La Poblanita

La Poblanita

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There seems to be a theme emerging in Ethnosh. Several of the restaurant owners have told us about it. The theme is “happiness”. Solange at SoSo African restaurant didn’t even need to say it. The big smile on her face and the light in her eyes when we finished cleaning after the NoshUp said it all. But she put it in words anyway. She said “I am so Happy!”

There were smiling faces among the Noshers at SoSos all night long. We got near perfect scores on the 3C’s we talk about: Cuisine, Culture, & Community. The food was fantastic with several entrees on each plate that all complemented one another beautifully. The restaurant is small which added to the sense of shared space and community. We were clearly being invited into an African cultural experience. There was happiness all around. ​

Photos by Bobby Tewksbury

Gulnaz talked about happiness at Village Pizza after she served us all amazing platters of Georgian-and Uzbeki-inspired foods. She runs the show. It makes her happy to offer delicious dinners, to see people take a bite and then say “Wow”. When the evening was over, she only wondered “Why didn’t people dance?” That’s a form of happy celebration she usually sees from her community.

They were already happy at La Monarca when we got there for an Ethnosh in the spring. They sell homemade ice cream and serious tacos among other foods, so naturally they are happy. You can be happy there every day. And on the weekends they make great Mexican soups.

Ethnosh in August will be at La Poblanita, which could easily become a new destination place for more than dinner because it is a restaurant and Mexican grocery store in one location. That pairing is a business model that is gaining in popularity. They stock all sorts of items that are needed for authentic texture and flavor in cuisine from Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela and other South American countries. They have a whole distribution system to stock items from fresh vegetables and cheeses. There are cuts of meat and seasonings that are essential to the cooking. There are candies and canned drinks that are local in other countries but hard to find around here. The intent is to make it possible for customers to feel at home.

La Poblanita is a family business. Karlay and Luis are married, Ricardo and Isamael are brothers toKarlay and the four of them work and make decisions together. La Poblanita translates as “little woman from Pueblo” and that fits Karlay well. She came to the US to work for Cheesecake Factory in Los Angeles. When they sent her to Ohio, she realized that not everything in America was like California. “I saw I could be independent here.” She met Luiz and they sent for her brothers then began working on their dream.

This is a hard work story. They didn’t have any background in grocery stores. They learned it all on the fly. They are not funded by a big company. There’s no family fortune in the background. This is the All-American story so many of us were taught to admire. 

Oh. About the food. Just wait until you taste the homemade salsa. “There’s no canned tomatoes in anything here,” says Karlay. “We make everything. This is what we have at home.” Yum.