Mexicali Restaurant in Washington D.C. / GONZO

My name is Nicholas Olivas and I am the Chef/Owner of Gonzo. I was born and raised in San Gabriel Valley, California. In 2005 I attended culinary school and landed my first job cooking. Since then I have moved from the West Coast to the East and have been fortunate enough to work at amazing places such as Fifth Floor, Corton, Torrisi, and Pineapple and Pearls, all Michelin star restaurants. For the last 15 years, I have been cooking with some amazing chefs and ingredients that anyone would be proud of. I committed my life to a craft that I found was not only extremely challenging but incredibly rewarding. Cooking is something that you can study for your whole life and still learn something new daily. This is the reason why I chose and continue to love my profession.

When covid started, restaurants got their fair share of problems. People were laid off, restaurants closed and whatever food was still available was take-out. For me, I considered it a responsibility as well as an opportunity to venture out on my own. Understanding the hard times we all had to endure, I knew that opening a business during this time would be risky. In doing so, I would be able to create a place where covid is taken into consideration and wouldn’t affect the quality of food.

I named the Pop-up Gonzo because I wanted to do something in memory of my brother that passed away last year. My brother loved Hunter S. Thompson and when researching that idea, the word Gonzo appeared. Gonzo is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using the first-person narrative. So, I decided to take that idea and make Gonzo. Hoping to cook food that I find delicious and cooking it using the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years. Though the menu is small, I pride myself on making sure that every step taken is held up to the standards in which I have been taught all these years. Having respect for yourself as well as the food is crucial. Putting care and heart in the food is what I would like the guests to take away after eating at Gonzo.

“A recipe has no soul. You as a cook must bring soul to a recipe.” – Thomas Keller