Chilean Eatery Cooks
Up Quick Clientele
Snowboarder's romance sparks eclectic Diego's
by Brett Nelson
The Union Newspaper
February 5, 2004
A signpost above the Grass Valley building still advertises the pasties once served inside. The structure itself looks aged and forgotten, with little on the facade that indicates the world inside 217 Colfax Ave.
Other than a small sandwich board with the handwritten name Diego's, there isn't much to indicate a restaurant is thriving inside. Well, except for the rapidly growing reputation of the establishment.
Upon entering Diego's restaurant, customers are greeted with the warmth, color, smells and sounds of Chilean culture. The new venture was opened about a month ago by Nevada County natives June Henriquez and her mother, Diane Robison.
"I wanted to bring a new flavor of food here," Henriquez said.
Although she grew up in the county, Henriquez is very familiar with the Latin American culture behind the inspiration for Diego's.
Henriquez traveled to Chile nine years ago as a professional snowboarder. What began as a three-month trip lasted more than two years. While there, she met her husband, Antonio Henriquez.
The couple eventually returned to Grass Valley.
The restaurant idea came about two years ago, when the space was vacated after King Richard's Pasties No. 2 went out of business. The building was owned by June Henriquez's family. Her grandfather had built it in the 1960s to house his own business.
For about a year and a half, Henriquez and her mother worked side-by-side to completely refurbish the space. The building that originally served as the Robison family's Millscraft TV appliance store was transformed into a Chilean restaurant.
Diego's opened just before Christmas. The owners wanted to slowly ease into opening the restaurant during the traditionally slow month of January. There was very little promotion or any advertisement about the opening. But word of mouth from customers has helped pack the tables on a daily basis, they said.
With the help of her mother-in-law, Henriquez cooks the meals, her husband, Antonio, bakes all goods served, and Robison does whatever else needs to be done. Robison's 80-year-old mother, June, even helps bus tables on occasion.
Then there is the restaurant's namesake, the Henriquezes' 5-year-old son, Diego.
"For us, (the restaurant) is a blend of our cultures, just like our son," June Henriquez said.
The menu offers a fusion of Chilean and American tastes. It is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday for lunch. Dinners are served Friday and Saturday nights, from 4 to 9 p.m. Diego's is closed Sunday.
For more information about Diegos, call 477-1460.
Mural A Swirl Of Flows, Images
Art outside Diego's Restaurant brings a touch of Chile
By Trina Kleist
Photos by David B. Torch
The Union Newspaper
December 26, 2005
In Grass Valley, there is a building with a 75-foot-long cinderblock wall just east of the freeway behind Hennessy School.
It used to be plain.
Now, zipping past on the freeway, a motorist could glance over and see an owl flapping its wings before a full moon. Pulling up along Colfax Avenue, the motorist could make out a Mexican market and mountains towering over a metal bridge spanning the rocky banks of the Yuba River.
Walking alongside, toward the school field for soccer practice, for instance, a person could see more: a brown bear prowling a local forest blooming with lupine and dogwood, brown-skinned harvesters plucking grapes, the world to which all the images belong.
It is the first public mural painted in the neighborhood, commissioned by the owners of the building, planned by a local art professor, painted by local art students, watch by local families and enjoyed daily by passersby.
Between each of the mural's scenes, a kind of swirl flows and furls, as if to suggest the pages of time. Time is the unseen dimension of this mural, through which its creators have learned about themselves, what they are capable of doing and how their work, like a pebble in the pond, already is sending ripples out to those who see it.
THE PATRON
When the snowboarding career of Grass Valley native June Atkinson took her to Chile, she thought she would stay three months. She ended up staying two years and marrying a Chilean.
By the time the couple returned to California, June Henriquez had learned the beauty of Latin culture and its warm, embracing ways. She had seen the grand scale of public art in Latin America: the Colonial architecture, the public squares, the 20th-century murals blending social and political themes.
"Our county is small but it's growing. I think the arts are a really important part of life in our county," Henriquez said. "We live in an amazing place. The eye feeds on it."
Her grandmother had an empty building on East Colfax Street. Henriquez saw an opportunity. She and her mother, Diane Robison, opened Diego's Restaurant, named after the Henriquez' 7-year-old son, serving South American and American food.
The building had a long, blank wall facing Hennessy School. Just thinking about it made her shudder with excitement.
"I've got to do something with this wall!" Henriquez said.
THE ARTIST
Gary Graham grew up in San Francisco, where the Mexican mural greats had painted social realism masterpieces in the early 20th century: Diego Rivera, David Siquieros and Jose Clemente Orozco.
