LAUREN IBAÑEZ / NEXTGENRADIO
What is the meaning of
home?
David Mercado speaks with Erika Luna, the co-owner of restaurant Chamo’s Bar and Grill. Luna fondly remembers her hometown of Valencia, Venezuela, but made the difficult decision in 2017 to leave her home behind as an economic and political crisis enveloped the country. Today, Luna strives to bring the warmth of home to Katy’s growing Venezuelan community, and to give a piece of the Venezuela that lives in her heart to everyone who walks through Chamo’s doors.
Katy woman brings warmth of Venezuela to Texas through cuisine
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Click here for audio transcript
AMBI MUSIC
Mi nombre es Erika Luna. (Este) Soy cocinera y dueña de Chamos bar y grill.
Tuve la oportunidad no como muchos de conocer una Venezuela hermosa. Una Venezuela colorida, una Venezuela donde su gente era amena, feliz.
Pero tristemente, la Venezuela que dejé no fue la Venezuela que realmente disfruté.
Recuerdo una Venezuela un poco ya gris. Triste, ya golpeada por el chavismo que ya tenía unas dos décadas este ejerciendo en el gobierno. Recuerdo que ya estaba deteriorada. Ya la educación no era la misma. Ya la seguridad no era la misma.
Yo trabajaba en una empresa donde de repente tenía cosas que ver con los sindicatos. Este era una situación ya como complicada,( eh?) Una vez tuve un inconveniente de un de un robo casi secuestro. No sabía de dónde venía. El porqué si era la situación económica, eh, de seguridad del país o la situación política.
Solo me dejaron el carnet de la compañía en la camioneta que yo cargaba. Y desde ese momento dije que tristemente ya la hora de partir. Porque este tenía un hijo que tenía solo cuatro años y es difícil, complicado este estar en una situación zozobra me sabe cuando sale de tu casa, pero no cuando regresa o en las condiciones en que regresa.
Entonces, ya desde el 2012 este estaba en mente en buscar otro otro lugar más seguro para poder darle educación y vida a mi hijo. Este ya en el 2017, pues es donde decidí emigrar. Y bueno, conocí Houston, conocí Texas. Houston, específicamente Katy me gustó. Y pensé que era el mejor lugar para que mi hijo crecía y se desarrollara.
Pues chamos bar and grill desde el momento uno en que llegué lo queria, convertir en el lugar este para todos los venezolanos que nos diera la oportunidad de sentirnos más cerca de casa, ya que estamos lejos. Ya que mucho de emigramos solo ya que el valor y el calor familiar lo dejamos atrás.
Llegué siendo trabajadora empleada de la cocina.
fui trabajadora como por año y medio Este después se me dio la oportunidad de de comprar la mitad del lugar que hoy en día. Ah, este comparto con William Martínez, que es mi socio.
Oh my god. Nosotros tenemos muchos platos. Todo depende porque los venezolanos somos muy de compartir muy fiesteros, eh? De repente el plato típico de los venezolanos, el pabellón criollo. Pero si nos reunimos un domingo en la casa de la abuela, un sancocho, una sopa es lo que vas a ver en el plato ese día.
la hallaca, el pan de jamón, el pernil el el lomo negro es lo que nos identifica unas empanada y una arepa este unos perros calientes en la noche.
Uy, mi plato favorito? Bueno, es la arepa con perico, una arepa con perico y queso en la mañana,y un cafe con leche, Para mí, este es lo mejor.
Sí, claro que Katy, estados unidos, un país que es muy bondadoso, que tenemos mucho los venezolanos que agradecer porque nos han acogido, nos han aceptado este. Nos han apoyado, eh, hoy en día todos vivimos, o sea, Forjamos nuestras familias en nuestro futuros aquí. Y bueno, creo que siempre hace falta nuestro hogar y nuestro calor.
Ir a Venezuela, Me encantaría ir a Venezuela. Me encantaría visitar a mi abuela. Me encantaría ver a mis amigos. Me encantaría ver el mar que añoraba, ir todos los fines de semana. Por supuesto que me gustaría regresar a mi tierra.
