(guitar music)
- [Silvana] Mexican food is one of the most
appropriated foods in the United States.
Number one Mexican restaurant in the United States is what?
Taco Bell?
What's wrong with that picture?
For almost 18 years I've been changing perceptions
of Mexican food.
People walk in,
they want chips and salsa.
I don't give them chips and salsa, sorry.
However, you're not gonna be uncomfortable with my food;
I promise you that, bud.
Come on in.
- [Narrator] There are those who wake up every morning
to fight for a better world.
They're not celebrities or politicians.
They're regular people.
They are The Brave.
(funky drum music)
- [Silvana] In Mexico you have your church
in your plaza and then the mercado.
My mercado is right down the street.
My name's Silvana Salcido Esparza,
I'm chef/owner of Barrio Café,
and Barrio Café Gran Reserva.
We are finishing up our 17th year
and going into our 18th year.
And restaurant years is like dog years-that's an eternity.
I've gotten coast to coast coverage from the media-
got inducted to the Culinary Hall of Fame.
What I brought was different.
It's one of those dishes that predates the conquest;
it's a decolonized food.
Mexican food near normal American's perception
should be combination plate for 8.99,
and probably includes a $1.50 margarita.
But Barrio Café is a trailblazing restaurant.
We're not about the yellow cheese and Chimichanga;
that's not the kind of food that I,
as a chef, choose to execute.
We create with cultural pride.
I grew up the only Mexican family
in an all white country school.
So I was a cultural attaché if you will.
My food is influenced by the artisanal cooks,
the traditional cooks of Mexico.
Women who have been warriors and carrying
our food from generation to generation.
I use them as an influence for the food I do.
They feed it to the pigs in Iowa; they call it corn smut.
In Mexico we use it as a delicacy.
It is in par with a truffle-a European truffle.
Mexican food is always an evolution
and the closest you get to its source, the better it is.
(lighthearted guitar music)
- The Barrio Café is a magical place;
it has a life of its own.
A lot of people in the kitchen have been there since
the start of the restaurant.
Representation matters. As a young woman
I was looking for other Mexican chefs;
I couldn't find any.
We're women owned,
nine our of 10 times it's women who are cooking
your food and that includes the line.
People who are in there are in a safe place-
no profanity, not vulgar, no sexual harassment.
- She's a mentor for me just
seeing that she's Mexican as well and a female.
- Little places like this are an inspiration.
- [Silvana] My kitchens have always been very diverse.
We are a motley crew; queer or not queer.
We all embrace each other and love each other;
we know each other's husbands and wives
and partners and not partners.
We're cooking for people who are cooking with love.
And that has to be part of the ingredients:
to always be in the kitchen with love.
- The Barrio Café has survived just about
the brink of economic collapse.
It has survived ugly laws. State Bill 1070
was a large bill that carried many things,
but in it was proof of citizenship.
If I was stopped I would have to show
and demonstrate my proof of citizenship, automatically.
And if the police didn't ask me for that,
then they would be fined.
It was a very targeted bill. I thought it was racist.
I thought it was hateful,
and it would alienate a culture;
and we were being picked on.
I've learned that you cannot fight those hateful bills
with hate and retaliation.
You have to stand up with love,
and for me, it meant taking action in my own neighborhood.
(upbeat music)
I wanted to create a destination,
a source of pride for Phoenix
in terms of our culture.
This is legendary.
So I called it Calle 16,
and I kept calling it Calle 16.
Eventually, Calle 16 became a thing.
And much like the Barrio, it took up its own identity.
We started doing paint festivals,
and the lowrider events and being part of
everything in the community.
And it's evolved.
So that afforded us a voice.
And there's not a negative mural
in this neighborhood at all;
they're all positive and ascending, as they should be.
So now this has become a tourist destination.
It's busy in that alley and it's not just for my restaurant.
The food, it has been the catalyst,
the driving force, the everything that happens.
Whether it's politics or community service,
there's always food involved.
If we're doing a lowrider event, there's food involved.
If we're getting together just to socialize,
there's food involved.
As a community every time there is
something that happens whether it's good or bad,
we always bring our food.
My goal is to make every single customer
change their mind with the proof.
'Cause when you're feeding the truth
and not the fake and the lie,
you're preaching the gospel of Mexican cuisine.
- Thank you.
- I don't measure my success by money.
I measure my success by how many people I can reach,
how many people I can touch,
how many erroneous perceptions I can change,
how many haters can turn into love.
That's how I measure my success.
(guitar music)