Being business partners with one’s mother is many people’s worst nightmare. But for Carla Cruz-Calderón, it’s a dream come true.  Carla and her mother, Lupita, own and operate Lupita’s Valley Mexican Restaurant, which reopened in Heber City this month following the closure of the Midwa y location in February. Carla handles the behind-the-scenes, administrative tasks, while her mother handles much of the cooking. The biggest challenge for the pair has been learning how to communicate as business partners instead of relatives. “I’ve told her at moments, ‘Mom, I’m not your daughter right now,’” Carla said. “We’re both very strong-headed. Our emotions are both loud.”  It’s often Carla delivering customer feedback to her mother, looking for opportunities to improve every aspect of service, from dishes to decor. Both mother and daughter strive for constant betterment, but Lupita leans towards the traditional and unpretentious, which can cause the two to butt heads. For example, when it comes to the presentation of dishes, Lupita thinks the flavor speaks for itself, while Carla constantly argues the value of visual aesthetic. But no matter the squabble, the pair always get over it quickly. And the mother and daughter do agree about the fact that their relationship is “more beautiful than ugly,” as Lupita put it. “My social group isn’t huge, so family’s really important to me,” Carla said. “I used to be a really quiet kid growing up. But working in the food industry and working with people and small talk, small interactions — it builds on itself.” Lupita’s Valley restaurant recently reopened in historic Heber City after leaving its Midway location. Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park RecordLupita’s Valley restaurant serves Michoacán cuisine, which is known for its fresh ingredients because of the amount of agriculture in the state. Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park RecordThe dining room at the new location of Lupita’s Valley Mexican Restaurant is festive for the holidays. Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record Carla began her journey in the food industry at 13, taking orders over the phone for Park City’s Speedy Fernandez Restaurant Delivery Services, which was founded by her uncle, José Cruz. Four years later, she was picking up an order at Sammy’s Bistro when she stumbled across the owner, Sam Harris. “I remember seeing him take people’s names down for a wait, and they were so busy. And I just remember asking him, ‘Do you want me to help you write the names down?’” Carla recalled.  Harris politely refused. But the next time Carla came in to pick up an order, he offered her a job. She spent the next three years as a busser, taking mental notes about how Harris ran his ever-busy bistro and learning how to interact with guests by watching servers from the sidelines. Carla was 20 when her uncle sold Tarahumara, a Mexican restaurant in Midway, to Lupita, who jumped on the opportunity.  Ever since she grew up in Río de Parras, a small town in Michoacán, Mexico, Lupita had been fascinated by the world of the kitchen. Whenever she went out to eat, she would analyze the makeup of each dish. By 15, she was constantly cooking for her family.  Lupita had gotten into the habit of sharing homemade tamales and other dishes with co-workers by the time she immigrated to the United States in 2003. Being told that her food was delicious enough to make a living off of filled her with ambition.  Tarahumara was her chance to become a restaurateur, but it came with baggage: a pre-existing menu and about five changes in ownership that had left some locals bemoaning the loss of the glory days of its original incarnation. Carla and Lupita Cruz-Calderón stand outside their recently-reopened Lupita’s Valley restaurant in Heber City. Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record Deciding it was better to start fresh, the Cruz-Calderóns closed Tarahumara and reopened as Lupita’s Valley in 2021. With the rebranding came a new menu, featuring dishes like mole micha-poblano — which balances the spiciness of Michoacán mole with the sweetness of Puebla’s — and Enchiladas Catalinas, sautéed in guajillo sauce and named after a woman from Lupita’s hometown, who was beloved for her homemade enchiladas. Lupita explained that Michoacán cuisine is known for its fresh ingredients because of the amount of agriculture in the state. That freshness is something Lupita has tried to accomplish in the Heber Valley, ordering ingredients from suppliers based in Mexico and California and stuffing her chiles rellenos with queso fresco verde from Heber Valley Artisan Cheese. After four years of operation in Midway, Lupita’s Valley closed in February after the Cruz-Calderóns’ landlords chose not to renew their lease. But Carla said it was a blessing in disguise; their former location was about double the size of their current one, making staffing difficult. Now located in historic old town Heber, the new restaurant blends the area’s Wild West atmosphere with the charm of a Mexican cantina.  One hurdle in the 10-month process of reopening came in recreating the menu and recipes, which was complicated when Carla’s old laptop gave up the ghost — and she hadn’t saved any of her work on the cloud. What followed were many nights of Lupita cooking meals from the restaurant’s menu for family dinners as Carla dutifully took notes.  Carla said that process allowed her plenty of time to connect with her mother, while also making the menu “a lot more homestyle.” She hopes the flavor of familial love can be tasted in Lupita Valley’s every dish. The post Lupita’s Valley reinvents itself once again appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less