Downtown Joliet Venezuelan restaurant Chevere struggling through pandemic but surviving

It’s about 3 p.m. on a Friday, and chef Teresa Malave is inside the kitchen, otherwise known as her “zero stress zone,” at Chévere Latin Café. A row of ingredients to complete an order of pan de jamón, a traditional Venezuelan Christmas bread filled with ham, rests on a small metal table beside the kitchen door.

Teresa laughs, trying to remember the first time she made a pan de jamón. It was more than 20 years ago, back in her hometown of Puerto Ordaz in Venezuela. By that point, Teresa had begun feeding into her passion for cooking, a favorite pastime inspired by her aunts’ love for comfort food and respect for culinary arts.

“I have to confess,” said Teresa, 51, plopping her premade dough on the cold table and quickly flattening it into a perfect square with a rolling pin. “Over there, I didn’t make enough of them, because you can find them on every corner.”

In the U.S., especially in Illinois, pan de jamón and other Venezuelan cuisine is hard to come by, Teresa said. When she and her husband, Armando, came to the states in the 1990s, they brought with them memories of Venezuela, eventually carving out their beloved cafe, Chévere, from a four-story building in downtown Joliet. For the Malaves, their dream was to create a place where customers could feel at home.

Since opening in 2017, the husband-and-wife team have welcomed patrons from as far as Ohio and Wisconsin who have come to explore Teresa’s menu. Arepas, Venezuelan cornmeal cakes loaded with shredded meat and cheese; tequeños, Venezuelan fried cheese sticks; empanadas; and an array of combo meals and sweet desserts make up a sliver of Teresa’s catalog.

“I feel humbly honored,” said Teresa, who starts placing slices of ham and strips of bacon on top of the dough. Grabbing a handful of olives from a nearby bowl, she adds, “To me, it’s an answer to my prayer. I always ask God to send people from every corner, from everywhere.”

Like many small businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic put a strain on the Malaves’ “zero stress” attitude. Teresa and Armando temporarily closed Chévere for about three months, reopening around July. From restricting dine-in customers to offering a patio space and displaying social distance guidelines, the couple, like other restaurant owners, have faced every challenge and change head on.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Armando, who sits at a small table inside Chévere’s expanded dining room, his laptop open but off to the side. The 55-year-old handles the cafe’s front, including the finances. He’s usually the first to greet customers, trading small talk between orders.

Since the pandemic hit the U.S. in the spring, sales have suffered, and “we are surviving right now because we have savings,” he said. With the continuous rise of COVID-19 cases, Armando shared that he wouldn’t be surprised if Chévere would face another temporary closure.

But, for now, Teresa and Armando are making the most out of every day that their cafe is still open. With the upcoming holidays, the couple is still filling up on orders of pan de jamón and hallacas, another Venezuelan Christmas dish. Hallacas are made of corn dough stuffed with beef, pork or chicken, along with raisins, capers and olives, wrapped in plantain leaves.

Behind the front counter at Chévere, there’s a black wall scribbled on with positive affirmations, but one in particular sticks out: “Too blessed to be stressed.” It’s a fitting mantra that describes the Malaves’ happy-go-lucky vibe. For Armando, especially, those five words remain a reminder of why he went into the restaurant business in the first place: Chévere is Teresa’s vision, founded on love.

“My wife, she enjoys [cooking],” Armando said, adding her hard work motivates him. “She comes home. She’s tired, but she wakes up in the morning like nothing happened. She loves to come here.”

For more information on Chévere Latin Café, 81 N. Chicago St., visit www.cheverelatincafe.com or call 815-582-4353.