Click here for the ENGLISH translation of the audio transcript
AMBI MUSIC
My name is Erika Luna. I am the owner and chef of Chamo’s Bar and Grill.
Unlike many others, I had the opportunity to get to know a beautiful Venezuela, a colorful Venezuela, a Venezuela where the people were friendly, happy.
But sadly, the Venezuela I left was not the Venezuela I really enjoyed.
I remember a Venezuela that was already a bit gray, sad, already beaten by the chavismo that had already been controlling the government for about two decades. I remember that Venezuela had already deteriorated. Education was not the same. Public safety was not the same.
I used to work in a company where all of a sudden I had things to do with unions. This was already a complicated situation. Once I got robbed and almost was kidnapped. I didn’t know where that was coming from, why it happened. If it was the country’s economic situation, the security situation or the political situation.
They just left the company ID in the van that I was loading. And from that moment on, I said sadly it’s time to leave. Because I had a son who was only four years old, and it’s difficult. It’s complicated to be in a situation where, when you leave the house, you don’t know when you’ll come back, or in what conditions.
So, since 2012, I was already thinking about looking for another safer place so that I could give my son a good education and a better life. So by 2017, I decided to emigrate. And well, I had been to Houston, I knew Texas. Houston, specifically Katy. I liked it. And I thought it was the best place for my son to grow and develop.
Well, Chamo’s Bar and Grill, from the moment I arrived, I wanted it to become a place where all Venezuelans could feel closer to home since we are far away, since many of us emigrated alone, and leave behind the appreciation and warmth of family. Because regardless of whether you come accompanied, no, it no longer has that warmth of home.
I arrived as a kitchen worker.
I was a worker for about a year and a half, and then I was given the opportunity to buy half of the restaurant, which I share with William Martinez, who is my partner.
Oh my god. We have a lot of dishes. It all depends because we Venezuelans are very social, party-going people. If I have to pick one dish, I’d say the national Venezuelan dish is the pabellón criollo. But if we get together on a Sunday at grandma’s house, a sancocho, a soup is what you are going to see on the plate that day.
The hallaca, the pan de jamón, pernil, the lomo negro is what identifies us— At night, maybe some empanadas, arepas, hot dogs.
Oh, my favorite dish? Well, it’s the arepa con perico, an arepa with perico and cheese in the morning, and coffee with milk. For me, this is the best.
Yes, of course Katy, the United States, it’s a country that is very kind. We Venezuelans have a lot to be thankful for, because they’ve welcomed us. They have accepted us. They have supported us. Today, we all live here, that is we’re forging our families and our futures here. And well, I think we always need our home and our warmth.
I’d love to go to Venezuela, I’d love to visit mi abuela. I’d love to see my friends. I’d love to see the sea which I longed to visit every weekend. Of course, I’d like to go back to my homeland.
When Erika Luna took a bite of an empanada de camaron (shrimp empanada) from her Katy restaurant, Chamo’s Bar and Grill, it took her back to the beaches of Valencia, Venezuela — her hometown.
Thinking about her home brings her warmth, but it wasn’t always a peaceful place.
During her last years living in Venezuela, crime rates shot up because of the economic and political situation there. She got robbed and was nearly kidnapped. So, despite her love for her hometown, Luna left.
Erika Luna, co-owner of Chamo’s Bar and Grill in Katy, serves sancocho, a hearty Venezuelan soup made with chicken or beef at Chamo’s Bar and Grill.
DAVID MERCADO / NEXTGENRADIO
In 2017, she moved more than 2,000 miles north to Katy, Texas, a suburb west of Houston with her 4-year-old son Andrés. She got a job as a cook in Chamos, a small Venezuelan restaurant. After working there for a year and a half, Chamos was put up for sale and Luna bought the restaurant to become a co-owner. She strives to bring the warmth of home to Katy’s growing Venezuelan community.
“Chamos always has an open door for everyone — Venezuelan, American or Latino — who wants to try a home-cooked meal, like what abuelita makes at home,” Luna said. “We are here to give you a little piece of that Venezuela that we left behind, in our hearts.”
Luna grew up in Valencia in the 1980s. One of her fondest memories was being close to the Caribbean coast and eating empanadas by the seaside.
