Fresh handmade tortillas have the power to summon crowds of taco devotees, cradle the most humble of mom-and-pop shops, and burnish a restaurant's reputation with Michelin's respect.
It's been proven that a finely tuned nixtamalization process to produce those tortillas can win you awards and acclaim in Los Angeles. But can a modest blue corn nixtamal program at a little corner cafe be enough to keep a mother and son living in their lifelong neighborhood?
When Sabina Aguilar, then owner of Saby's Cafe, approached Graciela Diaz in February 2020 to take over her Oaxacan kitchen on the corner of Beethoven Street and Venice Boulevard, Aguilar offered only two days for a decision. Javier Diaz, Graciela's son, had just graduated from Venice High School (which shares the same block as Saby's Cafe) in 2019, and saw it as a do-or-die situation.