When Dino Perez was a teenage busboy at Rinconcito Sudamericano, his parents’ Peruvian restaurant in Bucktown, he never dreamed that two decades later he’d be running the show. But earlier this month his mother, Elizabeth, moved across Damen to the kitchen of Rio’s d’Sudamerica, the Latin American fusion spot he opened in 2006, and helped him create a retooled, mostly Peruvian menu. The transition will be complete after November 15, when Rinconcito closes after 28 years.
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By the mid-90s, though, business at Rinconcito was booming. Perez’s brother Percy (who also waited tables there) had left to run a bar, and Perez, who was studying accounting at DeVry, became the unofficial manager. “It was slow for the first few years, and we relied on the small Peruvian community, but as the neighborhood began improving in 1987 and 1988, our customers became more diverse,” he says. “A write-up in Chicago magazine helped, and participating in Taste of Chicago for the first time in 1993 gave us a huge boost. We were the only Peruvian stand and passed out thousands of menus.”
Another source of frustration was that although Perez’s father, Raul, had invested in upgrading the Rinconcito space, at 1954 W. Armitage, the owner was never willing to sell the building. As the area gentrified, the rent went way up. So in 2004, father and son bought a laundromat at 2010 W. Armitage with the intent of moving Rinconcito to that location. But as they tore down the old building and rebuilt from scratch for close to $1 million, a new plan evolved. “The design we worked out with the architect was so modern—with high ceilings and murals—we decided to go with a more upscale, somewhat trendier concept,” Perez says. Scouting in Lima, Peru, through a cousin who lives there, he found chef Jose Victtorio, a culinary school graduate who helped develop the menu of Argentine, Brazilian, and Peruvian specialties and Latin fusion creations. Rio’s d’Sudamerica opened with everything from moqueca de pescado (Brazilian-style halibut steamed in coconut milk) to parillada (an Argentine mixed grill) on the menu, though even in this incarnation 40 to 50 percent of the lineup came from Rinconcito.
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1954 W. Armitage, 773-489-3126
2010 W. Armitage, 773-276-0170