American and French muralists came through the city again during the Depression under Works Progress Administration grants, then again with the artistic upheavals of the 1970s, then in another wave in the 1980s.
Amid those influences, Graham earned a masters degree in mural art from San Francisco State University. He learned to work with clients even as he taught them tools for expressing themselves.
After painting commissioned pieces for decades in San Francisco and Oakland, Graham arrived in Grass Valley to teach art at Sierra College.
In Nevada County, Graham found, the area's natural beauty seems to have dampened the impulse to create public art.
Standing in front of the mural, Graham looked across a parking lot to other buildings, seeing blank canvasses where someone else might see nothing. They illustrated what he was trying to say about the role of public art in a community learning to design itself.
"When you look at a blank wall, you get a blank response," Graham said, then he turned around. "When you look at our mural, you get inspired. You get lots of different stories."
THE STUDENTS
Art, Graham said, is the bridge between the brains and the hands.
Stephanie Blackwell is a mom who went back to school. She didn't know she could draw, but discovered she enjoyed art classes at Sierra College.
Blackwell's mother, a classical artist, convinced her to take Graham's mural art class with her in the fall. The ages among their classmates ranged from her mother, Sue Brown, at 68, to a 15-year-old Nevada Union High School boy.
They learned to make the cartoon that sketches the ideas of the mural; to sift through the patrons' requests and their own impulses and the physical limitations of the site; to refine and change those ideas; and the perseverance of 13 weekends to make the ideas real, finishing earlier this month. They learned to work together, to listen, to give and to take, Blackwell said.
"It's wonderful how you can take 15 people with totally different ages and personalities and backgrounds and artistic abilities and add them together to have a reasonable product and an enjoyable experience," Blackwell said.
THE PUBLIC
While the students were working, neighborhood kids would come by to watch. Hennessy School teachers arranged walking trips during the week to mark the progress. Some have been inspired to paint murals in their classrooms.
The guys from AmeriGas started stopping by, and eventually took up brushes as well.
Diane Barlow, called the Owl Lady for her work on the flying bird, recalled the soccer parents who called out encouragement as the colors built up and the images filled in from Saturday to Saturday.
Sometimes, Blackwell saw children standing in front of the mural, pointing and talking as it took them from the Mexican-influenced southern part of the state to the snowy mountains of the north.
"The kids from the school have taken ownership of the mural," Barlow said.
As the pages of time turn, those children will grow up with the mural. Like the Heart of the Gold County graphic formerly on the back of the Del Oro theater, Graham said, it will become a part of people's lives.
That, he said, is what public art does.
To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com or call 477-4231.
Local couple watches events in Chile with concern and hope
By Trina Kleist
The Union Newspaper
December 18, 2006
Events unfolding a hemisphere away are hitting home for a Grass Valley couple with ties to Chile.
June Atkinson lived and snowboarded in Chile for nearly three years, returning to Grass Valley in 1998 as June Henriquez with a Chilean husband in tow.
Antonio Henriquez, now 30, grew up under the regime of Augusto Pinochet. With the former dictator's death on Dec. 10, both Chileans and Americans are re-examining his legacy.
Chileans "have all been suffering in silence because they couldn't go up against him," June Henriquez, 35, said. "I think this (Pinochet's death) is going to be a major deal in Chile."
Antonio Henriquez has been in Bakersfield on a job, but he and his wife talked about events in his homeland while he was home Wednesday for the birthday of their son, Diego. June Henriquez named him after the restaurant she runs with her mother in Grass Valley.
Her husband's uncle had been an accountant in the administration of President Salvador Allende, who was killed in a coup staged by Pinochet with, some believe, the support of the American CIA. The uncle spent three years in prison, June Henriquez said.
Antonio Henriquez grew up in an atmosphere of fear, even of such things as listening to the wrong kind of music. Bombs peppered city streets, and police enforced nighttime curfews.
"His parents wouldn't allow him to go to any of the protests, because you wouldn't know when the army would come and take you away," June Henriquez said.
Researchers believe Pinochet was responsible for the killing of nearly 3,200 Chilean dissidents and the torture of thousands more during his 17 years in power, from 1973 to 1990.
In Washington, Pinochet's death has prompted researchers to ask the Bush administration to release classified documents about a 1976 bombing there that killed a Pinochet critic and his assistant. The Chilean police chief jailed for the bombing said he had received his orders directly from Pinochet, according to The Associated Press.
Thousands more documents, declassified in 1998, show American officials supported Pinochet even while knowing he was responsible for the torture and killings, Peter Kornbluh, a senior analyst at George Washington University's National Security Archive, told the AP.
