DALIBOR: “I AM IN LOVE WITH MEAT”

In BOP faces we talk to local legends: the people of Punta Cana that make this place so special. In this edition: Dalibor Porubsky. The Slovak chef  of La Bruja Chupadora with a passion for meat. Yes, you read it right. There is more to this story though. Read on to find out what it is in this fleshy BOP faces.  

“I am in love with meat! I just love it. The different types. The way you roast it with all the fire, it is everything. You know I am a bit of a pyromaniac,” Dalibor Porubsky (33) laughs out loud. Dalibor stands out in the crowd. His half shaved head has a lock hanging on the back of it. In a tattoo on his arm the rat from the movie Ratatouille is jumping to reach a big hamburger. On the other side a chef stands proudly in between two cooking pans with a drawing underneath that looks like a brain. “Tattoos are emotion. I love that movie and also like hamburgers!” Dalibor explains. He strokes his black chef jacket while he leans backwards in his chair.

Not a chef

Although everyone calls Dalibor a chef he does not like that word. “Here everyone calls himself a chef. A real chef does not need an education but has mileage in travelling around the world while trying different cuisines from other countries and working in different places. It is not just about going to cooking school and finishing it, it is so much more,” Dalibor says. Dalibor himself was born in Slovakia out of bloodline of butchers and chefs. “My dad has been a chef for 40 years and our family have been famous butchers for 100 years. That is where my love for cooking and meat comes from. I remember that I was 10 years old and my grandma was teaching me how to cook. But also her sour soup with baked chorizo on top is one of  the things I remember the most. You know Slovakia is in the middle of Europe. The cuisine is very rich in flavours due to the different influences around. After finishing my education in cooking I decided to travel to different countries and work there to get more experience in other kinds of cooking. I worked in Vienna, Zagreb, and lots of other places, but it in 2006 I fell in love with meat in Brazil.”

Move to the DR

But why move to the Dominican Republic? “For work.” Dalibor moved to Santo Domingo 8 years ago to work. It is there that he started working for a famous Dominican restaurant group that offered him to move to Punta Cana 1,5 year ago to help in opening their new restaurant. Along the way he got another opportunity to open a restaurant with another restaurant group in Bavaro Punta Cana called La Bruja Chupadora (translation English: The sucking witch). This restaurant recently opened. “The concept is all mine as well as the name. I wanted to come up with something that would provoke people. A witch that sucks!” he laughs. “I never repeat a concept.”

In this place all of Dalibor’s passion for meat comes together. They are known for their bbq influenced dishes. Dalibor leans forward while he says:”Did you know we have a butcher place in the roof?” He points at the roof of La Bruja Chupadora. “I don’t work. This is my passion it is a hobby. It does not feel like work. It is a lifestyle you know. I love my wife and kids, but they know that my passion comes first. It is something your partner needs to understand. If not, it does not work. Luckily my wife understands this.

Punta Cana life

“Honestly I do not like the walls in Punta Cana. It is almost like there is so much hidden behind the residencies. I prefer everything to be more open, so you can actually see the houses. What I do like is the fact that Punta Cana is so International. You meet all kind of people from different cultures. “

“On my day off we usually go to the beach. Playa Juanillo in Cap Cana, or we go to other places like Miches. This is because I want my children to grow up knowing more about nature, rather than sitting behind a screen all day.” Dalibor has two sons and a daughter.

Future

“My dream for the future is to own an estate with lots of green vegetation and animals where I create my own product.” Dalibor does not says what kind of product this is, but BOP guesses it has something to do with meat.

Visit Dalibor at La Bruja Chupadora on Plaza Coral Village! While you are there also visit Breakers Cafe.