Food also skillfully changes context. You are a foreignerfor example, this is a classic Chief a dish of deep-fried wontons seasoned with sweet and sour sauce with meat and vegetables. At Johnny's they come with all the typical details in a completely different order. The meat is only inside the dumplings, which are still deep-fried (perhaps a little too much), served quite fashionably on top of a dollop of sauce and garnished with bright little rings of red chilli. Lomo SaltadoThe unique Peruvian grilled steak, traditionally served with fries, is served with fries tucked under the tender meat and onions, soaking up all the flavorful drops and making the accompanying serving of puffed white rice almost unnecessary. Traditionally, tomatoes are fried in a wok with beef and onions, which deepens and softens their flavor. Here, the large, brightly colored tomato slices are barely cooked; balancing on top of the meat, they give the dish a bright acidity.
But we're here for the chicken. Through the glass kitchen window one can see several dozen birds slowly rotating on horizontal rails in front of a coal flame. There is no hypnosis like an endless dance on the grill: legs up, legs down, imperceptibly gradual bronzing of the skin, tantalizing release of molten fat. Stephanie Tang told me that her relatives settled on three pounds as the ideal size for the specimen: any more and the char-to-meat ratio would be off; if it is smaller, it risks drying out during cooking. Johnny's, like many family restaurants, uses a virtually unchanged version of her grandfather's marinade in the kitchen. It's mild, with a hint of cumin and a hint of garlic, perhaps so as not to overpower the other star of the show: Aji Verde. By the end of dinner at Johnny's, your table will be littered with little metal cups of this food. It also comes with ribs; with starchy yucca fries and sweet, golden tostones; and creamy chicken croquettes for the perfect start to your meal. (I'm actually really happy to see croquettes appearing more and more on menus—they're the perfect snack and such a nice outlet for food waste. It's a shame Americans haven't made them as ubiquitous a snack as sliders or mozzarella sticks.)
