California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

Serving Up Sandwiches and Community at Mouthful Eatery

Unique flavors: One of Mouthful Eatery’s specialties is chicken saltado served on quinoa. The Peruvian-fusion restaurant on Thousand Oaks Boulevard combines traditional flavors with other cuisines such as Chinese. There are also vegetarian and gluten free options.  Photo courtesy of Luis Sanchez.
Unique flavors: One of Mouthful Eatery’s specialties is chicken saltado served on quinoa. The Peruvian-fusion restaurant on Thousand Oaks Boulevard combines traditional flavors with other cuisines such as Chinese. There are also vegetarian and gluten free options.
Photo courtesy of Luis Sanchez.

When you walk through the doors of Mouthful Eatery on Thousand Oaks Boulevard, you’re greeted by the smell of Peruvian-fusion cooking and the sound of “futbol” playing on the television to the left of the counter. The bright colored walls offer a lively backdrop in the popular cafe that features a flavorful menu of entrees, sandwiches, salads and sweets.

Head chef and owner Luis Sanchez can tell you to the day how long it has been since the restaurant first opened its doors.

“It’s been five years and two months,” said Sanchez. “I always remember the day because two days after we opened, my son was born.”

Sanchez said he was inspired to open Mouthful because he wanted to bring the taste of his birthplace, Peru, to his community in Thousand Oaks. He believed it may have been easier to bring the flavors of his restaurant to a more urban area like Downtown Los Angeles or Santa Monica, but wanted to create more community near his home and offer his talents as a classically trained chef to an area with a less diverse food landscape.

While it was slow to pick up business in the beginning, which Sanchez attributes to the unique flavors in his cooking that are unusual for the local community, Mouthful Eatery has since gained local notoriety as one of the highest-rated restaurants in the area. With over 700 reviews on Yelp, the front door boasts in bold writing that the business was one of Yelp’s ‘top 100 best places in America’ in 2015, based on customer feedback from the year before.

“My goal was not to be categorized as Peruvian food. I just wanted to make food with great flavor,” said Sanchez, who went to culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu. He described the menu as a mixture of classic Peruvian ingredients with some Chinese influence and a worldly outlook on flavor.

Located just four miles from campus, Mouthful Eatery has become a regular spot for California Lutheran University students and faculty looking for a place to get something you won’t find at Ullman Commons.

Virginia Anderson, a Cal Lutheran senior, has been going to Mouthful regularly for the last four years. Anderson said she loves the changing menu and has felt welcomed by Mouthful staff whenever she brings friends or family to enjoy the sweet potato fries she describes as “elite” and “spicy in the best way.”

Patrons at Mouthful choose their protein from options like roasted pork or turkey meatballs, then decide if they want their meal on a house-baked ciabatta bun or atop a bowl of quinoa or white rice.

Among unusual specialties, like chicken saltado and crispy yucca fries with huancaina sauce, are vegetarian and gluten free options.

For beverages, a variety of homemade lemonades rotate behind the counter, including flavors like cucumber mint, lychee and pineapple.

However, it’s the customer service that’s the gem of the experience at Mouthful Eatery.

Damian Plumleigh, a long-time member of the Mouthful staff, offered suggestions and friendly conversation to patrons in line during the lunch rush and thoughtfully explained the flavors of the chile gastrique before ringing up orders and calling them out to chefs on the line.

“You’re not just serving food, but you’re also trying to touch lives,” Sanchez said. He said customers are looking for warmth in service, which is easiest to offer when employees feel invested in their work.

Plumleigh, who has worked at Mouthful for four years, began as a dishwasher at the restaurant as part of a work program for at-risk youth. Sanchez said he recognized a talent for customer service in him immediately and began training him to work the front of house and to build a rapport with customers.

“It’s just an example of what could be done when you want to make a community,” Sanchez said of Mouthful’s success.

Katherine Lippert
Reporter

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