Chef Valerie Chang Of Maty’s In Miami On Mental Health And Peruvian Cuisine

“Focus on the big picture,” says Valerie Chang, the chef and owner of Maty’s, a 150-seat Peruvian spot in Miami. For her, that means more than awards (like her recent James Beard nomination) and the future of her restaurant. It translates to taking care of her mental and physical well-being and implementing a new kind of hospitality that’s focused on service not servitude. 

Valerie sat down with host Kerry Diamond in Miami to talk about her career, her family’s restaurant group (which includes B-Side and her brother’s soon-to-open Peruvian-Japanese spot, Itamae Ao. Valerie also shares what she’s learned in therapy, her thoughts on being a boss, and Maty’s menu highlights, including a twist on the traditional Oxtail Saltado and, for dessert, nostalgic sweet potato butternut squash doughnuts known as Picarones.

Thank you to Kerrygold, Walmart, and Johnnie Walker for supporting our show. 

Hosted by Kerry Diamond
Produced by Catherine Baker and Elizabeth Vogt
Edited by Jenna Sadhu
Content Operations Manager Londyn Crenshaw
Thank you to Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center

Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Subscribe to our newsletter and check out past episodes and transcripts here. 

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More on Valerie: Instagram, Maty's, Itamae
More on Kerry: Instagram, Cherry Bombe