Behind the Renowned Food at Shark’s Peruvian Cuisine, a Dedication to Community Service
The Peruvian eatery looks to partner with The Empowerment Factory, a youth social emotional learning non-profit.
For Shark’s Peruvian Cuisine owner Carlos Valverde, community charity work and bringing Peruvian cuisine to Central Falls go hand in hand. That mission has led the eatery to partner with youth nonprofit The Empowerment Factory to promote The Healthy Living Community Event, set to take place September 6-7 at Slater Memorial Park in Pawtucket.
The community event will feature two days of free family fun in the park celebrating Rhode Island's rich cultural diversity through artmaking, a community art project, and raffles. The raffle prizes will be proudly sponsored by a selection of restaurants from the Blackstone Valley International Food Trail, including Shark’s.
Shark’s Peruvian Cuisine is no stranger to local community service. Each year, as Mother’s Day rolls around, Shark’s dining room and banquet hall are packed, bustling with the residents of multiple local retirement communities. Every year on Mother’s Day, Shark’s makes sure that those senior customers eat on the house. “I have them come here so that way they feel wanted,” Valverde said.
In Perú and Columbia, Valverde takes part in local charity work donating book bags to children out of his own pocket.
Shark’s partnership with The Empowerment Factory serves as a continuation of this mission to provide for communities in more than just serving top Peruvian cuisine.
Shark's roots come from Carlos Valverde's father, who opened one of RI's first Peruvian restaurants, El Tiburon, in Providence over thirty years ago when Carlos was just four. Growing up in El Tiburon, Carlos realized he was part of a culinary legacy worth continuing. "I always knew there was something good of what he does, because people from Connecticut, people from New York, would go visit the place [El Tiburon]."
Following the closing of El Tiburon, Valverde set into bringing Peruvian Cuisine to the Blackstone Valley on his own, opening Shark’s in 2022. Even during the pandemic when the restaurant was only open for pick-up orders, staff were needed to direct the heavy traffic flow of customers in their cars.
Shark’s array of Peruvian dishes – lomo saltado, ceviche, paella – have kept their charm within the Blackstone Valley’s diverse community. That diversity is part of what drew Shark’s to opening in Central Falls. The second floor is a banquet event venue - “we’ve had Colombian, Haitians, Chinese, all different cultures upstairs [the event space,]” Valverde said.
Valverde is grateful for the opportunity he’s had to share Peruvian cuisine with Rhode Islanders through Shark’s. What started as Carlos’ father working at a family restaurant in Peru has continued its culinary lineage to Central Falls.
That lineage has come to include community service. Shark’s looks forward to partnering with The Empowerment Factory for The Healthy Living Community Event, where they will offer gift cards as part of the raffle prizes.
In addition to the chance to win gift cards from their favorite restaurants, attendees will be treated to a full array of free family activities including artmaking, a bouncy house, and petting zoo. Register for the event at EmpowermentFactory.org/9th-HLCE for a chance to win one of the many exciting prizes including gift cards from local eateries like Shark’s.