La Viga Restaurant

La Viga Restaurant: Focus on fresh seafood and flavorful Latin Cuisine, executed by Chef Manuel Martinez.

Inspired by the flavors of Latin cuisine with an emphasis on local and sustainable ingredients, chef Manuel Martinez stayed true to his Mexican roots and opened up La Viga, a Latin seafood restaurant, in Redwood City last April.

Born in Mexico, chef Martinez came to the Bay Area as a teenager and spent his time washing dishes and learning how to cook in San Francisco. Although Iron Horse was the first restaurant he worked at, it was One Market where he learned important culinary techniques from the chefs.

With more than 17 years of experience in the Bay Area, chef Martinez has had a long history of gourmet cuisine. He became the sous chef at Brigitte’s French Restaurant in San Jose and Left Bank Brasserie in Menlo Park. After working for several years at the French restaurants, he decided it was time to move on and return to his roots.

He became chef de cuisine at Reposado in Palo Alto and helped get Palacio Restaurant in Los Gatos going. In April 2012, he opened La Viga in Redwood City, a community he considers to be in the middle of great chefs and restaurants.

“I like to have a balanced menu with something fried, something grilled,” he says. “I like grilling a lot—it brings out the natural flavors and makes my food really lean. I start balancing the flavors from sweet, sour and spicy, and I like to create an explosion of flavors.”

Because he grew up eating homemade food and fresh seafood in Mexico, chef Martinez wanted to emphasize fresh local ingredients while using different techniques he has learned in his culinary experience. Fresh masa from corn, tortillas and empanadas are made daily from scratch.

“It really makes a huge difference in my cooking,” he says. “Selecting the right ingredients, using the right techniques and cooking them just right has been the secret to my success.”

The menu of La Viga boasts an extensive array of seafood dishes with a delicious twist. Appetizers include camarones al coco, crispy coconut-crusted prawns with a sweet habañero cream, and sopa de almeja, which is clam chowder made with coconut milk with a side of crispy crackers. From the ceviche menu, coctel de pulpo contains octopus, avocado, tomato and lime sauce.

Some of the main dishes include cochinita pibil, a Yucatan-style braised pork with pickled onions and oranges, and camarones a la diabla, with sautéed prawns, mushrooms, fideo pasta and spicy tomato sauce.

Although the menu contains mostly seafood, there are some vegetarian-friendly options, such as the plato vegeteriano—a dish with fire-roasted vegetables, rice and beans—or taco vegetariano for an appetizer, which has fire-roasted vegetables, salsa verde and cured cabbage.

“I believe by using sustainable ingredients, it will not only support local people but it will also show others that a Mexican diet is more than high carbs and protein. This made me want to create a new cuisine with fresh food with a twist,” he explains.

By early June, La Viga will move to a bigger restaurant two blocks away which will serve more guests. In the meantime, chef Martinez says he is currently working on new concepts under the Latin cuisine influence.