The last time I wrote about Daniel Gutierrez Jr., on Dec. 3, I said he was red-eyed and exhausted from two sleepless nights.
I had spoken to him briefly after his family’s popular restaurant in the Pilsen neighborhood, Nuevo Leon, went up in flames.
This week I saw Gutierrez, 44, ready to work in his chef’s jacket at his new restaurant, Canton Regio, at 1510 W. 18th St., across the street from the still burned-out Nuevo Leon.
“This was a dream of mine,” he said of the new place.
OPINION
There was no need for another restaurant back when he, his siblings and parents bustled at Nuevo Leon, he said.
His grandparents opened Nuevo Leon in the early 1960s. Eventually, they passed it on to Gutierrez’s father, Daniel Sr., who ran it with Daniel Jr. up until the fire, after which came a pressing need to go back to work.
Daniel Jr. said it hurt to see his dad grieving the loss of the family business.
“I don’t want to say he was depressed, but he was lost,” Daniel Jr. said. “I felt the need to open something for both of us.”
His father says he’s still devastated, even though there are plans to rebuild Nuevo Leon. “It’s the only job I had, except for going in the service for a few years,” Daniel Sr., 69, said.
Starting over at Nuevo Leon is taking longer than the family had hoped. The restaurant is housed in two buildings; the one with the kitchen will be demolished and rebuilt. The fire was ruled accidental. Its cause is believed to have been a large buildup of grease in a spot “that was inaccessible for service,” Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
At the new restaurant, Daniel Sr. oversees day shifts and the son arrives in the afternoons.
“Two chiefs can’t be in the same place at the same time,” Daniel Jr. said.
Instinctively, the father wants to tell his son what to do, and the son sometimes winces. “He says, ‘Dad, I want to be different.’”
Daniel Jr. has succeeded in putting a personal stamp on Canton Regio, a rustic steakhouse. He decorated with antiques and souvenirs he collected over the years from Nuevo Leon, Mexico, a northern state that was home to his grandparents.
His grandfather’s horse saddle hangs on a restaurant wall near old wagon wheels. Horseshoes nailed to a wall serve as coat hooks. Daniel Jr. imported heavy, solid-wood tables and chairs from Mexico.
The son says he’s hoping to bring back former residents who have left Pilsen amid gentrification. “I want to keep Mexican people in here,” he said.
The aroma of steaks and chicken grilled or roasted over imported mesquite greets customers. “It’s like you’re going back to Mexico,” Daniel Jr. said. “I’m trying to keep tradition alive.”
There is another Daniel who hangs out at the restaurant: Junior’s son, 4-year-old Daniel III. He won’t be pushed into the restaurant business, his father said, but at home Daniel III, affectionately nicknamed 3D, already likes to help his dad stir sauces.
Restaurants don’t last forever, but this family has staying power. The new restaurant “takes you to a time in Mexico where everything was cooked over wood,” Daniel Jr. said. “I feel proud to serve that to my customers.”
Email: MarlenGarcia777@yahoo.com
Follow Marlen Garcia on Twitter: Follow @MarlenGarcia777
