Adrian Oomer: Cooking with Compassion

As seen in Edible Cape Cod by Andrea Pyenson

Photos by Larry Egan

It is hard to overstate how uplifting it is to meet a child who not only has identified his passion and conviction, but who, with the help and guidance of his parents, is using them to benefit others. In the summer of 2023, then seven-year-old Adrian Oomer of Brewster, who had been cooking since he was a preschooler, launched Loco Dos popup restaurant to raise money for the homeless. In its first season, Loco Dos donated $500 to the Homeless Prevention Council in Orleans, which helps people on the outer and lower Cape dealing with housing insecurity.

“We were just blown over,” recalls Jenna Moore, HPC’s communications and development manager, when, that fall, Oomer and his parents, Melissa and Imran, arrived at the office with the donation. “He showed up just as we were starting our backpack event [Backpack to School provides fully-equipped backpacks to children on the lower and outer Cape]. He had learned about our backpack program and wanted his gift to go to [that]. One kid supporting the community in that way was really, really powerful.”

“It’s a story of how philanthropy starts,” adds Hadley Luddy, HPC’s CEO. “It starts in the mind of someone who says, ‘I want to be a part of the solution to a problem that I’m concerned about. [Adrian’s] enthusiasm both for cooking and for supporting a cause has been so inspirational to our whole organization and our board and to the community.”

Adrian first learned about the problem of homelessness during a school assembly when he was in second grade at Stony Brook Elementary. He was so upset that when he got home that day, he asked his parents if they could build houses. His mother, who is a consultant to nonprofit organizations, recalls, “I helped him understand that we don’t have to go build houses because there are other people who provide those services.” “We donate money so they can do that,” Adrian explains.

That year the budding philanthropist donated all his birthday and Christmas money to HPC. New to the Cape at the time, Melissa had discovered the organization through an online search of housing nonprofits. Adrian wanted to continue donating and had nothing left to give. His parents told him that he would have to figure out how to use his talents to generate the funds. He spent the winter thinking about it, and determined he could raise money by cooking and selling his food. Melissa recalls, “He had been coming home and saying to us, even before this, ‘I want to start a restaurant, I want to start a restaurant…So there were two things happening in parallel.”

In May, once they realized the depth of their son’s commitment, the Oomers agreed to the popup restaurant launch. “We wanted it to be driven by him,” says Melissa, of what in reality is a significant family commitment of time and effort.

The young chef’s culinary passion was sparked when he was three years old and attended Newton Community Farm Camp. At the time, the family was living in Boston. “After every session I would take my parents to try every single herb. And my favorite was fennel fronds,” Adrian says. “They [Melissa and Imran] learned that I had a passion and a big palate. So they taught me how to cook.”

Though considerably younger than most child chefs when he started out, Adrian came by his culinary inclinations honestly. His parents both enjoy cooking; their son clarifies, “Mom’s more of a baker though.” The Oomers began with the basics, teaching Adrian “how to chop, properly, not with actual knives but with butter knives and plastic knives,” he explains.

“When I was five, I got my first cookbook from my grandma, and I learned to make foods from different cultures, specifically India and Italy, because that is my parents’ cultures,” Adrian continues. From there he progressed to Mexican and Spanish dishes. “He’s the only kid who doesn’t like macaroni,” his mother interjects, “or French fries. Sweet potato fries he’ll like, or truffle fries. He likes lots of interesting flavors.”

By the time Adrian was eight, “We realized there was a point at which our informal home cooking was reaching its limit in terms of progressing his skills,” says Imran. The couple asked a friend, who is a professional chef, to help their son reach the next level. Through these sessions Adrian refined his already developing knife skills and learned how to make ratatouille and several different sauces.

Loco Dos, which operates from late June through August, offers four menu items every week, typically breakfast, savory and dessert. To come up with ideas, Adrian and his parents look through their favorite cookbooks or the New York Times. Sometimes more than one recipe for a given dish will appeal to them, so they use aspects of each. When they adapt like that, “Me and my dad like to call it ‘Loco Dos-ing it up,’” Adrian says.

Adrian’s favorite item to make is granola, which is also a customer favorite – the one item that rarely leaves the menu. The recipe, based on one in his first cookbook, has been ‘Loco Dos-ed’ up. “There’s a lot of coconut, which is my favorite fruit – after mango, obviously,” he says. His chocolate chip banana bread was such a hit when it premiered that it ran for two weeks in a row. Savory items generally include a protein, frequently a variety of meatball, and a side. “I love culture so much, I wanted to make a meatball from a different culture every week,” Adrian explains. His Japanese-inspired chicken miso meatballs have a sweet glaze and come with fried rice. He has also featured Greek-inspired chicken and dill meatballs with Greek salad, Egyptian harissa-spiced meatballs with couscous, and Italian-accented ricotta meatballs with homemade pomodoro sauce.

