La Suerte: The restaurant that reinvents chicken with a Chinese box, beer sauce, and a taste of tradition

La caja china, which isn't actually Chinese, is the culinary technique La Suerte uses to captivate its diners. Thus, it has transformed Sunday, the official day of laziness and chicken, into a time to gather with family around unique sauces and a roasted bird using a unique and juicy technique.

"In gastronomy, when you start a business, you try not to fall into the classic fast food trap. I once owned a Chinese chicken restaurant, and it was crazy because the flavor was so powerful. With this new offering, we wanted to shake up neighborhood chicken, which doesn't have much flavor and has undermined the possibilities of making gourmet chicken. In a restaurant, you find several cuts of meat, but with chicken, there's not as much variety. From there, we saw a lot of potential," says Cristian Gómez, one of the owners of the place.

This is how this curious foodie discovered the Chinese box, which arrived in Latin America thanks to Asians who migrated to Latin American countries. In Peru, for example, this grill became popular as an efficient tool for preparing large quantities of meat for celebrations and family events. Meanwhile, in Cuba, the Chinese box is known for its use in roasting pork, especially during holidays like Christmas.

This utensil works like a rotisserie with an ingenious design. It's actually a rectangular metal box with a tray on top for the charcoal. The bird is cooked inside this structure, receiving heat from above using an inverted method. It's also how Cristian and his partner have turned the spotlight on chicken in Bogotá.

"It was a very nice endorsement of what we were doing. The pandemic was a great opportunity to work on the adobe, on the artisanal process of the Chinese box, the charcoal, time management, and strengthening the sauces. That led us to win the festival, and this came unexpectedly, because the winner was chosen via a QR code. We reached the finals from among more than 200 restaurants. The judges were Leonor Espinosa, Koldo Miranda, and Juan Manuel Barrientos," adds Gómez.

This place is ready to welcome anyone passing by Seventh Street, with a menu that offers mozzarella sticks with honey mustard or classic empanadas with chili pepper as a starter; for the main course, a whole chicken for $51.90, a half for $33.90, or a personal one for $19.90 ; and as sides, mashed plantains, avocado salad, or rice.

"During the week, we're very well positioned with a personalized menu called La Chiripa . It's a quarter chicken, a portion of rice, a portion of salad, a portion of potatoes, and it comes with lemonade included. It's a friendly price for people, and everything we do is made with very fresh products," adds Gómez.

La Suerte celebrates Colombian roots through chicken. Its logo even features the bone that brings good fortune. This is part of the popular ritual, where two people take each end of the bone and break it, wishing for something while doing so. Thus, between chicken breasts, sauces, and bones, the restaurant has become a place of wishes, juicy chicken, and family moments.

María Jimena Delgado Díaz