El Humero officially opened on May 15. Owner William Gonzalez came to New Zealand six years ago where he met his business partner, head chef Alejandro Garcia. Between the two and their respective partners, El Humero was created in Takapuna, Auckland.
It took three months to build after coming up with the idea almost three years ago.
“We were sharing drinks one day and came up with the idea. We decided it would be good to have something Colombian, as there wasn’t much Latin American here at the time,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez’s background is in software engineering, but during nights and weekends he’s taking care of the restaurant. Prior to El Humero, Garcia previously worked at Pane Vino and El Sizzling Chorizo.
There is a total of 15 staff. The menu has a focus on barbecued food, with most of the dishes cooked over seven or eight hours. The signature dishes are short ribs and pulled pork, and sides including cassava and plantain. All of the sauces are homemade on a daily basis using fresh ingredients, most tomato and onion based. The main wall of the restaurant is a replica of a typical house in Colombia.
“Colombia is a very diverse country, so we tried to include small pieces of different places in the fit out. When people step in the door, we want them to travel to Colombia,” Gonzalez said.
El Humero
