A Place at the Nayarit : How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Molina, Natalia.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Barraza, Natalia, -1969.

Barraza, Natalia.

Nayarit (Restaurant : Los Angeles, Calif.).

Immigrants--California--Los Angeles.

Immigrants.

Mexican American neighborhoods--California--Los Angeles--Social life and customs.

Mexican American neighborhoods.

Mexican American neighborhoods--California--Los Angeles--Social lifeand customs.

Mexican Americans--California--Los Angeles.

Mexican Americans.

Restaurants--California--Los Angeles.

Restaurants.

Echo Park (Los Angeles, Calif.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (284 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Place at the Nayarit

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2022.

Summary:

In a world that sought to reduce Mexican immigrants to invisible labor, the Nayarit was a place where people could become visible once again, where they could speak out, claim space, and belong. In 1951, Doña Natalia Barraza opened the Nayarit, a Mexican restaurant in Echo Park, Los Angeles. With A Place at the Nayarit, historian Natalia Molina traces the life's work of her grandmother, remembered by all who knew her as Doña Natalia--a generous, reserved, and extraordinarily capable woman. Doña Natalia immigrated alone from Mexico to L.A., adopted two children, and ran a successful business. She also sponsored, housed, and employed dozens of other immigrants, encouraging them to lay claim to a city long characterized by anti-Latinx racism. Together, the employees and customers of the Nayarit maintained ties to their old homes while providing one another safety and support. The Nayarit was much more than a popular eating spot: it was an urban anchor for a robust community, a gathering space where ethnic Mexican workers and customers connected with their patria chica (their "small country"). That meant connecting with distinctive tastes, with one another, and with the city they now called home. Through deep research and vivid storytelling, Molina follows restaurant workers from the kitchen and the front of the house across borders and through the decades. These people's stories illuminate the many facets of the immigrant experience: immigrants' complex networks of family and community and the small but essential pleasures of daily life, as well as cross-currents of gender and sexuality and pressures of racism and segregation. The Nayarit was a local landmark, popular with both Hollywood stars and restaurant workers from across the city and beloved for its fresh, traditionally prepared Mexican food. But as Molina argues, it was also, and most

importantly, a place where ethnic Mexicans and other Latinx L.A. residents could step into the fullness of their lives, nourishing themselves and one another. A Place at the Nayarit is a stirring exploration of how racialized minorities create a sense of belonging. It will resonate with anyone who has felt like an outsider and had a special place where they felt like an insider.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction. Placemaking in a New Homeland

Chapter one. Finding a Place in Echo Park

Chapter two. Tasting Home

Chapter three. The Emotional Life of Immigration

Chapter four. Venturing Forth

Chapter five. Maintaining Ties

Epilogue: Losing Places

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-520-38549-7

OCLC:

1263246170