2B — Thursday, April 2, 2015
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Walk into Chela’s, a small
Mexican eatery on South Maple
Road just off West Liberty
Street, and you’ll notice a fairly
large, seemingly old, blown-up
photograph tacked up onto one
of the walls near the back. The
photo is in black and white, and
displays an overall-clad young
child standing lazily in a dusty
parking lot. There’s a small
food stand behind him with the
emboldened word “Taquería”
pasted on its storefront. With-
out context, this picture is sim-
ple and mismatched against the
colorful chairs and small pec-
cadilloes dispersed throughout
the eating room.
But ask Adrian Iraola, the store’s
owner, about the photo in the
back. Ask about the little boy in
the photo, and how long ago it was
taken, and why it hangs so proudly
from the store’s back wall.
Ann Arbor residents and
University students swim in
a sea of food varieties. From
Main Street to Kerrytown to
the perimeters of the suburbs,
good food isn’t hard to find. It’s
the glory of the college town
atmosphere: a large population
of 20-somethings interested in
providing genuine support to a
food culture for their university.
We benefit, in reputation and
recognition, for the culture and
tradition that this excellence
provides.
Zingerman’s
Delicatessen, Fleetwood Diner,
Frita Batidos, Blimpy Burger;
Ann Arbor’s best is a seemingly
endless
list
that
is
slowly
expanding to the outskirts of
our campus, just a short drive
away, to Chela’s.
Adrian Iraola, a former archi-
tectural engineer and project
manager for the city of Ann
Arbor,
had
been
searching
for an accurate recreation of
authentic Mexican cuisine. His
wife Lori Iraola, an Ann Arbor
native, experienced his insatia-
ble plight.
“When he moved here, he
couldn’t find it,” Lori said.
“He could find a lot of very
tasty food, a lot of variation
of Mexican food, but we were
looking for more of the original
street food.”
Their search was vehement
and
vast;
Adrian
chuckled
even at the recollections he has
amassed from his search. He
referenced one attempt at a res-
taurant in Ypsilanti.
“The
dishes
didn’t
even
resemble what they said they
were selling! My wife and I came
out and we got in our vehicle and
we both reached for a piece of
candy from the ashtray,” Iraola
said. “We turned to each other
and we asked, ‘Are you trying to
get the taste out of your mouth,
too?’ and we both said, ‘Yes!’ ”
The couple faced constant
disappointment in their search
for an authentic Mexican taste.
Dreamily and constantly, they
would discuss the possibility of
opening a restaurant of their own,
one where Adrian could provide
“real tortillas and rich carnitas
and homemade asada. None of
this queso dip on the tacos. I was
going to have onion and cilantro
and a slice of lime, the way that it
is supposed to be!”
But this dream was slow in
coming to actual physical form.
Its first foundations were first
laid as far back as 27 years ago
when Adrian signed himself up
for small-business classes and
courses in addition to his numer-
ous early architectural projects.
Adrian and Lori allowed life’s
milestones to fill the next few
decades of the couple’s lives,
complete with marriage, chil-
dren and career success, but the
flame was never extinguished
from the proverbial back burner
on which the dream was placed.
And Lori reiterates this, relay-
ing their late night quiet discus-
sions of the topic.
“We didn’t imagine the level
of popularity we had coming.
We thought it would be a little
‘Ma and Pa’ diner kind of place
and we’d maybe have some reg-
ulars,” Lori said. “Lying in bed,
we used to think, ‘What kind of
numbers are we going to do?’ ”
The couple’s experiences with
specious Mexican restaurants
did continue to stockpile. This
built-up disquietude, working
in tandem with the ever-pow-
erful passage of time, pushed
Adrian and Lori to inch closer
and closer to their dream. Edg-
ing into his 60s, and following
the completion of an especially
large parking garage project,
Lori finally motivated Adrian
enough with the first moves of
the Chela’s project. A former
stay-at-home mom and suc-
cessful equestrian coach, Lori
visited numerous auctions and
started buying kitchen equip-
ment. Drawing up the business
plans and designing kitchen and
eating space floor plans, the side
project and buried dream slowly
started to build from its hypo-
thetical bedrock.
Adrian and his wife Lori
opened Chela’s doors in May
2012 to critical success. They
were, as Lori explains, unknow-
ing of the void they were about
to fill for so many people.
