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Jose Castro had several needs when he began looking for a second career in 2006. After spending about 20 years selling insurance, often in small towns around Missouri, Castro tired of traditional 9-to-5 hours and the exhausting, long car trips. He also wanted a job he could share with his companion, Mary Deacon, and one with a relatively low start-up cost.

That’s the short version of how an agricultural adviser from Peru eventually wound up running a crepes restaurant in downtown St. Louis.

Castro modeled the restaurant after his favorite spots in Peru. The restaurant features long tables to encourage strangers to interact, as well as a large mural and other art — all designed to create a welcoming, international feel. Castro also talks proudly about how servers in Peru are more like performers. He tries to bring a similar sense of showmanship to the restaurant, from the way he brings water to a table to how the crepes are prepared in plain view of customers.

Most of the restaurant’s food, of course, is not Peruvian. But Castro said he quickly learned while selling insurance how expressive American consumers are when it comes to embracing or rejecting products.

Castro said it’s one of the things he likes best about America. It’s also why he was confident about opening a new restaurant in the midst of an economic downturn.

So when you started looking to get out of selling insurance, how did you eventually decide on a crepe restaurant?

You don’t need a big investment to do the crepes. You just need the little (electric griddle). … If you want to do burgers, yeah you need a grill, but now you need a (range) hood. And that can be very expensive. … You just plug (the grill) in and it can go anywhere.

Also, the fact that there are not too many places doing crepes in the area. We thought we can just combine so many flavors here. That’s the other part, every culture has some kind of food you put in a wrap. You call it a tortilla, you call it wrap. And this is the crepe. You can put whatever inside … and most people like it.

How has starting this business gone?

We started the business in a most difficult time. (Previously, he ran his crepe business out of the office services and coffee bar Washington Ave. Post). I mean, we started in October and two weeks later President Bush announced that we’re in a recession. So all that bad news was mounting. When the loan was approved, we had to think hard about if we were going to take it, because who wants to open in a terrible time?

I felt I had no choice. … If you’re pushing hard and that’s all you know how to do at that point, to back up after all this time — to do what? It’s not me, you know? I was so involved with it and it was my dream, that I felt, if I do this, people are going to come. If we present something nice and different, people are going to come.

What drew you to St. Louis from Peru?

I was about to get married (to a St no fax payday loans. Louis native) at the time, and we made the choice to (live in) Peru. But in between, terrorism started and it was of the worst kind. Very, very violent. …

I was an agricultural adviser. I worked for a large farming company and also I researched land pollution from mining companies. So I had to be on those lonely roads all the time. And it was like, can’t do that anymore. People with machine guns were attacking. I didn’t want to be in my own car and have them take it or who knows what — ransom or kidnap me or whatever.

At that time, it was not that bad, but I had to make a decision, I had to look into the future and ask, "Are things going to get better?" My assessment was it would not, and I was right. I only knew that later. It got really bad, not only on those lonely roads, but in Lima (the capital). It would’ve been easier for me to adapt to this situation (in America) than for her to adapt to that situation.

So you see yourself and your servers as performers?

Oh, they are. They’ve got to be. … Every time there is an exchange — it could be that they dropped a fork and you bring another one — don’t just put it there. Make that connection. Allow for appreciation. See if (the customer) likes that. It’s part of the experience. You’re doing your job when you allow for that person to say, "Thank you."

When you put a plate down, you’re always looking at the person. It’s always that eye contact. We all are in a show. It’s got to be a show.

Any of my employees can tell you I say, "Have you ever seen or heard that Mickey Mouse was in a bad mood? Do you think it would be all right if Cinderella was angry that day? Probably not. So why here? What’s the difference? People don’t care about your personal problems." That’s one thing I learned by practicing and working at Lucas Park Grille.

How have you enjoyed performing everyday?

I liked it. One of the owners at Lucas Park Grille told me once because of the good comments from the clientele, "You’re one of the features here."

For me, maybe it was natural. I’ve got to be that way. The excellence of service I was getting in Peru, it goes well in that environment, but it’s much more formal. Here, people want to engage with you. In the very first week here in the United States, one of the things that came to my attention was people would be talking in the line at the grocery, and they would be engaging the cashier.

In Peru, its strictly formal. I’m the employee and you’re the client and show a lot of respect and formality. But the thing about social or economic class is not brought up all the time. Here, you don’t know with whom you’re talking.

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