The first flavors that Rogelio Garcia remembers are from his mother’s kitchen: homemade enchiladas, Mexican rice, stuffed chiles, mole and, for dessert, a creamy flan. For an immigrant child, those dishes were not just food, but a bond to his culture, keeping him connected to his roots as he made his way in a new country.
Garcia arrived in the U.S. when he was 2 years old. He was raised in Los Angeles by his single mother. In the city of angels with its Latino stars, it’s easy to understand why a kid with American dreams saw himself as the next Edward J. Olmos. It wasn’t until years later, when Garcia’s mom moved the family to Northern California to be near his tía, that the teenager abandoned ideas of becoming an actor.
He found a new path in the kitchen of a Napa Valley restaurant…