BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | All of Francis’s many papal pronouncements on his recent U.S. tour seemed to come right from the heart.
But one of them also came straight from the gut:
“Me encantó el pollo” (“I really loved the chicken”).
Those were the words the Catholic Church leader thanked Ismael Alba with after the East Village restaurateur, his mother-in-law and an assistant prepared Argentinian-style lemon grilled chicken for the pontiff’s lunch last Thursday afternoon.
Alba, 56, has lived in the East Village since 1994. His Argentinian restaurant, Buenos Aires, at 513 E. Sixth St., is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary. His landlord is Bob Perl of Tower Brokerage, who tipped The Villager off to the story.
Before Buenos Aires, Alba was a silent partner in Coup restaurant, which also used to be on E. Sixth St.
The New York Post reported that about two months ago, Bernadito Auza, a Filipino archbishop who is also the permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, ate barbecue at Alba’s eatery and had an epiphany: He urged Alba to cook for his holiness on his New York visit.
And so it came to pass… .
The East Village chef was tapped to cook for the Argentinian-born Francis — the first Latin American pope — on an outdoor patio at the Vatican’s U.N. mission, on E. 72nd St. off of Fifth Ave.
But first, Alba had to fabricate a special 20-inch-wide grill because a traditional 35-to-40-inch Argentinian grill would not fit inside the place’s basement entry door. The custom-made, collapsible cooker was crafted by an Argentinian steelworker in Queens.
On Thursday, they drove uptown in a van, escorted by a police car, then assembled the grill on the patio.
First the fire was prepared with wood and coal. Starting at 11 a.m., the chicken was cooked over the coals for two hours and twenty minutes. Alba’s mother-in-law, Maria De Marco, actually did the cooking, along with assistant Jorge Hernandez. The grill sports a pulley that allows the chicken to be raised and lowered in a delicate temperature tango to achieve perfection.
“We did it Argentinian style — we did it slow,” Alba said.
The lunch was served at 1 p.m., leaving Francis plenty of time to dine before the next stop on his agenda, a visit to an East Harlem school.
The papal poultry was cooked without salt or spices, but plenty of “lemon, lemon, lemon,” Alba said.
The meal was prepared for 14 people. The others’ chicken was done with garlic and parsley.
There were also vegetables, and some fruit for dessert.
Alba brought along four cases of Argentinian Malbec wine for the pope and others to wash down the feast.
They also made beef empanadas and bread pudding for the nuns and security staff, including the pope’s contingent of Swiss Guards. Francis may possibly have scarfed down an empanada, too, Alba isn’t sure.
Like the pope, Alba was born in Argentina. He came to New York on a student visa in 1981 and wound up staying.
After the meal, he spoke to Francis briefly, about 10 minutes, and took some photos with him.
“I think he’s a saint, this pope,” Alba said. “He means good. I’m so happy to be a part of it. It’s a blessed day for me.
“I say, thank you very much for what he did in Congress the day before,” Alba said. “We talk about soccer. His team is San Lorenzo, mine is Boca Juniors. ‘Next World Cup,’ I said, ‘please pray for Argentina.’ He said, ‘We beat the Germans in 1986 in Mexico.’
“He loves tango, a lot. And he likes to talk to people, to interact with people — we say, ‘el papa de la gente’…‘the people’s pope.’
“He gave me a rosary from the Vatican. He talked with my wife, Karina, with my mother-in-law.”
For his part, Alba gave the pope three letters from sick children, one of whom Alba knows personally. The other two letters were given to him by a journalist.
“I am from a family of immigrants, and I say, thank you very much what he is doing for the immigrants,” Alba added. “I say, thank you very much for what you are doing for the planet.”
