The Heart Behind Chula
Rooted in tradition, crafted with care, and inspired by real family recipes
Where It All Began
Chef and Owner Katherine Gonzalez was raised in Southern Arizona. Her mother’s family migrated from Chihuahua, Mexico and her father’s family from Spain. Growing up there was always a pot of beans cooking, fresh made flour tortillas, salsa and sopas fideo. There was warm and delicious comfort food at every celebration, her mother would always make chips and salsas and tamales and friends would sit and eat it all.
Farmers Market Roots
They always said ‘you guys should sell this!’ Katherine remembers asking her mom to show her how to make tamales one holiday, then the chips, then the salsas. Over time, she began to change up the ingredients and create different flavor profiles.
Chúla began as an inspiration from farmers markets. For 15 summers Katherine lived in Truckee and sold her chips, salsas and tamales at three farmers markets a week in the Tahoe area.
A Taste Reimagined
She loved walking through all the stalls at the farmers markets and seeing all the fresh grown produce, fruit, eggs, baked bread, local yogurt etc. that was being produced in the area and sold to customers in the freshest way. Katherine kept saying to herself "how can I take a little piece of this and bring it back to the La Quinta area where I lived in the winter?" She knew that people would love a restaurant that offered fresh, organic, real food that was also culturally creative and handmade.
A Mother’s Flavor Legacy
Katherine thought ‘we are on to something!’ and alas Chúla was created!
"So many of the dishes on the menu are traditional recipes that I learned to make from my mom! When I created Chúla's menu, I wanted to share beautiful food that represents my culture, honors our local growers and looks amazingly delish on the plate."