“Just in the first few days we
opened we were running out
of food,” Lori said. “We had
to immediately hire new staff
because everything just explod-
ed. And it’s still growing.”
Harnessing the powers of
authenticity, passion, incred-
ible work ethic and simplic-
ity, Chela’s seeks to amaze each
and every customer who strolls
through the door. As natives of
Mexico City, both Adrian and
the store’s manager, Enrique
Aquino, inherently understand
what flavors do and do not
belong in authentic Mexican
street cuisine. Perhaps even
more importantly, the three
have worked to buttress their
restaurant with the same prin-
ciples of proper Mexican street
food: an appreciation of sim-
ple flavors and well-prepared,
properly selected ingredients.
Adrian, Lori and Enrique
couldn’t repeat the importance
of
simplicity
enough.
The
greatest
aversion
and
the
greatest
success
of
this
institution is held in Chela’s’
refusal to tarnish or distract
from the naturally abundant
and richness of flavors that
has always existed in authentic
Mexican cuisine. Adrian likened
it to a musical symphony.
“There are the classics, like
in music, that you don’t tamper
with,” Adrian said. “To improve
them would be to destroy them.
We feel that way about our foods
here. We stick to the basics, and
don’t tamper with them, but are
always focusing on the little
ways we can improve things.”
Take the restaurant’s vegeta-
ble tacos as an example.
“In Mexico, it’s probably not a
very popular item,” Lori, a veg-
etarian herself, said. “And there
are a lot of vegetarian options
here. We take what would be
carne asada or barbacoa and
replace them with potatoes
and a sautéed vegetable mix.”
They’re creating an innovative
version of an unpopular option
using simplicity, authenticity
and a particular knowledge of
what does and doesn’t belong in
their foods.
The freshness of Chela’s’ pro-
duce and basic ingredients is
another disciplined standard of
their food service. Some of the
produce is hand-selected, while
the rest is specially ordered for
daily deliveries from the mar-
kets that the team has deter-
mined are the best. Typically,
Lori or another member of the
Chela’s family ventures to local
food markets daily to find and
purchase the best vegetables
and ingredients for the next
day’s meals.
“As soon as the farmer’s
market opens, we start to get
our zucchini and other fresh
vegetables,” Lori said. “And
here’s one of the surprising
things: People notice when I
serve corn or lettuce that was
cut that day. And so yes we are
good at what we do, but people
notice best when you don’t serve
with any additives. You can
taste the freshness.”
Using her developed, touchy-
feely selection process and the
use of high standard produce
providers, like the avocado rip-
ening center at Ann Arbor’s
Frog Holler Produce, Lori is
generating the axiom in all of its
food service.
Embedded within the restau-
rant’s ethos, in tandem with the
authenticity, simplicity and high
standards of freshness, exists an
incredible sense of work ethic.
As Aquino describes, the pas-
sion for their product drives the
incredible work ethic of each
employee.
“That is something that I
would like people to know. It
tastes good because it is good, and
it’s healthy,” Aquino said. “But it’s
also so much closer to my heart,
and our true passion, seeing a
taco that is being made right, or a
salsa that is made right.”
Like Adrian and Enrique,
who
both
emigrated
from
Mexico City to the United
States, many of the employees
of the restaurant are first or
second-generation immigrants.
In
American
culture
today,
the stigma of the Mexican
immigrant can be incorrectly
perceived. When asked about
this all-too-common societal
blemish and his experiences
with it, Aquino spoke seriously
and passionately.
“These are people, myself
included, who are motivated
for more,” he said. “They have a
passion for a better life, and are
willing to work as hard as pos-
sible to reach their dreams. We
have
high-quality
employees
because Chela’s is surrounded
by these ideas.”
To provide more context,
Adrian provided an analogy:
“Imagine the first-generation
immigrants in any family. They
had to work the hardest, taking
any and all jobs as best they can
so that they can give their ances-
tors a better life.”
Both Lori and Adrian could
describe
working
minimum
wage jobs at exceedingly young
ages; for Adrian, he was driv-
ing a car for his father’s parking
lot business at the age of 11. Lori
used money from her various
jobs growing up to buy clothes
for herself.
