Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/15710
Inspiration also comes naturally for Chef Walter Cotta, who has been the executive chef at L'Opera for the past 17 years. A native of El Salvador, Cotta was on track to study physics and math at university before finding his true calling in the kitchen. His brilliant use of right and left brain helps to explain his holistic approach to creating his dishes. "I imagine everything and then I see an empty plate [in my head] and I start putting it together," he said. "When you are creating, you have to know the flavors and what will work well with what. 'This will go well with that' but you have to taste the dish in your head before you put it on the plate." L'Opera has been a local institution since 1990 and its success can be attributed to the teamwork between Cotta and co-owner, Enzo DeMuro, who not only enthusiastically finish each other's sentences but also collaborate on both the featured menu and the continuously changing list of daily specials. Their creative process is both methodical and spontaneous. The two review four or five dishes at a time – Cotta with written specifications and DeMuro with his camera. After suggestions are taken and improvements are made, dishes debut as specials and, if they really work, become part of the permanent menu. One of Cotta's recent creations was a trio appetizer, Trittico di Cose, comprised of ahi tuna sashimi; buffalo mozzarella, flown in every other day from Campania, with red and yellow tomatoes; and beef tartare. "It looks beautiful," praised DeMuro. "One plate but with three little compartments separate from each other. You have the beef tartare on little crustinis and, in the center, a balsamic garlic reduction with the tuna. At the end you have this red, yellow, and white with a little homemade basil pesto sauce. So the colors and the look and the taste after – it works very well. You see how we get excited!" CHEF Walter Cotta OF L'Opera RESTAURANT UNDERSTANDING THE FLAVORS