It’s been a good year for executive chef Berty Richter — a good third year in a challenging industry.

As restaurants struggle and shutter across Texas and the country, Richter’s Mediterranean Grill, Ladino, is thriving and winning recognition at Pearl.

In 2024, Ladino received a Michelin Bib Gourmand. In April, Richter’s grill house was named Outstanding Restaurant at the CultureMap San Antonio Tastemaker Awards.

To celebrate the restaurant’s third anniversary, Richter is moving his charcoal mangal grill outside and throwing a block party on the patio Sunday from 3-9 p.m. 

The six-hour celebration will feature bites from Richter and guest chefs from Pullman Market, Mezquite, Burgers by the Butcher and the Jerk Shack. There will be live music, a balloon artist and face painting for children.

“We wanted to do a fun outdoor event to celebrate Ladino,” Richter said. “One of my chef mentors 25 years ago used to tell me, ‘You’re only as good as your last plate.’ That really stuck with me throughout my career. In our profession you have to constantly keep pushing forward and strive to do better.” 

Chef Berty Richter posing inside Ladino located at Pearl. Credit: Vincent Reyna for the San Antonio Report

Succeeding like Ladino has is difficult in the current economy, says Blanca Aldaco, owner of Aldaco’s Mexican Cuisine and president of the San Antonio chapter of the Texas Restaurant Association. Primary challenges include the rising costs of goods, labor shortages and higher payroll expenses.

“As we approach the holiday season,” she said, “I’m hopeful that the spirit of celebration and togetherness will bring people back to dining out and connecting over meals.” 

Bringing people together is the aim of Jerk Shack founder Nicola Blaque, a guest chef at Sunday’s block party.

“When you look at how many businesses shut down and don’t last as long as Ladino, I’m happy to celebrate and lock arms,” Blaque said. “With the times we are in, there’s no need to be competing. We literally need to be supporting and uplifting each other. I love the way they supported me and I’ll be happy to support them.” 

Blaque understands struggle. The Jerk Shack opened as a 600-square foot, hole-in-the-wall in 2018. It had a walk-up window, limited parking and no refrigeration. Blaque worked as chef, server, manager and bookkeeper while pregnant. If not for the generosity of a customer, who kept her employees paid, the Jerk Shack would have folded. 

Today, the Jerk Shack serves customers in a 2,700 square foot site on the far West Side. Like Ladino, it received a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2024.

Richter also understands struggle. He did not attend culinary school. He learned to cook from his mother and grandmother in their home near Tel Aviv. In 2001, he left Israel for New York to pursue his ambition of becoming a chef.

In Manhattan, he found a job as a line cook at Tribeca Park Cafe, a since-closed deli co-owned by actor Robert De Niro. A server at a restaurant on the 106th and 107th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower, Windows of the World, introduced him to the restaurant’s chef. Richter was told to call and apply for a kitchen job. It was all but his.

He never called. Weeks later, on the morning of Sept. 11, an airplane crashed into the North Tower. Richter and fellow workers from Tribeca fed rescue crews following the World Trade Center’s collapse.

Richter later married and relocated with his wife to Austin, where he opened a food truck. Then he moved to San Antonio and opened Ladino to serve the Jewish-Balkin cuisine of his youth. 

He has succeeded in an industry noted for closures. Seventeen percent of restaurants fail within the first year and nearly 50% shutter within five years, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and a University of California-Berkley study. 

Ladino’s success stems, in large part, from its menu. The most popular items are hummus, spicy feta, pishkado crudo, shishbarak, saffron chicken and lamb belly ribs. At the block party, Richter will offer bites of lamb and beef kofta and mushroom shawarma.

“You have to truly believe in what you’re doing and be passionate about it,” Richter said. “As a chef owner, I always continue to educate my teams and work closely with them so they can continue to progress along with me.

“I’m blessed and grateful to have teams that are receptive to the culture I bring both to the plates we serve and to our restaurants.”