NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Ismael Alba has owned Buenos Aires, a restaurant on the Lower East Side, and he is used to many celebrities coming in to enjoy his Argentinian dishes.
But in September 2015, he had an unexpected visit by some members of Pope Francis’ team.
“They told me we came here a few times, and we want you to cook for the pope,” said Alba.
Ismael said he thought it was a joke until he was taken to where Pope Francis was staying.
“A brownstone, a five-story building, on 70th Street between 5th and Madison,” described Alba. “We cooked grilled chicken with lemon, vegetables, and some empanadas and bread pudding. We also gave a few bottles of wine,” he added
On a video of them together, you can hear the 266th Roman Catholic pontiff saying in Spanish, “very good,” referring to the food.
The grill has never been touched since, and they have named it “the Holy grill.”
Alba said Pope Francis ate it all, adding, “the bread pudding half, because he was on a special diet. And we gave him ‘yerba mate’, which is like a tea.
Ismael didn’t just cook for the pope. “I helped the nuns, the priests prepare the little room for him. They bought a mattress, we cleaned the backyard, we fixed the intercom."
“He used to call me ‘che’, come on! When he saw me. We talked about soccer; he talked about Cuba. He talked about San Lorenzo; his team he loved, is Huracán. He talked about tango. He mentioned, I swear, that this was the best city he has ever been in. He loved New York City. He was very, very happy to be in New York,” said Alba.
Pope Francis gave Ismael a rosary during his 2015 visit and last year sent him a picture with his signature.
“I saw like he had a light, it never happens in my life, like he was like a saint. And peace, he was very, very peaceful,” concluded Alba.
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