The People Behind DISH

 

Chef Alfred "Alfie" Salvatierra was born in East L.A. and raised in El Sereno (along with his three brothers) by his single mother. The boys oftentimes had to fend for themselves, and this allowed Alfie his first glimpse at cooking and cleaning. The rest is History.

Alfie started his restaurant career as a dishwasher at 13, was a Prep Cook by 15 and shortly after jumped on to the Kitchen Line. At 17, he enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu, and granduated in September of 1999.

Alfie was part of the opening team of Palamino Westwood, and eventually a company-wide trainer. By the age fo 19, he was Sous Chef at Aimee's Bistro; by 20 he was Chef at Nordstrom Cafe. At the age of 23 he joined Michael Ruiz (Exec Chef - Nic's Restaurant & Martini Lounge and Gale's Restaurant) at his new restaurant Bistro Verdu. During this time, he performed stagiaire service at The French Laundy in Napa. Shortly thereafter, Alfie and Michael joined forces with Steven Arroyo, running the Cobras & Matadors brand and what used to be 750mL Bistro.

In October 2009, Alfie became the Executive Chef at DISH. He has done tremendous work in the kitchen, and helped to successfully launch the new Catering aspect of the restaurant.

 

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Kevin Finch is the creative force behind DISH.

"I just really felt like there was a huge need for an old fashioned family style restaurant that focused on quality and creativity. The three-meal-a-day restaurant category has become dominated by the chains, but over the years they have just gotten worse and worse. They have completely lost sight of quality and creativity.

"Casual restaurants shouldn't have to be that way. At Dish, we believe very strongly that it is possible to offer delicious, creative American food and still offer great value."

Kevin graduated from Occidental college in 1977. After working in the advertising industry for five years, he became restless to return to his roots in the restaurant business, where he had worked throughout high school and college.

He spent his early years working for hotels and restaurants in California's wine country. "Working in Sonoma in the late 80's was an exciting time. There was a great synergy between local farmers, winemakers and chefs. The result was simple, delicious food, based on quality and good fundamentals. Freshness, simplicity, quality, and creativity; these are qualities that everyone understands, regardless of price or concept."

In the twenty years since then he has worked for a variety of restaurants and hotels, including Border Grill, City, Twin Palms, University Restaurant Group, and Ojai Valley Inn. Most recently he was a partner in the Border Grill group of restaurants in southern California and Las Vegas.

"To be honest, when I opened Dish I was just looking for a place where I could get a good grilled cheese sandwich for my kids, and a decent cup of coffee for me. Then we thought, 'Wouldn’t it be great if you could go someplace and get a really great BLT, and maybe a decent glass of wine?' It grew from there."