From fresh Pennsylvania Dutch blueberry crumble breads to mouthwatering burgers with a charitable cause, Reading Terminal Market has housed independent local businesses offering a fine selection of eats since 1892.

But, almost 125 years later, no matter the hodgepodge of culinary whimsies the Market had to offer, there was still a gap in the menu craving to be filled: Latin American delights. In comes Loco Lucho’s Latino Kitchen, the first merchant at the historic landmark to offer Puerto Rican cuisine. The man behind the logo’s ‘stache- which will surely become the Market’s “Golden Arches”- is Luis Liceaga.

But, before becoming the owner of the first Latino “brick and mortar” at Reading Terminal Market, the native Puerto Rican’s prowess for cooking flourished as a young child, wherein Liceaga was exposed to one-on-one experience with a prestigious teacher. The “business forté” for the venture would develop later on, as a teenager, at Wharton.

Taking after the legacy left by his famous great-aunt Carmen Aboy Valldejuli, Chef Liceaga enjoys preparing cocina criolla the way that your abuelita made it in her kitchen: fusing comfort dishes with street bites in the style of a caterer: local, natural, and made directly on-site at real time. You won’t get ooh-la-la frills when you’re served the offerings on Liceaga’s menu, but you sure will appreciate the simple elegance of an utterly perfect chimichurri sauce paired with a juicy churrasco, a wide array of unique empanadas, blocks of queso frito, and a paella dripping with produce and poultry.

AL DÍA has invited Chef Liceaga, a newcomer to the “Phoodie” scene with a knack for traditional tastes, and his business partner Rafael Nieto, for our fourth live cooking demonstration series Meet the Chef’s Transforming Philadelphia’s Cuisine, made possible in part by our partnership with Independence Blue Cross.

This event will take place on Tuesday, November 14th 2017, starting at 5PM. Don’t wait to register! Do so now, here.

Like our last “Chef Series”, Liceaga’s full feature story will be on the cover of our weekly print edition, slated to be released on Wednesday, November 8th 2017.