“Valencia was a beautiful city,” she said. “I thought it was marvelous that I could wake up one day and decide that I wanted to enjoy a day at the beach with my family and friends. I had the opportunity to know a more beautiful Venezuela, a colorful Venezuela, a Venezuela whose people were kind and happy.”
But that peace was disrupted by the country’s economic struggles and political strife.
In 2013, after long-time strongman Hugo Chávez died and Nicolás Maduro took over, Venezuela’s government began to crack down on political dissent and tighten economic controls.
Two years later, Luna witnessed the sharp decline in the economic and security situation in the country impacting her hometown.
Soon, even her workplace in Venezuela felt unsafe.
“One time I had an inconvenient moment of being robbed and almost kidnapped,” she said. “I didn’t know where that was coming from or why — if it was due to the economic situation, lack of security or the political situation. They only left the company badge in the truck I was loading, and at that moment I thought that, sadly, it was time to leave.”
We are here to give you a little piece of that Venezuela that we left behind, in our hearts.
The logo of Chamo’s Bar and Grill reflects the colors of the Venezuelan flag. The word Chamo is Venezuelan slang with many meanings, such as a young child, friend or son.
DAVID MERCADO / NEXTGENRADIO
Luna decided that she needed a safer place to raise her young son and give him a better education. After visiting Katy with a friend, she decided to make it her new home, finding the community’s low crime rate, highly rated schools and abundance of Spanish speakers to be a good place for her son’s future.
Luna’s story mirrors major trends of Venezuelan immigrants into America. According to Pew Research Center, the total Venezuelan population grew from 24,000 to over 60,000, a 169% increase between 2010 and 2021, making it the fastest growing Hispanic origin group in the United States. In Houston alone, the city’s Venezuelan population increased 464% in the same period, according to a report by the Migration Policy Institute.
“When I first got to Katy, you could meet some Venezuelans, and almost all were from Maracaibo. Finding a Valenciano or someone from a different part of Venezuela was difficult, but nowadays you can go almost anywhere and find us there, in Katy.” Luna said. “It’s been a radical change, nowadays you almost don’t need to know English because wherever you go there are Latinos who will shake your hand.”
Working in a restaurant was a big change for her, because although she loved to cook for her friends and family, she only ever worked in the warehouse industry while in Venezuela. She says the kitchen environment for a restaurant is different because there’s so many people to serve.
“For Chamo’s, the moment I got here, I wanted to convert it into a place where all Venezuelans have the opportunity to feel closer to home, since we are far away from it,” she said. “Many of us migrated alone, leaving the warmth of family behind, even those who came accompanied no longer have the warmth of home.”
According to Luna, food is something that ties all Venezuelans together, regardless of class, education or their hometown. Almost all Venezuelans have fond memories of eating sancocho and hallacas during Christmas time with friends and family.
Sancocho is a meaty stew made with carrots and corn, often eaten with rice or arepas, and garnished with lemon juice.
DAVID MERCADO / NEXTGENRADIO
“Oh my God, we have so many dishes, Venezuelans are very sharing, very party-going,” she said. “The national dish of Venezuela is the pabellon, but if we gather in abuela’s house on Sunday, a sancocho is going to be the dish of the day. During Christmas, hallacas, pan de jamón, lechon and lomo negro are what identifies us.”
Pabellón is a hearty dish made of rice, shredded beef, black bean stew and fried plantains, while sancocho is a meaty stew often served with rice. Hallacas are small bundles of corn flour dough stuffed with meats, olives and other garnishments tied up inside a plantain leaf and then boiled.
Although she has grown to love her new home in Katy, Luna wants to go back to Venezuela one day to visit her abuelita, her friends and to see the seaside she used to visit every weekend.
“Nowadays we are creating our families and our futures here,” she said. “And I think although we will always miss our home and our warmth, here we have — thanks to God — all the things necessary to share, to develop and to grow as people, as families.”
A Chamo’s truck stylized with Houston’s skyline sits outside the restaurant. Luna is expanding Chamo’s with a food truck and another branch in Katy.
DAVID MERCADO / NEXTGENRADIO