Colombian fare comes to Farragut
Gilberto Cortes, center, owner and CEO of La gota fría, joins his wife and partner, Nelly Sanchez, second from left, their son, Adrian Cortes, 5, and staff, from left, Sonia Pèrez, Beatriz Cortes and Carlos López, at the family-owned restaurant.
Customers have a variety of dishes to try, such as a paisa tray to ranchera steak with fried eggs, or a churrasco, which is a grilled skirt steak.
They can start their meal with ajico, a chicken and potato soup, or dive into a chicken with rice dish, fried chicken with delicious spices or picada o frittanga, which features pork ribs and slices of Colombian sausage.
Cortes, owner and CEO, and his partner and wife, Nelly Sanchez, opened the family-owned restaurant May 29. He said this is his first such venture.
“One of my passions is cooking, and when I have done it with my friends, especially the North Americans, they have been fascinated by the Colombian dishes that have been tried,” Cortes said. “I decided to open it in Farragut because I found that it is the ideal place to go” to introduce the Colombian gastronomy and start his idea for the restaurant.
“The gastronomy of Colombia is the result of the fusion of foods, practices and culinary traditions of the local, European (mainly Spanish) and African American cultures,” Cortes said. “From the diversity of fauna and flora in Colombia, there is a varied cuisine essentially Creole, with little influence from foreign cuisines.
“Colombian dishes vary in preparation and ingredients per region and incorporate the traditions of the Spanish, mestizo and afro cultures,” he said. “Some of the most common ingredients in the preparations are cereals, such as rice and corn; tubers, such as potatoes and cassava; varieties of legumes (beans); meats, such as the vaccine, chicken, pig, goat, guinea pig and other wild animals; and fish and seafood.
“Also important is the variety of tropical fruits, such as mango, banana, papaya, guava, lulo and passion fruit,” he added. “The food we serve has flavors that no person should refuse to try. We are sure you will love them.
“The dishes we offer are unique,” Cortes said. “No other restaurant has them.
The name, La gota fría, means “the cold drop,” he said.
“The idea of the name was taken from a song performed by Carlos Vives and it is well-known in the Hispanic community,” Cortes said.
La gota fría is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday; for dinner from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and from 5 to 10 p.m., Fridays. It is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturdays, and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sundays. The restaurant is closed Mondays.
It also has carry-out and home delivery services.
For more about La gota fría, call 865-288-0402. For the menu, visit lagotafriaknoxville.com
