{"product_id":"a-place-at-the-nayarit-how-a-mexican-restaurant-nourished-a-community-9780520385481","title":"A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Extraordinarily relevant and meaningful.\"--Elee Wood, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLatinx Files 2022 Best Books, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e L.A. Taco's 2022 Best Books \u003cbr\u003e 2022 Porchlight Business Book Awards Longlist\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e2023 PROSE Award North American \u0026amp; US History Finalist, Association of American University Presses\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eMacArthur Genius Natalia Molina unveils the hidden history of the Nayarit, a restaurant in Los Angeles that nourished its community of Mexican immigrants with a sense of belonging.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 1951, Do?a Natalia Barraza opened the Nayarit, a Mexican restaurant in Echo Park, Los Angeles. With \u003ci\u003eA Place at the Nayarit\u003c\/i\u003e, historian Natalia Molina traces the life's work of her grandmother, remembered by all who knew her as Do?a Natalia--a generous, reserved, and extraordinarily capable woman. Do?a Natalia immigrated alone from Mexico to L.A., adopted two children, and ran a successful business. She also sponsored, housed, and employed dozens of other immigrants, encouraging them to lay claim to a city long characterized by anti-Latinx racism. Together, the employees and customers of the Nayarit maintained ties to their old homes while providing one another safety and support. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The Nayarit was much more than a popular eating spot: it was an urban anchor for a robust community, a gathering space where ethnic Mexican workers and customers connected with their \u003ci\u003epatria chica \u003c\/i\u003e(their \"small country\"). That meant connecting with distinctive tastes, with one another, and with the city they now called home. Through deep research and vivid storytelling, Molina follows restaurant workers from the kitchen and the front of the house across borders and through the decades. These people's stories illuminate the many facets of the immigrant experience: immigrants' complex networks of family and community and the small but essential pleasures of daily life, as well as cross-currents of gender and sexuality and pressures of racism and segregation. The Nayarit was a local landmark, popular with both Hollywood stars and restaurant workers from across the city and beloved for its fresh, traditionally prepared Mexican food. But as Molina argues, it was also, and most importantly, a place where ethnic Mexicans and other Latinx L.A. residents could step into the fullness of their lives, nourishing themselves and one another. \u003ci\u003eA Place at the Nayarit \u003c\/i\u003eis a stirring exploration of how racialized minorities create a sense of belonging. It will resonate with anyone who has felt like an outsider and had a special place where they felt like an insider.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNatalia Molina\u003c\/b\u003e is Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California and a 2020 MacArthur Fellow. She is the author of the award-winning books \u003ci\u003eHow Race Is Made in America: Immigration, Citizenship, and the Historical Power of Racial Scripts\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFit to Be Citizens? Public Health and Race in Los Angeles, 1879-1939\u003c\/i\u003e and coeditor of \u003ci\u003eRelational Formations of Race: Theory, Method, and Practice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of California Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50620878455058,"sku":"9780520385481","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3403a00b-ac9d-4500-9779-7c0437cd6a3a.jpg?v=1732574571","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-place-at-the-nayarit-how-a-mexican-restaurant-nourished-a-community-9780520385481","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}