Pinochet's death makes moot a criminal case that was being made against him.
"When I talked to my husband, he was bummed that Pinochet never got tried and never paid for what he did," June Henriquez said.
Current Chilean President Michelle Bachelet refused to approve a state funeral and did not attend Pinochet's elaborate military ceremony, saying the former dictator represented an era of divisions, hatred and violence.
Her administration offers hope for Chile's future, June Henriquez said.
To contact City Editor Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com or call 477-4230.
"Poh-tay-toe or Poor-tah-tow?"
Local food and wine pairings - a unique event
By Marilyn Chrisman
The Union Newspaper
February 27, 2008
On Friday, the Northern Sierra Wine Country Association presents a unique opportunity to pair fine local food with fine local wine.
The Winter Wine and Food Masquerade starts Friday evening at the Nevada County Fairgrounds with a 10-course dinner hosted by 15 restaurants and 13 wineries. Guests can select their meal and which wine to pair with each dish.
It kicks off the 7th Annual Foothill Celebration, which continues Saturday and Sunday with more food, wine and live music in downtown Grass Valley.
An example of fare that will be offered at Friday's masquerade dinner is Empanada de Queso con Salsa de Berenjena, or Cheese Pastry with Eggplant Sauce, by June Henriquez of Diego's Restaurant. Empanadas are enjoyed throughout Latin America and are considered a national dish in Chile, especially on their Independence Day, Henriquz said.
"The dish itself is neutral and can be made sweet or savory depending upon the sauce you serve," Henriquez added.
Her recipe below offers suggestions for variations depending on what you have available.
"Stroll the green grocery section of your favorite supermarket and be inspired by the wholesome flavors of the fresh vegetables and herbs," Henriquez suggested. "Make them a part of your recipes. Have fun with food!"
At the Friday event, the wine consumed with any dish can affect the overall flavor of the meal. Locally produced white wines include viognier, sauvignon blanc, tocai friulano, pinot grigio, chardonnay or a premium blend with the Russian grape rkatsiteli.
A dry white wine would be a good choice for the savory eggplant sauce, but a light-bodied red wine also would complement the toasty flavors in this empanada. Local vintners offer sangiovese, corvina and grenache or a variety of rose`as possible light red wine choices.
Try this version of Henriquez' recipe at home, or come to the Winter Wine and Food Masquerade and try all 10 courses. Call 1-866-355-9463 or visit www.nswinecountry.com.
Diego's Empanada de Queso con Salsa de Berenjena
(Cheese Pastry with Eggplant Sauce)
Yield: 6 servings of 2 to 3 empanadas each
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
For the empanadas:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1 package frozen puff pastry
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup Monterrey jack cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten for a wash
Optional additions to filling include chopped green olives, pesto, chopped and cooked chorizo sausage or other chopped vegetables and herbs of your choice.
Mix cheeses.
Follow the instructions on the pastry package and defrost the dough.
With a floured 3-inch diameter rim of a cutter (metal or sturdy glass), cut out 12 to 18 circles of dough. With a floured rolling pin on a floured surface, roll the round pastry into an oblong shape (one gentle roll should do it).
With the oblong shape facing away from you, place a full teaspoon of cheese filling onto the lower half of the pastry. Apply the eggwash in a "u" shape around the edges of the pastry with a pastry brush.
Tip: Only apply eggwash to half of the pastry. This will help it adhere to the other half and prevent the pastry from becoming soggy.
Fold the upper half of the pastry oblong over the filling and seal the edges. You can press with a fork or crimp the edges like a pie crust.
Brush tops of empanadas with eggwash and pierce top with a toothpick to vent while cooking. Place pieces on nongreased baking tray, leaving enough room so they won't touch while baking.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
For the sauce:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Roughly cut the following vegetables prior to roasting:
1 sweet onion
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
4 garlic cloves
1 firm Japanese eggplant, mostly peeled - leave little strips of skin for taste
1 teaspoon olive oil
Pinch of kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 cup capers, with 1 to 2 tablespoons of liquid from jar
Roll vegetables in oil and salt and pepper and distribute on roasting tray. Cook for about 15 minutes or until just toasted by the heat. Cool to the touch. Reserving the natural juices, dice the vegetables. ( A quick pulse or two in a cuisinart will give a smoother blend, if desired ). Add capers and caper liquid & mix.
Serve the empanadas warm or cool with the accompanying sauce.
~ooo~
You can reach Marilyn Chrisman of Avanguardia Wines at 274-9482 or visit the Web site at www.avanguardiawines.com.
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