Catering couple set to open 2 North County restaurants in 6 months — the next one is ramen

From street tacos to handmade bread and soon, ramen, culinary couple chef Mateo Rogers and baker Brittney Yracheta are creating their own version of Central Coast cuisine.

The couple opened Heirloom Catering in 2016 and Heirloom Kitchen and Eatery, a restaurant located inside the new Wines of the West tasting room on, in late November in Templeton. However, their food ventures didn’t stop there. The two are slated to open Momotaro Ramen in the Paso Market Walk this spring.

“We are re-imagining what wine country food can be,” Rogers said. “There’s always been a lack of good food out here, until recently.”

Prior to opening the catering business, Rogers worked as the executive chef of The Hatch in Paso Robles, and Yracheta was a baker at Back Porch Bakery in Atascadero, according to the Heirloom website.

Rogers, who lived in Los Angeles prior to the Central Coast, said he missed the street food and multicultural cuisine of Los Angeles and opened Heirloom Catering “out of necessity.”

The couple’s wood-fired and locally sourced catering business grew a following over the past three years and worked with many west Paso Robles wineries, Rogers said. But catering has never been the end goal.

“Catering has always been fun and great and we hope to continue doing it, but it has always been a stepping stone,” Rogers said.

Chef’s inspiration

The seasoned chef said that before coming to the Central Coast, he worked under a master sushi chef for six years and wanted to pay homage to his grandmother’s Japanese heritage by opening a ramen restaurant.

“It all kind of started with my grandma,” Rogers said.

Rogers said with his grandmother in mind, he and his girlfriend began working to open Momotaro Ramen Bar, to serve comfort food. The name, Rogers said, is an ode to the Japanese childhood story “Momotaro,” or “The Peach Boy,” that his grandmother used to tell to him.

The ramen restaurant, like their other two eateries, will use ingredients from local farmers and have seasonal menu items. Rogers said he and Yracheta frequent farmers markets for fresh, local produce.

The restaurant is slated to open in the spring and will be located in Pod 9 of the Paso Market Walk at 1803 Spring St.

From catering to restaurants

He and Yracheta had been working for about a year on opening Momotaro Ramen Bar when they were met with the chance to make Heirloom a brick-and-mortar location.

Even with another restaurant in the works, the couple did not want to pass up the opportunity. Heirloom opened at 3720 Highway 46 in Templeton on Nov. 22

“We love what we do already, but being able to share that is great,” Rogers said.

Rogers said catering allowed them to serve the community, but the restaurant gives them the opportunity to reach a wider audience in one space.

And although Heirloom and Heirloom Catering may be under the same name and run by the same couple, the menus are quite different. Rogers said while Heirloom Catering is wood-fire focused, the restaurant counterpart serves a California fresh menu.

Heirloom’s main menu features hero sandwiches, roasted bite appetizers and salads. However, Rogers said the restaurant hosts seasonal specials and is constantly creating new bites.

Prices range $6 to $26, and they are open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.