New venture pairs two Tucson culinary stars in one kitchen | Business News

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But Ray Flores had a different idea: to team up with baker Guerra, who the family had been friends with for years, for a COVID-19-friendly grab-and-go restaurant like they had never done before.

“Ultimately, when you consider all the things you can do with a tortilla, we did it. … You just run out of ideas and start looking for bread, ”said Flores, who runs the family’s nearly 100-year-old Sí Charro business, three El Charro restaurants, Charro Steak & del Rey Steakhouse in downtown and its Northwest Vegan Plus restaurant CharroVida.

Guerra and Carlotta Flores needed little persuasion. Guerra saw it as an opportunity to fulfill his dream of being part of a restaurant. Carlotta Flores saw it as an opportunity to finally work with a man she had admired since he started making artisanal bread from his garage in 2009.

A dozen years ago, when Guerra was baking in his garage, Flores wanted his bread for her family’s restaurants. But Guerra was a one-man show in a small space; there was no way of meeting that kind of demand.

So Flores waited, admired Guerra from afar, and waited for his operation to catch up with his ambition.

When Guerra gained a regional following that led him to relocate his bakery to Broadway Village in 2016, Flores wooed his friendship. They bonded through their dedication to locally-derived philosophies – Flores uses produce grown in community gardens by Tucson school children; Guerra advocates locally grown, traditional grains, including white Sonoran wheat, whose origins go back hundreds of years to Father Kino. (T)

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