Anniversary Buffet Mixes Trendy and Traditional : El Cholo Restaurant Celebrates Its 60th Year With the Old and the New

Times have really changed. In 1927 when El Cholo opened, dishes like duck tamales, three-color pasta salad and snow crab escabeche weren’t even a glimmer in the chef’s eye. Yet there they were, and much more that bordered on trendy, when owner Ron Salisbury tossed a fiesta Monday night to start the restaurant’s 60th anniversary year.

The food, prepared and transported from the Original Sonora Cafe, which Salisbury also owns, was so out of context that one waiter thought the duck tamales were quesadillas. Instead of refried beans, there was black bean salad. Instead of hearty Mexican barbacoa , cubes of lamb strung on rosemary branches. And whoever heard of tortellini or scampi on a combination plate? But just when all seemed new and different, the buffet reverted to tradition with cheese enchiladas, pork adobo and chiles rellenos. The rellenos were prepared the authentic way, with fresh chiles. And the chiles were spicy enough to steal the show from the tamer and trendier food. “Boy, that stuff’s hot. I never had it that hot in my whole life,” gasped one diner.

Good Causes on the Menu

The Margaritas, passed by waitresses in big, ruffly dresses, tasted the same. But even they appeared in new garb, a blue-bordered handblown Mexican glass that will be sold this year along with the drink. Proceeds from this and other anniversary fund-raisers will go to Athletes for Kids, a nonprofit foundation that works with young people afflicted with cancer and other life-threatening diseases, and to the Save the Books campaign of the Los Angeles Central Library.

But the more things change, the more they stay the same, as the old saying goes. And El Cholo remains in its original location at 1121 S. Western Ave. in Los Angeles. The small house that once contained the restaurant may be long gone, the victim of expansion and remodeling, but the neon sign that says “El Cholo Spanish Cafe” still shines outside. “Being frugal, I didn’t want to tear the sign down,” Salisbury joked.

On display in the foyer is the stove that was used to heat tortillas and melt the cheese on enchiladas during the restaurant’s first 40 years. And some of the old help is still around. Joe Reina, El Cholo’s long-term head chef, has died, but the post is still in the family, held by his son-in-law, Bob Ennis. And Miguel Olmeda has returned.

From Busboy to Executive Chef

“My first job was here when I came from Mexico in 1956,” Olmeda said. The day he arrived from Ayutla, Jalisco, Olmeda went to the office of an attorney who took him to the restaurant--where he started work at once as a busboy. Last September, after 14 years with Perino’s, Olmeda became executive chef of the three El Cholo restaurants. The other two are located in Orange and La Habra.

In 1923, a small restaurant named Sonora Cafe was opened in downtown Los Angeles by Salisbury’s grandparents, Rosa and Alexandro Borquez. His parents, Aurelia and George Salisbury, commenced business at the present site in October, 1927, and Aurelia Salisbury was on hand for the anniversary fiesta. Celebrities attending included science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury. From 1934 to 1941, Bradbury lived on 12th Street across from the restaurant but didn’t try the food. “I couldn’t come then because I was too poor,” he said.

The most popular dish now was not on the menu in that era. Today, one out of five customers orders fajitas , Salisbury said. And the restaurant obliges with three versions--beef, chicken and shrimp.

More than any other dish, El Cholo is known for its green corn tamales, which are available only during the fresh corn season, June through September. Salisbury has been asked to ship the tamales as far as Japan. “You get hooked on them. You get cravings for them like chocolate,” said party guest Lucy Roman.

Here is the tamale recipe, along with El Cholo’s Chiles Rellenos, vegetable-topped tostada, fajitas and an interloper from the present-day Sonora Cafe, an unconventional tomatillo sauce that includes grapes.

EL CHOLO FAJITAS

1/4 cup cottonseed oil

1 cup sliced onions

1 cup sliced green peppers

1 1/4 pounds New York steak strips

Fajitas Seasoning

1 cup sliced tomatoes

Heat large iron skillet until smoking hot. Add oil, then add onions and green peppers and saute about 20 seconds. Add steak. Season to taste with Fajitas Seasoning and cook until browned. Stir in tomatoes and cook until softened. Adjust seasoning. Makes 4 servings.

