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Over 30 years ago, Eleazar and Susy Fernan-
dez with their baby son in tow, immigrated to
the U.S. from Guatemala to escape the vio-
lence of the country’s civil war. ey came to
the U.S. with next to nothing; they lived with
multiple families in an old apartment and
struggled every month to make ends meet.
Eleazar and Susy picked up jobs where they
could, which with their limited education and
English meant low-income jobs like landscaping, cleaning homes, delivering pizza, and sometimes all three. eir rst son, Pablo, was raised with the help of grandparents and family friends, and would sometimes help vacuum empty o ce buildings after school so he could spend time with his father.
But if there’s one thing to know about this family, besides that
they love food and are excellent cooks, it’s that they’re incredibly ambitious. To them, noth- ing is impossible and every dream deserves a chance to become reality. ey quickly learned English, taught themselves the ins-and-outs of business, and saved enough money to pursue their dream: owning their own restaurant. ey didn’t just want something they could call their own, they wanted to make an im-
pact. Coming from Guatemala where local fruits and vegetables are available in abundance and home-cooked meals are served ev- ery day at lunch, the contrast to the U.S. was stark. Especially in their hometown of Riverside, Eleazar and Susy couldn’t help but feel sad when the only food o ered was low-quality, manufactured, or just plain bad. Still today, in many more places than we’d like to
Eleazar and Susy picked up jobs where they could, which with their limited education and English meant low-income jobs like landscaping, cleaning homes, delivering pizza, and sometimes all three.
Roasted Vegetable Salad Photo by Alexandra Ramiirez
24 Endless Summer 2017
www.edibleorangecounty.com