CHARLOTTE, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) – The language of comfort food is universal.
Since 2013, Viva Chicken has served a Peruvian staple, pollo a la brasa, aka rotisserie chicken.
Co-owner Bruno Machiavello says he’s still got more restaurant concepts marinating in his mind.
“Food is my passion, this is what I do,” he said.
“ What makes the chicken so good?” this reporter asked, never anticipating the true secret ingredient.
“Me!” he replied. “This recipe’s been the family for almost 60 years.”
The fiery magic happens in an oven brought in from Peru, where Macchiavello first learned his love language.
“So, we decided let’s bring a little bit of Peru to here with the flavors. And of course I put my touch, that’s why Viva Chicken became what it is right now,” he told Queen City News.
He’s taken the best part of his native land’s food culture, turning those influential bites into businesses here in Charlotte via Viva Chicken and his other ventures .
“When I come into one of the Viva Chickens or Junta or any other business that I own, the smells of the food, they remind me of my childhood,” said Macchiavello. So I get very emotional when I smell that.”