Sometimes when she was headed to a lunch spot or catering job, the fryer in Karla Flores’ food truck would catch fire.
The behemoth she drove was less than ideal, purchased with a $15,000 loan from her father who came into the money through a personal injury settlement. Luckily though, Flores’ siblings were also behind her, and one of them would quickly quell the flames as she kept driving.
That family support — and a dedication to authentic Peruvian food — has paid off for Flores. It earned her a coveted spot serving food at the SpaceX campus in Hawthorne for the last nine years, and now, she’s bringing her dishes to a new brick-and-mortar restaurant at the corner of Wardlow Road and Atlantic Avenue. It sits just over a half mile from the California Heights home where her parents have lived since 1996.
The restaurant’s name, Alli Kaphiy, means “great coffee” in Quechua, an Incan language indigenous to Peru. Along with coffee, the spot offers a range of Peruvian food including ceviche, burgers and four different sandwiches. Everything on the menu is made from scratch, including the bread for the sandwiches and the aji — a green, spicy Peruvian sauce.