Gloria Henriquez at Tullpa
10/1/2025
Gloria Henriquez is a military nurse turned restaurateur. She also heads up the Iowa Latino Hospitality Council (ILHC) — a spinoff of the Iowa Restaurant Association (IRA) and Iowa Hospitality Association. We asked her to lunch recently and met at her Peruvian café Tullpa on Merle Hay Road.
Over bowls of ceviche and plates of chicharron of calamari and yucca, we talked about the restaurant business, the immigrant experience in Iowa and the marvels of Peruvian cuisine. Iowa Latino Restaurant Week was finishing its second season of bargain-priced dinners and lunches when we met.
Priced considerably lower than Des Moines Restaurant Week’s deals, did its specials bring in new customers?
“Yes, I think so. We added three new restaurant members since last year, so that suggests it’s working. I went to two other places — Old West on Fleur and Fiesta in West Des Moines — during the week, and they were very busy.
“Speaking for Tullpa, we have seen some new faces, but our problem with traffic is the same as the rest of the year — location. We are in a strip mall on Merle Hay Road. Cars drive too fast here to notice things. One customer told me that she drove past us twice a day for three years before she saw our place. Busy streets like Merle Hay make strip malls invisible. People only notice big things like McDonalds. I didn’t know that going in.”
Is that one of the things the ILHA helps with?
“Absolutely. We all do better communicating with each other.”
How did ILHC start?
“That would be Blanca Plascencia. She is owner of El Fogon and won the IRA’s American Dream Award in 2022. She told me that she was amazed to look out on the awards audience and not see a single other Latino. That motivated her. She got (IRA head) Jessica Dunker’s ear and then Antonio Berber (Fiesta), Arturo Mora (Roots 95), Jimena Rojas (Blue Bean) and myself decided to join IRA but form our own separate group.”
How many Latino restaurants are there in Iowa?
“Over 600. That’s why we needed representation. We are separate but also have full IRA membership. That’s so helpful with education — like alcohol service protocols and sources of help like Iowa Workforce. They are fabulous help. Such connections inspire restaurant workers to become owners. It’s really hard for immigrants to assimilate, particularly if we start here without knowing English.”
Can you talk about your personal immigration experience?
“I was raised in El Salvador, went to military school there and became a military nurse. I knew no English except medical English when I came to Iowa in 1999, so I got myself to language school. I couldn’t get a job nursing, so I started working in fast food.”
How did a Salvadoran happen to open a Peruvian café?
“In Iowa, Latino families fuse. My sisters married men from other Latino countries, so my extended family here is now Peruvian, Ecuadoran, Columbian and Central American. Family get togethers are a big thing for us, and food is a huge part of that.
“To tell the truth, Peruvian cuisine is superior. It’s so complex — the essence of fusion. Peruvian is part Chinese, part Japanese, part ocean, part mountains, part Spanish, part native, part nobility, part slave.”
It’s certainly caught the eye of the world. Maido in Lima was named “numero uno” at last year’s 50 Best Restaurants in the World awards in Las Vegas. The great Japanese chef Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa was chef in Lima for the family of Mariela Maya of Des Moines’ Panka. Then he moved to New York and caught attention of Robert DiNiro, who financed his expansion. Now there are nearly 100 Nobu restaurants all over the world, plus ten hotels.
“Chinese influences came to Peru even before Japanese. Chaufa is the national dish as much as anything. It’s basically Chinese fried rice. Chinese brought the wok to Peru, and Peruvians love stir fries. They throw everything in the wok. That’s so Peruvian, so fusion.”
I love Tullpa’s “chaufa cinco sabores” with beef, chicken, fish, shellfish and Chinese vegetables. I like it better than Chinese fried rice.
“Peru is the only country in the western world that calls ginger by its Chinese name — kion.”
Some of Peru’s food treasures are uniquely Peruvian?
“The yellow chilies are. We use them in sauces, dressings and stir fries and stews. Peru has more potatoes than anywhere on Earth; and corns like ‘mote’ and ‘culli,’ which we use to make purple corn beverages like ‘chica morada.’ Those are unique. Some of the brandies are, too — pisco being the most famous. Peruvians began making it because the Spanish taxed their brandies too much.”
What are Tullpa’s most popular dishes?
“Iowa is meat and potato country, and ‘lomo saltaldo’ brings that. It’s stir-fried beef steak with tomatoes and onions that is served with fried potatoes. The only other dish that popular might be our empanadas — crunchy, flaky pastries stuffed with meats or cheese.”
Why doesn’t Tullpa serve pupusas, Salvador’s most popular dish in the U.S.?
“Regulations. I thought it would be easy to move in here because it was already a Chinese restaurant. No. I had to make change after change to the kitchen. Pupusas were one thing I had to give up, too expensive to alter the grill for regulators. That’s partially why I keep active taking the food truck out to farmers markets, fairs and festivals — to make pupusas. The festivals are great for building identity, especially the World Food and Music Festival and Latino Fest.”
Sometimes Tullpa turns into a dance club?
“Particularly in the winter. We move the furniture after dinner then karaoke and dancing take the floor. We have a trivia night, too, to being in new customers.”
Henriquez took a long culinary trip this summer. Did she go to Latin America?
“No, Doha. It’s an amazing food city. Everything is there, everything.”
What are Henriquez’s favorite non-Latino restaurants in town?
“I love Amruth. They are south Indians, wonderful family. One of my favorite things is goat, but I don’t like it when it has too much aroma. Amruth gets goat tikka right. Love their dosas, too. I like all Indian restaurants, but Amruth is special. I also like Italian, and Des Moines has so many really good Italian places. I want to try all the chicken Marsalas in town.” ♦
