Chef Ismael Alba remembers those two days in 2015 as “one of the best experiences” of his life.

Alba is the Argentinian owner and chef of Buenos Aires, an Argentinian East Village staple for the past 19 years.  

It’s a restaurant that specializes in meat imported directly from Argentina, where soccer memorabilia isn’t the only thing that line the walls.

What You Need To Know

  • Chef Ismael Alba, of Buenos Aires restaurant in the East Village, was selected to cook Pope Francis’ meals during his 2015 visit to New York City. He is hoping and praying for the pope's speedy recovery

  • "I hope everybody remembers this pope as an honest and very humble and very nice [man]," Alba said. "I think he's a saint"

  • Alba had a special grill constructed for the occasion that he now keeps in the backyard at the restaurant. He hasn't used it since and says he never will again. His plan is to one day donate it to charity

If you look close enough, you’ll see photos of the owner with Pope Francis, a small note handwritten by the Pontiff and a special grill in the backyard, which will never be used for a meal again because it was used for the Holy Father.

“I thought at the beginning it was a joke,” Alba recalls when he was first asked to be the private chef for Pope Francis.

Alba really thought he was being pranked when a priest, who turned out to be the Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations, had dinner at Buenos Aires and asked Alba if he’d cook for Pope Francis on his first and only trip to the U.S., while the Pontiff was in the city for two days.

Of course, he agreed. But he wanted to make it special and cook it on a traditional Argentinian grill, which he didn’t have. So he asked a friend who’s a sculptor.

“I said I need a grill in less than five days,” Alba said.

His friend at first said he couldn’t do that.  

“It was a secret that I couldn’t mention I was going to cook for the Pope, for security reasons. So I told him, ‘Listen, I need this grill. This is for the pope — I’m going to cook for the pope.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll have it in three days.’”

He spilled the secret.

“I had to or I don’t have a grill,” Alba replied with a laugh.

Alba says the pope was on a special diet at the time, and couldn’t have salt or spices. He made an organic lemon chicken, and the grill, which now sits in the backyard, had to be taken apart to get it in and out of the Nuncio’s residence on the Upper East Side, where the pope was staying.

“My wife Carina asked him, ‘What do you think about the food?’ ‘Excellent,’ he said. 'Very good,’” Alba said.

He says what stood out was the pope’s sense of humor.

“He was very, very funny. Like I put my hand over his shoulder for a picture and one of the [security team members] took down my hand. And the pope said, ‘Put your hand back, the pope doesn’t bite!’” Alba said.

But even with the laughter, he says, it was easy to get emotional.

“I think he’s an excellent man. I think he means very good. I think he’s a saint. He is a saint. And I saw a light when I was talking with him,” Alba said.

“I hope everybody remembers this pope as an honest and very humble and very nice [man], and I think he’s trying to be good with poor people... I hope he gets better,” he continued.