Why two Charlotte-area chefs are trading kitchens for a day

Would you trade your job with someone else for a day? That’s what Chef Paul Verica of Heritage Food & Drink in Waxhaw and Chef Aaron Rivera of Tapas 51 in Fort Mill are doing Jan. 24, with a restaurant swap. Verica will take over the modern Hispanic style of cuisine in Rivera’s kitchen, while Rivera will adapt to the farm-to-table approach in Verica’s kitchen.

Rivera has never participated in a restaurant swap before, but he conjured up the idea to try it. Just for fun.

“I had a nice long conversation with Jose Cuervo the night before, and he basically told me it was a good idea to do it,” Rivera joked.

Verica confirmed: “It was a late-night conversation.”

Out of the Heritage kitchen, Rivera and his sous chef Robert Corley will be serving a prix fixe menu of at least seven courses, largely based on ingredients that are available in the Charlotte region the week of the swap. Rivera has a history of cooking in different hotels around the world, including the fine-dining atmosphere at the Bellagio. He said it’s a joy to get out of his own kitchen for a night (he has been at Tapas 51 for a year and a half) and to briefly return to the high-end style he once worked in.

Among the Jan. 24 menu items, Rivera plans to work with foie gras, mushroom sausage and, as a tribute to an inside joke with Verica, a cinnamon bun dessert featuring Fruity Pebbles cereal.

His challenge: “How we’re going to stagger out the courses,” Rivera said.

He said another obstacle will be working in a smaller kitchen at Heritage than he’s accustomed to, but he has served a tasting menu off of a food truck before, so he’s up for the task.

(Verica, too, thinks he’ll be challenged by a smaller kitchen at Tapas 51 than he’s used to. So whose kitchen is really smaller?)

Verica is eager to drop his philosophical approach for Heritage for the night, which is to buy the best local produce and not screw it up.

“There are certain things we don’t cook with here (at Heritage),” he said. “I thought it would just be fun to get out of our normal wheelhouse and play around a little bit. I’m looking forward to it.”

For example, he hasn’t cooked with an avocado in three and a half years because they aren’t local to the Charlotte area. In the Tapas 51 kitchen, Verica will be working with avocados as well as with his team — his son Alex and his pastry chef Ashley Boyd. His strategy is to just have fun.

Among featured menu items planned for the Jan. 24 a la carte spread at Tapas 51 are a Philly Cheesesteak taco, since Verica is from Philadelphia, deviled eggs with North Carolina chorizo sausage and local goat cheese, and chips and guac.

“We’re more than a one-trick pony,” Verica said of his Heritage team.

Be there

Jan. 24 restaurant swap reservations can be made for Heritage at http://www.heritagefoodanddrink.com/, and for Tapas 51 at www.provechorestaurantgroup.com.

Heritage Food & Drink: 201 West South Main Street, Waxhaw

Tapas 51: 3415 Highway 51 N., Fort Mill, SC 

Photos: Asterisk Creative and Jonathan Cooper

This story was originally published January 16, 2017 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Why two Charlotte-area chefs are trading kitchens for a day."