The flavor theme is Silk Road cuisine, the spice-laden ingredients of the high altitude Middle East. The setting is a sleek Mark Primack-designed interior and an adjoining outdoor garden terrace dining area. The culinary art direction involves a romantic and vibrant menu of items ranging from hummus platters and lamb kabobs to walnut date flatbread and grilled chicken. It is the handiwork of an ambitious and skilled young chef named Elder Lopez.
Lopez grew up on a farm watching his parents cook together for friends. “I watched and tasted and I liked the food,” he recalls. “And that started me off.” Moving to San Francisco 15 years ago, Lopez began cooking in restaurants. “I had an Italian teacher. He had cooked in Tuscany, and he taught me all his techniques,” Lopez remembers. “I owe him everything.”
Armed with a large repertoire of Italian classic recipes, Lopez recently moved to the Santa Cruz area to be closer to his wife’s family. Lopez’ wife now commutes to her job in Cupertino, and four months ago he started at Laili.
Lopez adapted immediately to the Afghani and Persian specialties of Laili. “When you grow up with a family who loves food, it’s so easy to get into cooking of every kind.”
Undaunted by a menu already in place, and full of specialties such as aushak dumplings with lentils and yogurt and pomegranate eggplant, Lopez stepped in and hit the ground running. “If you know how to cook, you can do any cuisine,” he contends. Plus there were many crossovers. “Even though there were more spices than in Italian cooking, I liked these flavors from the start,” he says. “I was used to spicy food, so it wasn’t so different.”
Lopez regularly consults with Laili owner and entrepreneur Wafi Amin, who set the menu’s ethnic tone. “We want to keep it simple, yet rich in flavor,” says Lopez. “We will do some specials, depending on the season. For example, I did a beet salad this summer, and now I am doing an heirloom tomato salad. I like to go to the farmers markets, to see what’s fresh, what’s new.”
Wines have been chosen to match the food, and Lopez works with Laili’s owner on the menu. “He’s helped me a lot. We make everything from scratch.” That includes the chai and the popular lemon ginger soda.
If pressed, Lopez will admit that the Silk Road plate—an orchestration of hummus, tabbouleh, baba ghanoush and cucumber yogurt—is his favorite lunch. But he also loves the pomegranate eggplant and the anar chicken. And the pumpkin boranee. “It’s all good. Anyone who tastes our food—well, they won’t be disappointed.”
At home, Laili’s chef likes to make chicken marsala “with prosciutto and mozzarella, a little wine and cream.” He smiles as he says this, adding that his wife is a great foodie and his primary recipe tester.
“Everything I cook has to come from my heart.”
Laili Restaurant, 101 B Cooper St., Santa Cruz. 831.423.4545
