Show 166, April 2, 2016: The James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classics Awards Continues…

Alison Tozzi IiuWe resume with Alison Tozzi Liu, Editorial Director, JBF Media and Bricia Lopez of Guelaguetza (America’s Classics Award-Winner, 2015.)

Here’s Guelaguetza’s official video shown at The Beard Awards ceremony in Chicago in 2015 as part of the presentation of their America’s Classics Award:

Every town has one: a humble restaurant serving up soul-satisfying food, a place that joins the whole community together. Since 1998, the James Beard Foundation has recognized nearly one hundred such establishments – local eateries distinguished as timeless institutions within their communities – by honoring them with their America’s Classic Awards.

Guelaguetza is the most recent Los Angeles area recipient (2015) of The James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classics Award. Other area recipients are Langer’s Delicatessen, Philippe the Original and Yuca’s Hut.

Guelaguetza is well represented in the newly published James Beard’s All-American Eats: Recipes and Stories from Our Best-Loved Local Restaurants from the James Beard Foundation and Rizzoli. Bricia contributes an oral history of Guelaguetza along with their signature recipe for Estofado de Pollo (Chicken Estofado.)

“Guelaguetza first opened its doors in 1994 by immigrant husband and wife Fernando Lopez and Maria Monterrubio. Since then, our goal at Guelaguetza has been to showcase the best of our family recipes and stay true to authentic Oaxacan ingredients. Guelaguetza’s mission is for all of its patrons to live and experience Oaxaca through all of its dishes.

Today, Mr. and Mrs. Lopez are retired and have paved the way for their children, Paulina, Fernando Jr, Elizabeth and Bricia Lopez. This new generation of Oaxaqueños has taken upon themselves the responsibility of not only continuing their family’s restaurant success but also expanding its legacy. The Lopez’s have undoubtedly become ambassadors to Oaxacan cuisine in Los Angeles.