If you go
La Caraquena
300 W. Broad St., Falls Church
703-533-0076
Hours: Lunch and dinner daily, Wednesday through Monday
Regardless of position or palate, few of us can turn down remarkable food at budget prices. And thanks to the industry of native Venezuelan Raul Claros, chef and owner of La Caraquena, patrons get the best of both worlds.
Located in the ground-floor corner of an old-time motel in Falls Church, La Caraquena has become the must-go-to destination for savvy Latinos -- its Venezuelan cuisine is a rarity in the metro area -- which means the seating is limited at best, and becomes almost nonexistent at popular dinner hours.
The crowds serve to underscore how this two-year-old eatery has captured the hearts of its loyal fans. Fortunately, the chef -- who acts as cook, waiter, maitre d' and probably dishwasher -- makes every accommodation to squeeze folks in.
After all, for Claros this business is the realization of his wildest dreams.
"I moved here when I was 17 and all alone," he said. "When I first arrived I worked for a cleaning company and cleaned kitchens in hotels. I didn't know any English, and that was the only job there was."
One of his buddies, who worked at a local French restaurant, helped Claros get hired as a busboy, the first step -- before attending and graduating from high school, working in another local restaurant as fry cook and attending culinary school in Caracas -- in his eventual emergence as skilled chef with his own kitchen domain.
It has helped Claros, of course, that his parents once owned a restaurant in Venezuela when he was a little boy.
"I remember helping them," he says. "It was all like a game, and fun to do. My first Play-Doh was a dough for making saltenas [a type of empanada]. As I got older, I had to help them, and after school, I would go to the restaurants. I became friends with the employees and cooks, and they started teaching me all I know."
Of course, his mother is a good cook as well, and when his parents emigrated from Venezuela, Claros had already honed his cooking skills -- he'd worked in many different places, including as a cook for a Mexican restaurant in Virginia.
"But I had my dream to open a restaurant for myself," he said.
His parents helped him look for an ideal setup -- small and affordable to start -- and his mother can take the credit for spotting the "for rent" sign on the vacant restaurant location.
"I called right away," he says, "and since I was the first person to call, we got the place."
It took Claros and his family a full six months to ready the place -- scrubbing, painting, refurbishing -- ending up with what is really a "new" restaurant, he said. Now with success on the front burner, Claros longs for more space, perhaps even a larger menu. Should that happen, he'll need to beef up the kitchen staff. As it is, except for one or two prep people, he is the sole cook.
That explains the delay: Claros was busy assembling a special Venezuelan dish known as hallaca, similar to tamales with a stew of chicken, pork, almonds, raisins, bacon, onions and olives wrapped in cornmeal and then in banana leaves.
"All the recipes are mine," he says, describing the popularity of his arepas, saltenas, pabellon criollo and the salads.
And don't forget that divine cuatro leches cake for dessert, a sweet amplification of the more usual tres leches and served only at this restaurant.
Q&A with Chef Raul Claros
What's your comfort food?
My mom's soups, just any soup she makes. They make me feel much better. There's nothing like my mom's cooking.
What is your favorite food?
I have no favorites. I am the kind of guy who will eat anything. I recently went to a Japanese/Thai restaurant, and they gave me grasshoppers and caterpillars. They were really tasty.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I would say being Venezuelan gives me the inspiration. I went to culinary school there for two years. I really like to go out and eat everywhere.
What's in your fridge?
Water. I live and breathe La Caraquena.
What's your favorite cuisine?
I would say fusion of any kind.
From the Chef's Kitchen
La Caraquena's Black Bean Soup
Serves 10
2 pounds dried black turtle beans
1 1/4 cups (20 Tbsp) olive oil
1/2 pound onions, cut into small dice
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 jalapenos or other fresh green chiles, chopped
4 Tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 bay leaf
5 quarts chicken stock, vegetable stock or water
1 (1-pound) can tomatoes, drained and chopped
Salt to taste
Hot pepper sauce to taste
1 pound Spanish chorizo, cut into medium dice for garnish
1/2 pound avocado, cut into medium dice for garnish
1/2 pound tomatoes, cut into medium dice for garnish
Soak the beans overnight in cold water.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and jalapeno chiles, and cook over low heat until almost tender. Add the chili powder, cumin, coriander and bay leaf. Stir to mix in with the oil and vegetables. Add the stock or water. Drain the soaked beans and add them to the pot.
Reduce the heat to medium low, cover the pot and cook until the beans are just tender. Add the tomatoes. Continue to cook an additional 15 to 30 minutes, or until the beans are completely tender and the flavors are well-blended. Add salt and hot pepper sauce to taste.
Carefully mix the garnish ingredients together and garnish each serving with a spoonful of this mixture.
