As many restaurant lovers know, James Beard Awards are to chefs what Academy Awards are to actors. It’s a big deal to get nominated, let alone win. Nominees are announced in March and winners in June. This year, Tucson chef Wendy Garcia, known for her vegan restaurant Tumerico, is one of them.
Those of us who promote vegan eating – whether for health, environmental or animal welfare reasons – are happy when meat-free cuisine moves further into the mainstream. So we’re looking for Garcia. Plus, Tumerico is a great restaurant with delicious vegan food and vibrant Southwestern decor. Garcia took a few minutes away from cooking to talk to Inhabitat about her love of food and what it feels like to be a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef in the Southwest.
Related: New York has the first vegan restaurant 3 star Michelin
Rooted in the family
Garcia grew up in Chihuahua, Mexico. She learned to cook with her grandmother and father, so her cooking is rooted in her family. Some of her family members now work in her Tucson restaurants, Tumerico and La Chaiteria.
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Garcia started working in restaurants when she was just 17. After a variety of experiences, she decided to set out on her own. She started in 2013 by selling butternut squash tamales at a farmers market. The following year she opened Tumerico. While the menu draws on her roots in Chihuahua, she also incorporates flavors from India and other places.
She brought the family attitude into the workplace. Some of Tumerico’s workers are actual family members – others are just treated like family. Employing many women, including some refugees, Garcia has a loyal employee base, which not every restaurant can say.
“Tumerico is all about these traditional recipes that I grew up with,” Garcia said. “It’s kind of like family. It reminds me of growing up, taking care of people.”
A small empire
Garcia now has three restaurants: Tumerico Café on East Sixth Street, Tumerico on 4st Street and La Chaiteria. All three restaurants feature foods made from scratch, including delicious salsas like adobo, mole, pistachio and cashew cream. There is also an espresso menu. And yes, you can get turmeric shots at Tumerico.
The latest addition to the Tumerico empire, La Chaiteria opened in Tucson’s Menlo Park neighborhood in December 2019. Which turned out to be bad timing.
“The intention was to have a vegan menu at Menlo Park,” Garcia said. But then COVID hit. “I either had to close the restaurant or improvise.” She decided to offer meat dishes as well as a full vegan menu.
La Chaiteria has something else that few restaurants can boast: yoga. Monday through Friday, Tucson yogis arrive early in the morning to practice Ashtanga yoga here. How does it feel to own and operate Tucson restaurants for an entire decade?
“Ten years is a long time!” Garcia said. “A lot of work, a lot of burns, a lot of people feeding, a lot of emotions, a lot of food!”
Desert foods
One of the first things you’ll notice when you look at the Tumerico website is the lack of a menu.
“We don’t have a menu,” Garcia said. “We create a menu with what we have. Menu doesn’t mean a grand plan to me. I believe that whatever is available today can be on a plate two hours later.”
Locally grown foods are prominent. If you’re visiting from outside the area, you may not even have heard of some of the ingredients. Nopalitos? Cholla buds? Tepari beans? These are foods that thrive in Tucson’s desert environment.
“Tucson has a lot of unique ingredients and a lot of farmers,” Garcia said. “It’s just easy to find something local and turn it into a tasty plate.”
On my visit, tacos were on the daily menu, accompanied by beans, rice and cooked vegetables. Everything is fresh and perfectly cooked. Tacos and tamales are always customer favorites, Garcia said, along with nopalitos and tepari beans.
“And for some reason, chiltepin salsas are very popular,” she said. These are some spicy customers, as the chiltepin pepper can be up to 40 times hotter than a jalapeno. Garcia’s favorite foods are tamales and nopales, the pillows of the prickly pear cactus. “It takes me back to my childhood, family time.”
Colorful Southwestern decor
Mexican culture is known for its beautiful, bright colors. And Garcia brings that color into her restaurant decor.
“I love life and the intensity of it,” she said. “I am a very passionate person about what I do and I love fire, the sun, the yellow, the curries, the red salsas, the desert, the sahuaros, the ocotillos, the coyotes. Tucson is full of life and intensity. Tumerico represents it through all different artists and chefs and people. We are a diverse community of fire, food, love, music, spiciness, mariachis. We have it all here.”
Being a James Beard nominee injected new energy into the realm.
“I feel very humbled to have been on the list,” Garcia said. “My customers loved it and I got a lot of new curious customers who want to know about Tumerico food.”
Despite the accolades and national press, Garcia’s vision is clear and simple. When asked what else readers should know about Tumerico and her work, she said, “We’d love to feed them!”
Images via Tumerico
