Patrick’s Grille’s Secret Ingredient: Lupe Salgado

Patrick’s Grille’s Secret Ingredient: Lupe Salgado

A trip to Patrick’s Grille guarantees customers anything but an ordinary meal. From the chic and inviting atmosphere, to the fresh ingredients supporting the menu, everything about Patrick’s Grille enhances the guest experience. One special aspect that sets the restaurant apart is its small, close-knit kitchen staff, and anyone in the kitchen will say that Lupe Salgado is one of a kind.

Salgado has been with Patrick’s Grille since the beginning—ever since the restaurant opened its doors almost three years ago, Salgado has been in the kitchen acquiring fans with her amazing soups. Though Salgado has her hand in a lot of tasks, including whipping up the occasional new appetizer and detail-cleaning the restaurant on Mondays to make sure it’s up to standard, her main talent is making mouth-watering soups from scratch.

“I started out working in other restaurants, and my mom taught me at home to make different soups,” Salgado said. “But I think I got more experience with Chef Rick over here. I learned a lot more from him.”

Head Chef Rick Bruggeman said that Salgado is integral to Patrick’s Grille.

“Lupe does a little bit of everything: she makes the soups, she works the line, she works the salad station, she keeps the boys in line,” Bruggeman said.

“Yep, I do,” Salgado said.

“And she makes everything without a recipe,” Bruggeman said. “A lot of the times she’ll just ask what kind of soup I want on the menu for the day, and then she just makes it.”

Salgado and Bruggeman agree that among the many soups Salgado makes, her specialties include cream of potato, Pezzoli, corn chowder, and an acorn squash soup she makes in autumn. Many regulars will take gallons of the soup home with them.

“When she makes her corn chowder, we have a list of people we have to call to let them know,” Bruggeman said. “We really have a list of people we have to call and say, ‘Lupe made this today,’ or ‘Lupe made that today,’ and they’ll come in for it.”

Bruggeman and Salgado make a great team, an observation they agreed with, laughing.

“Oh yeah, he’s the best,” Salgado said. “One time, he told me, ‘Lupe, I have to teach you how to make this soup; it’s my mom’s recipe so when somebody asks about it, say, I can’t tell you because it’s Chef’s mom’s recipe. It’s a secret.’”

When Salgado’s not working, she likes to spend time with her husband and grandchild. She loves being at home with family, but Salgado also said that Patrick’s Grill is more than just a workplace for her—it’s a second home.

“Everyone here is like family,” Salgado said. “I never worked in a restaurant like here before. We have communication. Chef Rick is here for everybody; you have a problem, you talk to him. It’s like a family. I love it over here. You don’t have any drama. It’s like you’re home.”

A lot of the positive feelings stem from the management team at Patrick’s Grille.

“When you have a boss like Chef Rick, you have communication,” Salgado said. “He’s not mean, he’s not [dismissive.] He’s the best. And the GM, Julie, is so sweet.”

Salgado and General Manager Julie Krause joked with one another about Krause’s “angry” stance: a hand propped on the hip and a finger in the air.

“I told her, when she’s mad, she makes me laugh,” Salgado said. “She’s funny when she’s mad. She would never make you cry or make you angry, she knows how to get her point across and do her job perfectly.”

“We just love Lupe,” Krause said.

The camaraderie was telling—it’s clear that Salgado is a special ingredient in the Patrick’s Grille mix.