Piero Tasaico immigrated from Lima five years ago, at 18, and went into business with his father, selling traditional Peruvian food out of a cart on 97th Street and Roosevelt Avenue.
Tasaico’s only experience cooking was in prep work: peeling potatoes for an aunt’s business in Lima. But he wanted to learn. So Tasaico took to YouTube, taking a crash course in Peruvian cuisine from the likes of Rodrigo Fernandini, an internationally renowned chef.
“We are in a foreign country, you know what I mean?” said Tasaico in Spanish. “So to show [others] my little Peru is something, to bring them what is Peruvian gastronomy, which is considered one of the best in the world, [it matters].”
Tasaico’s self-learning worked. The cart became such a hit, they invested in a food truck together. Putting in 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. shifts, Tasaico and his father eventually burned out. Forced to take a six-month break in the winter of 2021, during the omicron wave, the father-son duo emerged ready to take another step forward. They hatched plans while plugging away.
Meanwhile, Tasaico had been delving into TikTok, and it paid off: his simple 15-second videos showcasing A lo Perucho JMO’s food aesthetics were inviting. The videos were often set to salsa music, including the iconic song “Me Sabe a Peru” (“It tastes like Peru to me”) by Grupo Niche. Some of his videos went near-viral, amassing more than 100K views.
In October of 2023, Tasaico and his father finally made the jump to a brick-and-mortar restaurant at the first affordable venue they could get, located in Woodhaven. The storefronts in Corona, where they had been based, were too in-demand.
But that also meant they were leaving behind physical proximity to the community that had bolstered their business. While Jamaica Avenue is a bustling street, the activity wasn’t anywhere near Corona levels.
Still, they kept the faith.
“I mean, people were always praising the food, letting us know how good our seasoning was — well, my mom’s seasoning; she’s the one who cooks,” Tasaico said in Spanish. His mother immigrated a year ago, just after A lo Perucho JMO opened. His cousins, with whom Tasaico had grown up as siblings, also work in the restaurant.
The key to drumming up business was to spread the word. Tasaico leveraged the new-old standby, TikTok. Soon enough, they were serving visitors from as far away as Miami. Tasaico isn’t sure what resonates so much with other immigrants — not just those from Peru but also from Colombia and Argentina. Maybe it was that universal longing for home, he says, which popular meat-rich plates like anticuchos and lomo saltado would help soothe.
The goal is to expand the business, also operating an A lo Perucho food truck at its original home in Corona. While Tasaico still misses his life in Lima, it helps that his family works and lives alongside him: “We, the Tasaico family, are very united — more than a company,” Tasaico said. “We are a machine.”
A lo Perucho JMO
94-16 Jamaica Ave, Woodhaven, Queens
Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
Monday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Friday 10 a.m.- 9 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
(718) 880-1043
Follow on TikTok at pierotasaico01.
