Meet the Chef – Ignacio “Nacho” Huerta

New dishes like tuna tartar, Fettuccine pasta and sesame crusted tuna are expected to season the menu of in early August. But the talent behind the Southern style cuisine has remained constant since the restaurant opened six years ago.

On a recent Friday afternoon, Executive Chef Ignacio “Nacho” Huerta, 30, leaned back in a green plastic chair, his stark white chef’s coat standing out from the green cedar shake surrounding the outdoor eating area. He paused, reflecting on his jambalaya recipe that took two full weeks to prefect and is now a menu staple, splashing into an average 60 plates each week.  

“It’s like a puzzle,” Huerta said of perfecting a dish. “You’re putting a masterpiece together.” 

With a smattering of restaurants in Sayville, Blackbirds’ Grille, located on Montauk Highway across from The Islip Grange, stands out. “This is the only place in Sayville that we have Cajun style,” Huerta said. “We serve New Orleans and American cuisine, so we bring a little Cajun spice and people like it.”    

Born in Mexico, Huerta immigrated to New York City with his family at age 7. “Like everybody else does, I started as a dishwasher.” But it wasn’t until a chef The Garage Restaurant and Cafe in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village coaxed him into picking up a skillet that he began to cook.    

“I took a sauté pan, threw up some garlic, put in some salt and tried to do my own pasta,” Huerta said. Now, he has experience cooking American, French and Mexican cuisine.  

His restaurant career has included locations in Boston and the now defunct Ocean Beach resort on Fire Island, but hasn’t included much formal training. Except for a brief class at Suffolk Community College, Huerta prefers to learn from his colleagues in the kitchen. 

That hasn’t seemed to bother Blackbirds’ patrons who have consumed upwards of 300 burgers each week. Another entrée, Row Bar for Two, will include two clams, two oysters and three shrimp over pasta and be served in a 40 oz. martini glass.  

According to Huerta, through the years the restaurant’s customer base has grown, attracting crowds from Brooklyn and the Hamptons.     

“I think about my customer’s first,” Huerta said. “That’s how we do it at Blackbirds.”