Senate Passes National Hispanic Restaurant Week Resolution

"It's been a breathtaking pace," says John Jaramillo, co-founder of the Denver-based Hispanic Restaurant Association (HRA), which launched two and a half years ago. In that relatively short amount of time, the organization has made many big moves in its mission to "support and promote the interests of Hispanic-owned restaurants and businesses in the hospitality industry."

The latest win came on September 28, when the Senate passed the National Hispanic Restaurant Week Resolution. Last year, Governor Jared Polis signed a statewide proclamation — the first of its kind in the country — declaring September 22 through October 3 Hispanic Restaurant Week in Colorado, coinciding with Hispanic Heritage Month.

Now Jaramillo is excited for the movement to grow across the country. The bill was sponsored by Colorado senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, as well as Texas senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. The HRA also worked with its D.C. lobbyist, Shelleen Smith, on the effort. Next up, Jaramillo says, is pushing for a House resolution.

"National Hispanic Restaurant Week is a long overdue recognition of the vast contributions that Latin and Hispanic restaurateurs and chefs have made to the food service and restaurant industry in the U.S.," he says. "They've not been recognized as they should."

Unlike other restaurant weeks, this event does not involve discount deals for diners. Instead, Jaramillo explains, "it's a nationwide celebration where you go visit your favorite Latin-owned eatery, or experience something new, and share that experience on social media by tagging @HRA_national."

The HRA is working on many other initiatives, too. "Our goal is to be a platform, and this is just one step on a long journey," Jaramillo says. The organization has two chefs who act as its global ambassadors: Pablo Aya, who has launched a "mini HRA" in Wyoming, and Fernando Stovell, who lives in Mexico but has been spending a lot of time traveling in the U.S. as he works on the Quetzalas Guide.

"It's akin to the Michelin Guide," Jaramillo says, and will include "1,600 of the best Latin chefs, restaurants and food trucks that we can find in the U.S. ... There will be an awards ceremony about a year from now." One hundred inspectors are currently dining out all over the country as part of that project, which will involve an online release as well as a book; there are also plans to develop an app.

The HRA kicked off Hispanic Restaurant Week with the Sazón Food Festival in Brighton on September 23, and says it plans to continue to grow that event in the years to come. "Our goal is to make that our flagship festival," Jaramillo says.

Next up is the second edition of Hispanic Top Chef at the CSU Spur campus, which will take place on October 14 from 3 to 7 p.m and include eight competitors from across the country. Tickets, $35, are available on Eventbrite.

Jaramillo says that the HRA is guided by a principle he learned in the military, which comes from Kobayashi Maru, a training exercise from the Star Trek franchise. "How do you win an un-winnable game?" he says. "You change the rules, and that's what we're doing."