Franco Noriega: How a Model-Turned-Chef Maintains His Six Pack!

Franco Noriega, owner of Baby Brasa, is all about Peruvian food.

If the old adage "never trust a skinny cook" is true, then restauranteur Franco Noriega may just be the human equivalent to salmonella poisoning. But skinny, however, might not be the right adjective when describing the 6'2" Peruvian model. The first word that comes to mind is... well, ripped. Noriega, who has modeled for brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, and Hugo Boss, and was a creative director at Macy's, has more abdominal muscles than a kitchen range has burners, so he's not really the type you'd think would extoll the pleasures of eating.

And yet earlier this year Noriega opened Baby Brasa, a restaurant on New York's Lower East Side that's serving up the healthy side of his home country's national cuisine.

Peruvians are interested in food without knowing that we’re interested in it," the strong-jawed model said on the phone while simultaneously talking to us and skateboarding over the Williamsburg bridge one recent afternoon (yes, really). Noriega, who came from a family of restauranteurs and had a close relationship with a nanny who demonstrated the joys of cooking, seemed destined to find a place in the food industry.

And if you think that having a physique like Noriega's is at odds enjoying food and eating, well then you'd be wrong. Noriega maintains his body by eating—a lot—but eating the right stuff. Read on to hear about his journey from fashion to food, how he likes to work out, and why Baby Brasa is the ultimate restaurant for guys looking to stuff their faces and stay swole.

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Cooking was always a big part of your life. How did you learn to eat healthy?
Peruvian food is really healthy overall. There’s a lot of pride in the ingredients that we use—that’s the best way to describe how we feel about food. We eat so many ingredients that we didn’t even know were healthy for a long time, you know? Like quinoa. We’ve been eating quinoa for as long as I can remember and only recently did we find out that it’s a superfood. Same with with purple corn. I was a swimmer and when I was 12 I made it onto the Peruvian national team and then I went on to swim professionally for five years. As a swimmer I had a very strict diet to follow that was very healthy. Coming from my background, though… one thing my parents never did was jeopardize flavor for health. At my house, if we had to make a salad, we would make sure that it was off-the-charts delicious. I never felt like I was on a diet. That’s how Baby Brasa came about.

So what did you think about when you were putting together Baby Brasa's menu?
Most people don't know this—or most think that Peruvian food is ceviche, and in many ways it is—but the most important protein in Peru is chicken. It's a part of the DNA of the culture. Fish in Peru is expensive, even though we're a fishing town. It's ironic, but because of that not everyone can afford to eat fish. Chicken is an inexpensive protein. Also, you have to think about the fact that Peru is divided into three regions and only people on the coast eat fish. Everyone else eats chicken. Rotisserie chicken is huge—it actually became Peru's national dish in a way.

  There was a big opportunity in making the type of food that you want to eat every day. I'm a guy, I eat a lot, I go to the gym, I like to eat healthy and clean, but I need it to taste good. I mean, Sweetgreen, I love it and it's a great idea, but two hours after, I'm starving, you know? I can't eat a salad and call it a day.

That's when the whole rotisserie chicken idea came along. I was in Peru visiting family, and when I go there, I get to chose where I want to eat because I don't live there. And everyone had ideas: I don't remember who suggested it, but they said lets get rotisserie chicken and then everyone, right away, said yes. I then I thought that maybe I should do a healthier rotisserie chicken. At the end of the day, rotisserie chicken is healthy—there's no frying, it's an oven-baked chicken.

"I mean, Sweetgreen, I love it and it's a great idea, but two hours after, I'm starving, you know? I can't eat a salad and call it a day."

 

It looks like you opt for spices rather than sauces, which is the healthier way to go.
Yes, of course. Peru has the biggest variety of ingredients in South America. It has more climate regions than any country in the world. Out the 32 climate regions we have, like, 29. We can grow practically anything.

As a restaurant owner, how do you stay fit when life is really busy? It's hard.
To be honest, I don't think it is hard. Especially now with the restaurant. Before I was always eating out, always spending like twenty bucks, never eating healthy, and I was never full. So I was spending money and I didn't feel good. Also, being a swimmer, you can't eat and then wait an hour-and-a-half, you eat and then 30 minutes later you're in the water, and not only that, training really really hard. From an early age I understood that food didn't just have to taste good, it had to make you feel good afterward. That's a priority I have in mind, when I think of the way I cook.

What's your workout routine like?
I don't really have a plan, actually. Like right now, through this interview, I've been crossing the Williamsburg bridge on my skateboard [Ed. note: the second half of the interview did sound funny, like he was in a windy area and shouting]. I commute on my skateboard or my bicycle. That's a big part of it, that's how I move around in New York. My workouts are incorporated into my life. I also go to the gym like five or six times a week and I work out for 45 minutes. I'll pick a body part, one day I'll do my chest... it's not like on Mondays I have to do this, or on Tuesdays I do that. Part of me enjoying working out is giving myself the freedom to do whatever I chose.

Baby Brasa is located at 129 Allen Street in New York City and a second location, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is set to open later this year.