Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Holiday 2017 | Page 30

chefs

HIGH-END FRENCH, LOW-KEY CHARM Humberto Campos finds the right balance at Lorena’ s

Humberto Campos is afamily man. The 46- year-old chef co-owns Lorena’ swith his wife, the restaurant’ sname- sake, and spends weekday afternoons picking up his 5-year-old son from preschool. His low-key, down-home vibe contrasts with his high-end, perfectly crafted French cuisine, but it’ sacombination that works for both Campos and the restaurant.

In its 12-year history, the intimate eatery has received countless positive reviews, including being named one of three New Jersey restaurants among the country’ s 100 best by Opentable. com, and built asteady clientele of repeat customers.
How did you know you wanted to be a chef? I had a short attention span as a child. Nothing really grasped me, and I didn’ t do great in school. I bounced around jobs once I turned 18 … I didn’ t find anything I really enjoyed. Iended up getting ajob as a waiter at LouCas in Edison, and on my days off, the chef let me go intothe kitchen. A switch turned on, Iwas so taken. Ilovedthe thrill, the excitement, the controlled chaos. I never looked back.
How did you come to open Lorena’ s? When I was working at LouCas, my boss realized I had a differentattention to detail, and I should consider working in a higher-end restaurant. I went to go work at the Stage House Inn, run by David Drake. It wasa Michelin star-quality restaurant. I ended up at the C. I. A. [ Culinary Institute of America ] in’ 97, and then went on to work at the Ryland Inn. One night, my wife and I wereinMaplewood, we went to get a cup of coffee and stumbled across Jocelyn’ s [ a former restaurant at the site of Lorena’ s ]. We found out it wasfor sale, and two weeks later, we bought the restaurant.
How would you describe your food? It’ s inspired by the technicality of French cuisine. The French are very detail oriented. I love that type of service, but I realized it’ s not all that realistic for the space I
ATLANTIC SKATE WING
have [ atLorena’ s ]. So we’ ve downplayedit, altered it, but we don’ t compromise ingredients.
What’ s the best part about being a chef? Meeting wonderful people. Everyone shares a common denominator— we all love food. Whether it’ s inthe kitchen, the dining room, everyone loves food here. It’ s a rewarding profession, it’ s not easy, but at the end of the day, making people happy makes it all worthwhile.
What’ s the worst part? Being on your feet all day. Your body begins to feel it. Plus, the challenge of balancing home life with work.

HUMBERTO CAMPOS Restaurant Lorena’ s 168 Maplewood Ave., Maplewood,( 973) 763-4460, restaurantlorena. com

“ I [ GOT ] AJOB AS AWAITERATLOUCAS IN EDISON, AND ON MY DAYS OFF, THE CHEF LET ME GO INTO THE KITCHEN. ASWITCH TURNEDON … ILOVED THE THRILL, THE EXCITEMENT, THECONTROLLED CHAOS. INEVER LOOKED BACK.”
CAMPOS AND FOOD: DANIELLE PARHIZKARAN
28 HOLIDAY 2017 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE