Natalia Mendez is an indigenous woman who is also a chef and owner of La Morada which is an Oaxacan restaurant in the Bronx. Her first language is Mixteco and was born in San Miguel Ahuehuetitlán, Oaxaca, Mexico. She then migrated to the United States with her husband Antonio in 1992 while having to leave behind their young children with her parents at the time in hopes of finding a better life for her family in America.
When Natalia and her husband came to America, they lived in Washington Heights. Natalia recalled working many small jobs such as selling tamales and flowers as well as cleaning houses. Her main goal was to make a living in America and grant her children with a life full of opportunity along with a better education. Being away from her children was difficult but knowing that she was going to give them a better life in New York City, made everything worthwhile.
“I was hungry and I wanted my children to get a good education and not to suffer as I did back in Mexico. Is that my crime? I would do it again one hundred times.”
Natalia Mendez
In 2009, her restaurant La Morada opened after the 2008 financial crisis. Her restaurant sold authentic Oaxacan food such as homemade sauces, tortillas, chiles, grilled meats, and beans.
With the current ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, La Morada now serves as a soup kitchen to feed those who are struggling whether it is financially or physically. La Morada makes about 650 meals a day to those who are unemployed and who live without gas, those can’t cook, older adults and the disabled. The soup kitchen opened in April of 2020 and within an hour of opening, 200 soups were gone. Natalia wanted to give back to her community in tough times and does so to this day.
Not only does Natalia give back to her community, she speaks as an advocate for them as well. As an immigrant herself, Natalia knows the hardships of how it was when she first came to America with her husband back in the early 90s. She had felt out of place but over time became accustomed to her new life. On the door of her restaurant is a sign that states, “No Deportations” to speak up in defense of immigrants without authorization to live in the United States. Even though times were tough, Natalia knew that her goal to seek a better future in America had to become a reality, and it did. She opened up a successful restaurant and her children all received a good education. Natalia did struggle at first but she did it for a purpose, for her children. If she had to do it all again, she would.
I was really fascinated with Natalia’s story because she worked really hard to get to where she is now. Through tough times, Natalia knew she wanted to achieve her goals and she did. I appreciate how she speaks as an advocate for people’s rights and gives back to her community, you can see it on her social media platforms where she would post in regards to the Black Lives Matter movement as well as other social issues that needed to be brought to light. Natalia Mendez is someone truly inspiring and I am glad to have learned a lot about what she has done in her lifetime so far.
Presented By: Miah Correa
Sources:
“Antonio and I decided we weren’t going to die in Oaxaca.”. The Counter. (2020, January 14). https://thecounter.org/hands-that-feed-us-natalia-mendez-la-morada-bronx-immigration-food/.
La Morada. (n.d.). https://lamorada.nyc/.
Torrens, C. (2020, November 16). South Bronx restaurant turns into soup kitchen to help poor. The Columbian. https://www.columbian.com/news/2020/nov/16/south-bronx-restaurant-turns-into-soup-kitchen-to-help-poor/.
