Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008 - (Page 12)

BRIEFCASE TASTE OF VERACRUZ It took a transplanted Veracruz entrepreneur in Texas with a longing for the ﬂavors he grew up with to introduce a popular restaurant from the region to Laredo. According to the Laredo Morning Times, La Estancia is “the newest hot spot” in the Gateway City. Veracruz native Juan Manuel Senties, owner and operator of the House of Rentals for 28 years, suddenly got a hankering in 2007 to get into the restaurant business. Senties got in touch with long-time friend Guillermo Bouchez, owner of three wildly popular La Estancia restaurants in Veracruz state, and convinced him that Laredo was ready for a different kind of Mexican food. The immigrant eatery opened for business in December. The manager and cooking staff from Veracruz insist on using only the ﬁnest ingredients and spices from that region. “People are always afraid to try something new,” Senties told the Laredo Morning Times. “But I guarantee you — you will be back for more. It is deﬁnitely something different and it’s tasty—very, very tasty.” Must be. After Laredo’s La Estancia had been open for just two weeks, Senties reported that “already we have had people who have come to the restaurant ﬁve times.” —Conrad Dahlson RESTAURANTS M-M-M-M-M-MEXICO U.S. foodies are again rallying to Eduardo and Sylvia Rallo’s concept restaurants, this time with ﬂavors from the couple’s native Cuernavaca, the rest of Mexico and beyond. It has been a whirlwind for both since they left Cuernavaca, met at Harvard, married, and traveled far and wide discovering the world’s dishes and eateries. They then founded the gourmet World Wrapps Restaurants that expanded into a 26-store chain and won the Nation’s Restaurant Hot Concept Winner Award in 1994. Their new multi-concept enterprise under their Resmex Group umbrella has 12 seven restaurants in California, all different takes with different names. Consuelo is a Mexican bistro, El Jardin a restaurant and tequila bar, Sazon the epitome of tacos. Thea is something of a departure and reﬂects the Rallos’ world travels, featuring Mediterranean dishes from Greece and Turkey. All four cater to the sophisticated palates of Silicon Valley’s San Jose. In San Francisco, Colibri bistro indulges the Rallos’ taste for the central Mexican region they hail from, blending ancient Aztec and Mayan foods like chilies and corn with Spanish and French touches. Meanwhile Zazil, with its cuisine from the Coast of Mexico, brings different but always exquisite traditional ﬂavors to the Bay Area. Down south in Canoga Park in the San Fernando Valley near L.A., Amaranta beckons with the “familiar everyday foods of Mexico.” Sylvia Rallo serves as the Resmex Group’s CEO, while husband Eduardo is chairman, but he also has his ﬁnger in other pies such as Farmacias Remedios, a pharmacy chain he co-founded to focus on the Latino market. But life isn’t all business.They also have three kids of whom they are very proud – Emiliano, Santiago and Natalia. HISPANIC ENTERPRISE February/March 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008

Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008 Contents Briefcase: BIZBUZZ: Business Briefs Briefcase: Trendsetters Briefcase: BIZTECH: Virtually Meeting BizLife: Travel: Madrid's New Attraction Q & A: Mi Case es su Casa Hispanic Commerce: The Agenda Cover Story: The Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity Technology: Hispanic Web 2.0 Success & Motivation: Sweetening the Deal Politics & Government: The Rescue Generation Managing: The Method Franchising: The Hispanic Face of Franchising Chamber Focus: It's Showtime Movers & Shakers: Open for Business Finance & Investing: Getting Your 401(K) on Target

Hispanic Enterprise - February/March 2008

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