Val Chang's New Restaurant Pays Homage to Her Family's Home Cooking

It's hard to believe that just two months ago, Miami chef and restaurateur Val Chang wasn't even thinking about opening a new restaurant — let alone one dedicated to the women who have been instrumental in her love for Peruvian fare.

The 31-year-old tells New Times that a casual conversation with the space's previous occupants — the recently shuttered Sour Seed Bagels and Thatch — blossomed into an opportunity to work together on a new venture.

For the past five years, Chang has worked alongside her business partners and family — her father, Fernando and brother Nando — producing some of the city's most innovative Nikkei cuisine with their Miami Design District establishment, Itamae, and casual eatery B-Side located inside Wynwood's 1-800-Lucky market.

Today, fans of Itamae (which received a Michelin Bib Gourmand nod in 2022) are intimately familiar with Val's backstory. She is a talented chef who immigrated with her family from Chiclayo, Peru, when she was 10. She grew up watching her father cook at a sushi restaurant, which inspired the family's restaurant.

What they may not know, however, is her early life at home: memories of feasting on dishes prepared by her paternal grandmother, Marta, alongside the family's household cook that inspired an appreciation for the homemade recipes that now take center stage at Maty's.

For the past few weeks, working day and night to rethink the Midtown Miami space while composing a menu of Peruvian staple dishes, Val says she's excited to share a glimpse into her childhood via an ambitious new project.

"Nando and I really wanted a place where we can both express ourselves creatively, and this is my take on my grandma Marta's cooking, but also my maternal grandmother and the other two women who helped shape me into the chef I am today," explains Val. "Even the menu will be written in my grandmother's handwriting. It's all about keeping that tradition alive."

The indoor/outdoor restaurant will debut later this month, with a tentative opening date slated for March 13. When it launches, expect the menu to highlight traditional Peruvian cuisine, with all its dishes inspired by Chang's family, informed by her professional training, and imbued with her style and punchy flavors.

"The food that created me will be the food created here," says Chang, who will use family recipes to create the menu. "Maty's will be about celebrating Peruvian cuisine, not reimagining or redefining it."

While the debut menu has yet to be revealed, the chef shared a few of her signature opening dishes with New Times, including one close to her heart: a hearty chicken stew known as pollo guisado that her family often ate on Sunday.

At Maty's, the dish will include secret recipe tweaks from various matriarchal influences, be it ingredients like chicha morada, soy sauce, beer, or aji amarillo — each one a secret "touch" offered to the chef by friends and family members.

The menu also will focus on Peruvian staples like tiradito and ceviche, each made with fresh Florida catches; salads that highlight local, seasonal produce; and a bevy of dishes served at the Chang family dinner table like the yuca rellena stuffed with Wagyu strip steak, Alfonso olives, and raisins — a recipe that dates back to Chang's great-grandmother.

"As an immigrant, I'm always trying to find ways of connecting to our home, to Peru, and it's my goal to give the world a little taste of that right here in Miami," sums up Val. "This is the food closest to my heart, and I want to honor that by executing it at the finest level without losing the soul and love that makes the food what it is."

Maty's. 3255 NE First Ave., Miami. Opening March 13. Reservations can be made via resy.com.