“It isn’t that there is a lack
of motivation among third-,
fourth- or fifth-generation fam-
ily members. It’s just that the
circumstances
are
different,”
Adrian said. “We’ve provided a
great life for our children, and
now they are learning how to
build off of that.”
Before exiting Chela’s, upon
finishing my interviews with
Adrian, Lori and Enrique, and
after being filled with delicious
samples and treats, I looked back
at the photograph hanging on
the wall. It’s a picture of Adrian
as a young boy, standing in a
parking lot that his father built.
Adrian’s father owned a parking
lot business that placed taquería
stands in each lot his company
built. Light Mexican music plays
from the speaker above as deli-
cious smells start to emerge from
the nearby kitchen. It’s 11:00 in
the morning and the custom-
ers have already started to pour
in. Sipping on a sample of their
homemade limeade — the only
ingredient are limes, sugar and
water, just like grandma made it
— an involuntary smile is paint-
ed across my face. Gazing at the
photo, and then back at Adrian’s
kind eyes as he stands next to
me, I now understand the magic
of this photo. The creation and
success of Chela’s isn’t illusory,
nor is it a result of fate, coinci-
dence or highly strategic plan-
ning. This is authenticity.
CHELA’S
From Page 1B
VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
Adrian Iraola owns Chela’s Restaurant in Detroit with his wife Lori.
“... everything
just exploded.
And it’s still
growing.”
“We were
looking for more
of the original
street food.”
LITERARY COLUMN
What’s your
favorite book?
D
ear readers, my time
with you is quickly
drawing to a close. In
a few short weeks I shall walk
out of The Big House and into
the
swirling
mists of
uncer-
tainty
known
as the
real
world.
It
is
my duty,
there-
fore, to use this, my penulti-
mate column, to settle a matter
of some dispute. It’s a question
that invariably comes up, from
icebreakers in classes to small
talk with strangers. The question
I refer to is, of course, “What’s
your favorite book?”
Readers, I must confess to you,
this question terrifies me. I usual-
ly give some elusive non-answer
about how it’s too hard to choose
just one book. But that’s not quite
the truth. In reality, I fear that
fellow readers may judge my lit-
erary tastes as too pedestrian.
I can’t rattle off a list of up-
and-coming writers to check
out, as I much prefer reading the
time-tested “classics.” And even
then, I’d rather watch “Hamlet”
than “Titus Andronicus,” and I’d
rather read “Pride and Prejudice”
than “Mansfield Park.” (Seri-
ously, get outta here, Fanny.) If
something as personalized and
expressive as my literary tastes
veer toward the commonplace,
what does that say about me?
Well, instead of playing into
this fear, I am confronting it head
on. Because I’m a rebel at heart
(just one that usually follows all
the rules), instead of naming my
10 favorite books, I shall instead
name 10 writers who have great-
ly influenced my own literary
world. Presented in chronologi-
cal order of when they appeared
in my life, I am proud to claim all
of these writers as mentors.
Edgar Allan Poe
I’ve mentioned Poe in several
of my past articles, and he’s
been an invaluable part of my
literary life from the time I saw
“The Raven” segment from “The
Simpsons” ’s first “Treehouse of
Horror” special. He had a hand
in developing science fiction and
mystery, and he forever changed
the landscape of horror. Though
many of the myths surrounding
Poe stem from the lies of rival
writer Rufus Griswold written
after
Poe’s
death,
there’s
something
oddly
satisfying
about being able to match the
psyche of a writer to their work,
and Poe and his work remain
shrouded in mystery.
J.K. Rowling
There are people who will no
doubt say I’m blinded by nos-
talgia in choosing Rowling for
this list. To those people I say,
“Come at me.” J.K. Rowling is
nothing less than an outstand-
ing writer for both adults and
children. Say what you will
regarding style — in terms of
structure and actual storytell-
ing, Rowling is a master. And in
all her works, from “Harry Pot-
ter” to “The Casual Vacancy,”
Rowling has the rare ability to
make a reader truly care about
a character.
Jane Austen
I love Jane Austen. People
who dismiss her work as vapid
chick-lit completely miss her
unique and biting critique of
class and upper-class mores —
which is unrivaled to this day.