HPC’s Luddy, a regular customer, is a fan of the meatballs and a coconut rice dish. Adrian’s younger sister, Amira, often pitches in to shape the meatballs. Adrian explains that, like her mother, Amira is more of a baker than a chef. “But she’s very accurate keeping meatballs the same size. Since we want small meatballs so they don’t undercook, it’s good to have small hands,” he notes.

During the season, Loco Dos posts its menus every Sunday. Orders are due by Friday afternoon, and food is ready for pickup on Saturday. “Some VIPs get delivery,” says Melissa. The Oomers enter orders throughout the week, as they come in.

Most customers come from Brewster and surrounding towns, but Adrian ships granola to his paternal grandmother in Houston. His maternal grandmother in Plymouth and uncle in Boston drive the distance for pick-ups. Loco Dos keeps a mailing list of customers who receive the menus and posts them on its website (locodos.org). Melissa, who is now an HPC board member, says the staff has been very supportive of Adrian and helpful in spreading the word.

Once all the orders are in, Adrian and his parents finalize the grocery list. For the sake of the family’s sanity – and maybe to teach a young entrepreneur good life skills – “We always have a work plan,” he says, showing me one week’s entry from a previous season.

One or both parents shop for the ingredients with him at local markets and sometimes the Orleans Farmers’ Market. They start cooking on Friday afternoon and finish on Saturday. It is, all agree, a lot to do in a short amount of time. “We try to make the food as quickly as possible, but make it quality,” Adrian notes.

Items cost $10 each. Breakfast and desserts are meant to be enjoyed family style. The savory item is intended as a dinner-sized portion for one adult or two children. Melissa and Imran are reimbursed a percentage for ingredient costs and Adrian receives a small amount for his labor. In summer 2024 Loco Dos donated $1000 to HPC.

The 2025 season opened early, in May, and will have a limited menu in July to accommodate the chef’s camp schedule. “The first week will be about New Zealand,” he says. “We just visited New Zealand and I want to move there.” The menu included New Zealand lamb meatballs and strawberry trifle cup. Adrian is philosophical about the flexible schedule. “May is when a lot of people start visiting. A lot of my best customers don’t live on Cape Cod year-round, but they’re still big customers. If we open up in May, they’re going to be here right away and it’s a good welcoming treat for them.” During the three weeks in July when he will be in camp, the menu may be limited to granola, but there will be full menus in May, June and August. In addition to the summer season, Loco Dos holds holiday popups for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. The family “test kitchens” recipes throughout the year and stores the ones they like best on Imran’s computer.

HPC’s Luddy, like other staff members, is an avid Loco Dos customer – as taken with the founder as she is appreciative of his food. “His granola is definitely the best I’ve ever had,” she enthuses. “[He’s] just genuine, does this work with a true heart focused on people who are facing homelessness. It’s really incredible.” The organization has enlisted the chef’s services to cater some of its monthly team lunches. For one of those, Adrian had to learn how to cook some vegan and vegetarian dishes. “It was an experience,” he says, in a tone that suggests it was also a challenge.

In the summer of 2024, HPC organized a fundraiser at the acclaimed Wellfleet restaurant Ceraldi, which focuses on using locally-sourced ingredients, and arranged to have Adrian collaborate with chef-owner Michael Ceraldi for the event. “We work on cultivation and awareness of what we do and who we are,” explains Moore. “We thought Adrian and HPC was a perfect intersection for an event to celebrate the sustainability of community and awareness of issues in the community.” The Ceraldi dinner was a sellout and the restaurant donated all profits to HPC. Adrian spoke before dinner and brought his granola for each of the guests to take home at the end of the meal. “He’s great,” says Ceraldi. “The best thing about that little guy is his empathy, and you can thank his parents for that. He’s got a lot to teach this world.”

In July, Adrian is cooking with dietitian and nutritionist Nicole Cormier for another HPC fundraiser, this time at Truro Vineyards.

As he prepares to enter fifth grade, Adrian also has plans for a cookbook, with a working title, “Loco Dos Around the World.” He envisions three volumes, with each focused on 50 countries. Profits from sales will, like those from his popup, go toward supporting housing advocacy initiatives.

“He’s our youngest philanthropist,” says Moore. “It’s such a compelling story that he learned about the issues with housing on the Cape and he wanted to do something about it, and he did.”

Andrea Pyenson has been a food writer and editor for more than 20 years, contributing to publications including The Boston Globe, Edible Boston, The Washington Post and Fine Cooking. She was co-author of three cookbooks with chef Andy Husbands and his barbecue teammate, Chris Hart, an editor of the Boston Globe’s New England Seafood Cookbook. Andrea divides her time between Truro and Newton.

For more information about Adrian, visit his website: LocoDos.org

Homeless Prevention Council: HPCCapeCod.org