Fajitas Seasoning

1 tablespoon white pepper

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

Mix white pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, paprika and black pepper. Store tightly covered. Makes about 1/4 cup.

EL CHOLO

CHILES RELLENOS

6 ounces Cheddar or Jack cheese, shredded

3 whole canned green chiles, cut in halves lengthwise

3 eggs, separated

1 1/2 cups oil

Relleno Sauce

Divide cheese into 6 portions. Form each portion into long roll. Wrap 1 chile half around each portion cheese.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Lightly beat egg yolks and fold gently into whites until well blended. Heat oil to 365 degrees in large, deep skillet.

For each relleno, place large spoonful batter in hot oil. Place 1 cheese-stuffed chile on top of batter, then cover with another spoonful batter. Fry until golden brown, turning with spatula. Drain on paper towels. Serve topped with Relleno Sauce. Makes 6 servings.

Relleno Sauce

1 (16-ounce) can whole tomatoes

1 cup ground onions

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon MSG

Combine undrained tomatoes, onions, green pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and MSG in heavy saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes or until vegetables are cooked. Break up tomatoes with spoon or potato masher. Makes 2 cups.

SALSA DE TOMATILLO

(Tomatillo Sauce)

2 pounds tomatillos

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 pound green grapes

5 pasilla (poblano) chiles, roasted, peeled and chopped

5 small hot yellow chiles, roasted, peeled and chopped

1 1/2 bunches cilantro, leaves only, chopped

Salt, pepper

Cook tomatillos with sugar in boiling water 10 minutes. Drain and place in blender container. Add grapes and blend 3 seconds. Turn into bowl. Add chiles and cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well. Makes 4 1/2 cups.

EL CHOLO TOSTADA

COMPUESTA

1 corn tortilla, fried crisp

3 tablespoons refried beans

1 tablespoon cooked crumbled chorizo

1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Shredded lettuce

2 tablespoons canned cut green beans

2 tablespoons canned peas

2 tablespoons diced cooked beets

2 tablespoons diced cooked carrot

Shredded red cabbage

Bottled taco sauce

1/2 cup grated dry Jack cheese

1 sprig watercress

3 tomato wedges

Bottled creamy French dressing

Place tortilla on oven-proof plate. Spread with beans, then sprinkle with chorizo and Cheddar cheese. Place under broiler until cheese melts.

Pile thickly with lettuce, then sprinkle with green beans, peas, beets and carrot. Add handful of shredded cabbage. Sprinkle with taco sauce, then Jack cheese.

Stand watercress sprig in center of tostada and place tomato wedges around edge of plate. Accompany with French dressing to add as desired. Makes 1 serving.

GREEN CORN TAMALES

12 ears corn

1 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup shortening

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

16 canned mild green chiles

1 pound Cheddar cheese, cut into 16 pieces

Tomato Sauce, optional

Save large outer husks of corn for wrapping tamales. Cut kernels from cobs. In food processor, grind kernels with cornmeal. Mix shortening, sugar and salt. Add corn mixture and mix well.

For each tamale, overlap 2 corn husks. Place some of corn mixture on top of husks. Add 1 chile and 1 piece cheese. Cover with more corn mixture. Bring edges of corn husks over filling, then place another husk on top to cover completely.

Place on square of parchment paper. Fold ends of corn husks, then fold sides of parchment over tamale and fold up ends as if wrapping gift. Tie securely with string. Continue until all tamales are prepared.

Place on rack in kettle over boiling water. Cover and steam 1 hour. Serve with Tomato Sauce. Makes 16 tamales.

Tomato Sauce

1 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

Dash minced garlic

2 tablespoons oil

2 (1-pound) cans whole tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon oregano

Saute onions, green pepper and garlic in oil until onions are tender. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and oregano. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Makes 1 quart.