Yes, you can expect a happy
ending, but so what? I’m not
of the school of thought that
everything worth reading has
to end in doom and gloom. Per-
haps most importantly, Austen
led me to other great female
authors like the Brontë Sisters,
Elizabeth Gaskell and even
Edith Wharton. And of course,
her works provided hours of
quality
miniseries
material,
complete with attractive Brit-
ish men in cravats. Is there any
greater legacy?
Wilfred Owen
I first discovered the poetry
of Wilfred Owen in AP English
when we read his poem “Dulce
et Decorum Est.” Owen, a British
solider who died in WWI, docu-
mented the horrors and atrocities
he saw while in battle. He was the
first time I recognized that poetry
could be deeply political without
sacrificing its linguistic beauty.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
I, like many, first read “The
Scarlet Letter” in high school.
To be honest, all I really got
from that first reading was that
Puritans were tools. My real
interest in Hawthorne came on
GRACE
PROSNIEWSKI
the heels of visiting the actual
House of the Seven Gables in
Salem, Massachusetts and the
house Hawthorne was born in.
After this visit, I was better able
to understand and appreciate the
dark romanticism of Hawthorne’s
work as well as his contribution
to the mythologizing of Old New
England. His collection of short
stories, “Twice-Told Tales” and
“Mosses from an Old Manse,” are
required reading in my book.
Pablo Neruda
I first heard of Pablo Neruda
as part of a joke on, you guessed
it, “The Simpsons.” However, my
first experience with his work
came first semester of my fresh-
man year in my Spanish 232
class. As part of our final exam,
we had to conduct a conversa-
tion with the teacher on a topic
of our choosing. I chose to talk
about Neruda’s poem “Puedo
escribir los versos más tristes
esta noche,” or “Tonight I can
write the saddest lines.” While
my conversation never got much
past variations of the phrase “es
muy bueno, pero muy triste,” I
did come to appreciate Neruda’s
exquisitely haunting style.
H.P. Lovecraft
I’ve already written an in-depth
analysis of my admiration for the
undisputed king of weird fiction,
H.P. Lovecraft. His tales of
darkness and madness are beyond
explanation or embellishment.
“Ph’nglui
mglw’nafh
Cthulhu
R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”
E.E. Cummings
E.E. Cummings has a won-
derfully distinctive style and
wit about his work, so much so
that when you see one of his
poems you know it’s his before
anyone has to tell you. Immedi-
ately noticeable in his poems are
the unique typography and play
with grammar and punctuation.
But as with all poetry, the emo-
tions behind the words are what
truly set Cummings apart. His
sweet descriptions of love and
nature remind the reader of the
best parts of this strange phe-
nomenon known as life.
bell hooks
Excuse me, my Women Stud-
ies degree is showing. I debat-
ed on whether or not I should
include hooks on this list, as
the other entries work primar-
ily in fiction while hooks writes
in the realm of critical theory.
However, hooks taught me one
of the most important lessons
regarding writing, specifically
academic writing. Namely, if
you alienate an entire portion
of the population just to prove
how smart you are by throw-
ing in jargon and obscure ref-
erences into your work, your
writing’s not worth the paper
it’s printed on. Needless to say,
hooks’s “Theory as a Liberatory
Practice” should be mandatory
reading for all professors.
Warsan Shire
Warsan Shire is the most
contemporary writer on this
list. She’s only 26 and has one
published
poetry
pamphlet,
“Teaching my Mother How to
Give Birth.” However, it’s quite
possible you may have already
heard one of her works, “for
women who are ‘difficult’ to
love,” which went viral in 2011.
A Kenyan-born, Somali immi-
grant living in London, much of
Shire’s work deals with themes
of home, love and belonging, all
weaved into a brutally beauti-
ful language that is both foreign
and familiar.
While this is by no means a
complete list, I believe this is a
fairly illustrative snapshot of my
literary life thus far. If you feel
so inclined, why not take a walk
down your own literary memory
lane? You might be surprised
what you discover.
Prosniewski is setting up her
altar to Cthulu. To offer yourself as a
sacrifice, e-mail gpros@umich.edu.
Why not take a
walk down your
own literary
memory lane?
WIKIMEDIA
Pablo Neruda doing a reading of his ‘Ode to Male Pattern Baldness.’