Eastside Masterpiece

In its day, the 1928 Spanish Colonial mansion at 5300 E. Olympic Blvd. has been home to a plumbing supply company, a DMV office, the California Highway Patrol and a cadre of Chicano Brown Beret activists. But after 16 years as Tamayo Restaurant, a tony restaurant-meets-museum, the Eastside landmark seems to be settling into the role of a lifetime.

Established in the City of Commerce in 1988 by the nonprofit agency TELACU (The East Los Angeles Community Union), the restaurant was designed to attract an upscale clientele from more affluent neighborhoods. Tamayo was the “grand experiment” and brainchild of TELACU president and CEO David C. Lizarraga, who initially enlisted Stanley Kandel, a Spago supporter, as an investor, and French chef Claude Koeberle to court the glitterati with exotic dishes from Mexico’s interior. The building’s original exposed wood beam ceilings were complemented by renovations including ceramic tile floors and indoor fountains. Humberto Veloso, a Brazilian-born restaurateur, came aboard to help fine-tune operations a year after Tamayo opened. He became a co-owner soon after.

At its inception, Tamayo showcased its ambitious menu alongside a magnificent collection of large-scale paintings and tapestries by Mexican modernist master Rufino Tamayo, who had offered the use of his name for free when the restaurant was conceived. But bringing haute cuisine to the Eastside may have been a brilliant idea years ahead of its time. Located in an industrial pocket bordered by Commerce, Montebello and Monterey Park, the restaurant struggled to find a footing, and both Kandel and Koeberle were gone a year after the launch.

These days, things are looking up, though the restaurant mourned the sudden death of longtime general manager David Chavez in May a day before his 44th birthday. The ravishing Tamayos are still on the walls, but the restaurant features less exotic fare and remains part of a family of for-profit companies under the TELACU Industries umbrella. Local groups such as the East L.A. Rotary Club, Bienestar health services and the Latin Business Assn. hold meetings and special events at Tamayo. The Da Camera Society recently staged a concert by the Otmaro Ruiz Quartet there as part of its Chamber Music in Historic Sites Series. Mexican regional music superstars Los Tigres del Norte were interviewed for TV there. Along with the Tamayos, the restaurant now displays work by Vladimir Cora, Tamayo’s apprentice and student from 1979 until the master’s death in 1991.

Managing partner Veloso, who began collecting art on trips back to Brazil after moving to Dana Point in 1978, has also opened a warehouse gallery a block from Tamayo and organizes art-walk-style openings with receptions that conclude with music and discussion in the restaurant. “I’ve had guys come in that own galleries on the Westside and they can’t believe it,” says Veloso, 52. “You do a show here and we get 500” people. Veloso apologizes that he can’t go to the gallery because he has been on crutches since breaking his foot in a family soccer game. “It’s beautiful. But this is really the best way to see the paintings,” he says, waving his hand at the restaurant.