Gil Arends stuffs arepas with chunks of chorizo, plantain wedges, slices of avocado, spoonfuls of black beans and a mountain of white cheese. The cornmeal buns are so packed, it’s a wonder they don’t burst at the seams.
After Gil hands dishes off to his wife Manuela Villasmil, he’s on to the next order, buzzing back and forth between dropping sticks of yuca and smashed plantains into bubbling oil and scooping meats and drizzling sauces onto food at the prep station. He times each batch of fried goods and hurries back to yank them up when they’re crispy and golden brown.
Puyero Venezuelan Flavor is one of only two restaurants in Philadelphia specializing in Venezuelan cuisine. The BYOB offers some of the country’s favorite street foods, serving arepas, patacónes and cachapas.
The wall in the dining area is filled with Venezuelan colloquialisms and multi-colored menus for customers to browse when they walk in.
Since its opening in January 2017, the restaurant on 4th and South Streets has become a respite for expatriates looking for a taste and feel of home, in addition to helping first-timers experience some of Venezuela’s most popular dishes.
When the couple immigrated to the United States from Maracaibo, Venezuela in 2010 — Gil’s brother Simon followed suit in 2016 — they had no idea they’d all be running a restaurant years later.
The family noticed a void in the presence of Venezuelan food in Philadelphia.
“We thought it would be a great idea to bring something that’s really close to us and bring it over to Philly,” Simon said. “That’s why we decided to do food, specifically Venezuelan food.”
Arepas, a cornmeal patty sliced open and filled with anything from meats, seafood, beans, avocado, plantains and cheese, are a staple in Venezuelan households, Gil said. The dough, a mix of water, salt, cornmeal and sometimes oil, is lightly grilled and then oven baked.
“Every single morning that I would wake up back home, my grandmother would be like ‘Hey there are some arepas in the oven if you want any,’” Gil said. “Every morning she would just throw in a ton of arepas for anyone who wanted to eat them.”
The connection to the “bread of Venezuela” starts at a young age, Manuela said.
“Once a baby can have solids, they’ll be fed an arepa,” she said. “With nothing in it, but moms will pinch the dough from inside and give it to them.”
For Thanksgiving, the Arends add an American twist to the arepas, serving ones made with sweet potatoes and stuffed with Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, like turkey, gravy and brussel sprouts.
The patacón, the second most popular dish on the menu, uses two flat deep-fried plantains as buns similar to the arepas, which is most popular in Maracaibo. Cachapas are a sweet corn pancake, folded over cheese and meat and drizzled with house-made sriracha pink sauce or green mayo.
Puyero also offers sides and desserts, like tequenos, fried cheese sticks wrapped in dough, and churros with chocolate fillings. Drinks include fresh-squeezed cilantro lemonade and chicha, a non-fermented beverage made with rice milk.
In November, Manuela will begin making and serving hallacas, rectangles of corn dough stuffed with spiced meats and wrapped in plantain leaves before they’re boiled. The dish is a traditional holiday staple, Manuela said, adding that it’s customary for every family to eat them during Christmas time, which starts around mid-November in Venezuela.
When Puyero served hallacas last year, they saw an influx of Venezuelan families coming and ordering them to go.
“I used to joke with my mom that I wasn't going to make them when I was older,” she said. “Now here I am making it for other people.”
The Arends want dining at Puyero to be an immersive cultural experience.
“We’ve thought about everything, down to the playlist that we have,” Gil said. “We want people to walk into Puyero and not feel like they’re in Philly. We want them to feel like we would back home.”
Inspired by their popularity, the trio discusses expanding Puyero to other neighborhoods in the city.
“We’re looking into maybe getting a cart and visiting food festivals here,” Gil said. “We’d also considering another brick and mortar, with either the same concept or something different. Venezuelan culture is pretty big and there’s a lot we’d love to share with Philly.”
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