{"id":23410,"date":"2015-03-03T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T20:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=23410"},"modified":"2015-03-18T11:34:02","modified_gmt":"2015-03-18T15:34:02","slug":"chef-oz-blackaller-creates-multiethnic-culinary-delights-at-san-diego-area-fusion-tapas-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/chef-oz-blackaller-creates-multiethnic-culinary-delights-at-san-diego-area-fusion-tapas-bar\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Chef Oz’ Blackaller creates multiethnic culinary delights at San Diego-area ‘fusion’ tapas bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the summer of 2000, Osvaldo Blackaller `07, a native of Monclova, Mexico, found himself in Harrisonburg married to the love of his life, Joanna. Oz \u2013 as everyone calls him \u2013 began working full time at Cargill, but felt a nagging urge to finish his degree.<\/p>\n

Getting into schools proved more difficult than expected with lots of hoops to jump through as an international student and class schedules that made continuing to work almost impossible. Prompted by his supervisor, Oz enrolled in the Adult Degree Completion Program<\/a> at Eastern Mennonite University.<\/p>\n

\u201cEMU was the best school experience I ever had. The professors, classes, classmates\u2026all of it,\u201d he says. \u201cTheir philosophy on education is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a visit to relatives in San Diego after graduation, Oz and his wife fell in love with the city. They moved across the country in December 2009 and he landed a human resources job with a good company. Affected by the recession, the company cut his job soon after it began.<\/p>\n

Instead of hunkering down and looking for job security, Oz said he felt this was exactly the right time to take a risk. So what was his next step in this bad economy? Opening a restaurant. A business venture with a high failure rate, not to mention Oz had never actually worked in a restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to work hard but if you truly believe in your dream, I believe you can do and achieve anything you set your mind and heart to,\u201d he says. \u201cMy professors at EMU inspired me to dream and sparked that entrepreneurial spirit in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EMU<\/a>
EMU President Loren Swartzendruber and his wife, Pat, celebrated their anniversary and the new year by dining at Oz and Joanna Blackaller’s Cueva Bar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Oz and Joanna jumped in feet first, opening Cueva Bar<\/a>, a cozy, 36-seat tapas restaurant in the quaint University Heights neighborhood where they live. Oz became Chef Oz. They did the build-out from scratch and the investment of time and money was not a small one. With Joanna\u2019s background in banking, his business studies, and the support of friends and family who believed in them, they\u2019ve been successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that passion and love are so important. You have to put that into your food for it to be good,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

His menu pulls from various ethnic threads and whatever he concocts in his mind, improvising as he goes. \u201cI love international flavors,\u201d he says. \u201cHarrisonburg gave me my first experience with Ethiopian and my first really good Thai food.\u201d He has also found inspiration in the backyard barbecues and traditional southern dishes he shared friends while living in Harrisonburg.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0menu includes fusion dishes such as French churros (brick dough wrapped around Brussels sprouts and cheese), olive tapenade quesadillas with chimichurri, a Mexican-inspired caprese salad that includes avocado and queso freso, chicken empanadas with blue cheese and curry, and even southern banana bread pudding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep all of those memories close to me and use it as inspiration,\u201d he says. \u201cI just love creating food and experiences. It\u2019s by far the best thing in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Oz, who has been a contestant on the Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen<\/a>,”\u00a0 his restaurant is more than food and business: it\u2019s also about creating community. \u201cIt\u2019s so rewarding to see guests experiencing your food and hospitality, to see people interacting. People talk between the tables, the regulars welcome new guests and make recommendations. I love seeing people\u2019s eyes light up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cueva Bar will pass the five-year mark in October, a major milestone for success in the restaurant business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the summer of 2000, Osvaldo Blackaller `07, a native of Monclova, Mexico, found himself in Harrisonburg married to the love of his life, Joanna. Oz \u2013 as everyone calls ... read more about ‘Chef Oz’ Blackaller creates multiethnic culinary delights at San Diego-area ‘fusion’ tapas bar<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12546,266,5591,5730],"tags":[16455],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-23410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adcp","category-alumni","category-business-and-leadership","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-food-network"],"yoast_head":"\n'Chef Oz' Blackaller creates multiethnic culinary delights at San Diego-area 'fusion' tapas bar - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/chef-oz-blackaller-creates-multiethnic-culinary-delights-at-san-diego-area-fusion-tapas-bar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Chef Oz' Blackaller creates multiethnic culinary delights at San Diego-area 'fusion' tapas bar - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the summer of 2000, Osvaldo Blackaller `07, a native of Monclova, Mexico, found himself in Harrisonburg married to the love of his life, Joanna. 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