“¿Qué pasó con El Gato?” is a question often asked by people driving down Avenida Raúl Ferrero. For those unfamiliar with El Gato, it was for many years the restaurant in La Molina - easily identified by a sign in the shape of a large, smiling cat head. It was owned by Carlos Monteferri, known since childhood as Gato, due to his enormous green eyes.
I visited with Gato and his wife Carmen in their lovely home overlooking Planicie Lake. Expanses of glass walls open onto their two-story covered terrace. “That roof,” Gato explained, pointing upward, “used to cover the second floor of El Gato.”
Gato is a man of many interests, but his life has been far from easy. Gato's father died when he was 14. By age 17 he was selling eggs on Avenida Larco to earn spending money. Then he purchased tobacco waste dust and sold it door-to-door as fertilizer. Next Gato married the love of his life, Carmen, who thereafter worked beside him in all his business ventures. He eventually landed major landscaping jobs, including several large industrial sites and the Pentagonito in San Borja. He finally sold the landscaping business and looked for other opportunities.
In 1989, despite terrorist threats and nearly 8000% annual inflation, Gato invested in a corner lot, located just blocks from the hill-side entrance to La Molina. In those days, that was not a commercial area. “We literally built that restaurant brick by brick. I learned to solder and to piping,” Gato explained. “It took us a long time to get started. The Gato sign was up for over five years before we opened.” Carmen laughed, “People were upset, thinking we might be building a disco.”
The utilities were so uncertain during those first years that the restaurant's water was brought in by tank truck and its power was created by three generators. Serving mainly rotisserie chicken and hamburgers, the restaurant took the entire family to run; the youngest learned to operate the cash register by age 7. “In those early years, food was scarce and inflation ran 15-20% per week. We sometimes had to raise our prices three times a day, just to break even,” Carmen said. “Today no one can imagine that.”
“We worked all the time,” said Gato. “Monday-Friday we worked until 1:30 a.m. On weekends we worked until 4:30 a.m.. Regardless of the day or hour, we never closed if we had a customer. Some days we stayed there until sunrise. Our staff was just wonderful. They worked beside us the entire time. When competition from fast-food chains arrived in the area, our loyal customers stayed with us.”
Years later, Gato's street corner became a hub of La Molina commerce. In time their neighbor, Banco Latino, wanted to expand its offices, so Gato rented half his property to the bank and added a second floor patio to the restaurant. Later Banco de Credito, occupied the spot and needed to expand, so Gato rented them the rest of his property - and retired. Some of the employees and a few of their grown children continue working with daughter, Paula, in her Cevicheria El Gato in La Planicie.
Today Gato and Carmen enjoy traveling, partying, and playing with their grandchildren. Gato plays golf with the same gusto that he applied to his business ventures and, though it hurts our ears, he can still be heard at parties singing his famous off-tune “Ba-Ba-Lu” to the tune of “Bye, Bye, Love.”
Great going Gato. We love you, really we do!
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