{"id":26358,"date":"2021-09-23T17:00:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T00:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000022242"},"modified":"2023-03-20T00:02:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T07:02:07","slug":"a-parade-of-flavors-long-beachs-el-paisa-restaurant-explores-colombian-cuisine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/food\/a-parade-of-flavors-long-beachs-el-paisa-restaurant-explores-colombian-cuisine","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018parade of flavors\u2019: Long Beach\u2019s El Paisa restaurant explores Colombian cuisine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Side strEATS: El Paisa-Colombian restaurant in Long Beach\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/U8dA0bNWnmM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To step through the glass door of El Paisa Colombian restaurant in Central Long Beach is to experience a little slice of the South American nation, wedged between Alamitos Avenue and E 17th Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cumbia music plays as the aroma of toasty empanadas, rounded bu\u00f1uelos and cheesy pan de bonos resting on the counter\u2019s heated display embrace guests who walk in. Near the cash register sits a mini-mart of Colombian sodas, baking ingredients to make arepas and assorted candies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Decorations of sombreros volteados and Willys Jeeps packed high with coffee pouches adorn the eating hall. Karaoke night turns the restaurant into a dance hall on Friday nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s the second restaurant Luis Melvin Henriquez, 35, has co-launched in Long Beach. Known as \u201cMelvin el paisa,\u201d Henriquez and his sister also operate a Salvadorean bakery and pupuseria called La Guanaquita in North Long Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two restaurants pay homage to their Salvadorean mother and Colombian father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Henriquez moved from Armenia, Colombia, to New York in 2001. He worked at multiple restaurants, starting out as a dishwasher and eventually becoming a shift manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He moved to California and opened el El Paisa in October of 2015 to fill a void of Latin American eats that he believes was missing on the West Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCalifornia is missing that special Colombian sas\u00f3n,\u201d Henriquez said in Spanish. \u201cWe have Mexican, Honduran, Guatemalan\u2014but we are missing Colombian. Many cultures have built up Long Beach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Henriquez says Colombian food is a \u201cparade of flavors\u201d and credits the nation\u2019s fertile farming grounds for the production of those dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Exotic fruits and vegetables combined with different methods of meat preparation create distinct plates such as la bandeja paisa, also called la bandeja campesina, which is a symbolic dish in the region where Henriquez grew up: the mountains of Colombia\u2019s Quind\u00edo department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201ccountry\u201d plate features grilled steak, fried egg, corn cake, pork, sausage, sweet plantains, avocado, rice and beans. It\u2019s a hefty plate, and for good reason. Henriquez said the dish was originally created to feed the farmers who worked long hours among the valleys and mountain ranges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c\u2018Paisa\u2019 represents the humble people, people who work the fields,\u201d Henriquez said. \u201cThe Quind\u00edo state offers lots of nature and exotic fruits that carry the culture forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The restaurant has developed an eager base of regulars. That support became a lifeline for Henriquez as the pandemic forced his restaurant to offer takeout only last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Live music and festive weekend nights came to an abrupt end, but fans of his dishes still placed orders and continued to support the restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been easy,\u201d Henriquez said. \u201cBut many people have supported us to get to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, there is only one El Paisa restaurant, but Henriquez is envisioning a push to franchise the business. Henriquez has already seen success in spreading the word of his restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The official El Paisa restaurant Instagram page has collected over 40,000 followers. Henriquez has also been hosted on Spanish-news station Univision to show off Colombian food typically eaten during Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are a family business with many dreams,\u201d Henriquez said. \u201cWe want to create job opportunities to allow Latinos to triumph in the restaurant business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-hi-lo wp-block-embed-the-hi-lo\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/side-streats-peruvian-restaurant-casa-chaskis-in-west-long-beach\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cumbia music plays as the aroma of toasty empanadas, rounded bu\u00f1uelos and cheesy pan de bonos resting on the counter\u2019s heated display embrace guests who walk in to Melvin Henriquez&#8217; El Paisa Colombian restaurant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":71717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,32101],"tags":[153,30566],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[23994],"class_list":["post-26358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","category-side-streats","tag-food","tag-side-streats","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26358"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72613,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26358\/revisions\/72613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26358"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=26358"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}