’s training moot, and the college closed down. With no future in view and the country in turmoil, Vinet and his wife fled to Washington to start a new life — “to do whatever it would take.”
 
For Vinet, that meant cleaning offices on Dupont Circle at night and washing dishes in Alexandria during the day. Later, he worked in contracting.

One day, Vinet came across an empty site on the edge of Lincoln Park, and he decided to buy it as in investment. He sank his savings into the dilapidated property, renovating with plans “to rent it out to pay the mortgage,” he said.
 
But no one wanted a restaurant in that area in the late-1980s. “So I ended up being in the restaurant myself,” he said.
 
Vinet started out cooking Mexican food, and then he progressed to Latin American dishes. But he didn’t have a liquor license, and customers had to bring their own bottles. By the mid-1990s, Vinet realized if he wanted the food-lovers’ restaurant of his dreams, he needed to offer alcohol.
 
But a church nearby objected. It fought his application, invoking a D.C. law that prevented liquor licenses within 400 feet of a religious institution. The dispute was long. “Five years in court,” Vinet said incredulously. “Extremely expensive.”

But two years in, Vinet encountered a knight in shining armor. Paul L. Pascal, lawyer with offices close to the restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue who represented alcoholic-beverage wholesalers in D.C., offered to fight Vinet’s case for free. He argued, based on a case in Boston, that it was an abuse of First Amendment rights to allow a church the power to make an administrative decision.

Signs in support of the cafe’s petition went up in the windows of houses around the area, and Pascal brought in the American Civil Liberties Union to help him pursue the case. And nearly three years later, Vinet won, leading to a change in the city’s law.

“He did it for fun!” Vinet said. “He deserves all the credit. There was no money involved. ... Without Paul, I would have no restaurant like this is today,” he added, sweeping an arm around his dining room.

The place is no longer a casual South American eatery, but rather a white-tablecloth, gleaming stemware destination that has managed to keep the feel of a relaxed neighborhood restaurant. The food is contemporary Mediterranean. Vinet credits that evolution to another fortunate introduction.

“Two years ago, I met a chef,” he said.

With his liquor license in hand, Vinet hoped to turn the Park Cafe into “the kind of restaurant I always wanted.” Chef Gustaf Marbrouk taught him how. Marbrouk had come to Washington from New York to work at Charlie Palmer Steak, later moving to Nectar, which closed. He planned to move back to New York, but before he could go, Vinet cornered him for advice.

“I said, ‘How do we refine this menu?’ He come in, he tell me, ‘Your portions are too big.’”

More helpfully, Marbrouk reworked the menu. But Vinet had a vision of his own. “I think, something is missing. Here, I tell him, let me do a menu. I like to have one chicken, one duck, two fish, a steak.”

And that’s pretty much how the menu is defined today. There are none of the usual florid words like “nage” or “jus,” or “pillow” of something “julienned.” It plainly lists “Duck,” “Chicken,” “Lamb,” “Paella” and so on, with a simple description below each item of what comes with it on the plate. For instance, under “Risotto,” it just says “Mushroom, Parmesan Reggiano, Herb Oil.”

In addition, there are the items that are not printed. “I prepare three or four different specials a day, like maybe Osso Buco. Then we always leave a gap. So if a customer will say, ‘I feel to eat this or this,’ then we do it.”

Vinet is helped in the kitchen by a staff of three. “Most people who work for me take it very seriously, what I do,” he said. “They work for the same goal: to serve quality food. You realize to be in this corner by ourselves for almost 20 years is not that easy.”

He also looks for guidance from Marbrouk, now back in New York, whom he calls nearly every other day.

As well as cooking, Vinet rushes out to greet his guests, many of whom he knows well. “It’s a people restaurant. Customers have been here 20 years once a week. Some people, they moved to Honolulu. When they come to D.C., they come back here.”

Down in his cellar are 3,500 bottles of wine. If a customer can’t make up his mind from the list, Vinet will lead him downstairs and show him the stock. “Sometimes, somebody wants to see what he wants to drink.”

He works the usual long chef’s day, from 9 in the morning to 11 at night, with a break between 3:30 and 5:30, so it’s fortunate he lives only a block away. His twin 27-year-old daughters are still at home. “It’s the Spanish way,” he said, adding, “But it’s very hard for young kids to move out. Very expensive.” He makes a sympathetic face.

Park Cafe (202-543-0184; http://www.parkcafedc.com) is located at 106 13th St. SE. Main courses cost $22 to $25.

This article by Julia Watson first appeared in the Northwest, Dupont, Foggy Bottom and Georgetown Current Newspapers. Photo Bill Petros/The Current.

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