Tacos and Pasteles in a Philly Cheesesteak State

Across the Lehigh Valley, many restaurants offer Latin dishes that cater to both non-Latinx and Latinx communities. From Puerto Ricans and Mexicans to Dominicans and Colombians, these restauranteurs are part of a long history of Latinx immigration in the Lehigh Valley. Currently, Latinx communities in Bethlehem make up 25% of the city’s population. According to a 2017 report in Business Insider, Bethlehem even boasts the third best taquería in the United States: Aqui Es: A Taste of Mexico. 

 

For this panel Krishnendu Ray, a sociologist at NYU and author of The Ethnic Restaurateur, will provide his expertise on the food and restaurant industry, showing the longstanding influence immigrant entrepreneurship and labor has had on the food industry in the United States. We will then hear from local restaurant owners, including Juan Sosa and Daniel Flores of Aqui Es: A Taste of Mexico, who will present on their entrepreneurial experiences and innovative dishes in the Lehigh Valley. Light food and drinks will be provided. 

 

Krishnendu Ray is the Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at NYU. Prior to that he was a faculty member and an Acting Associate Dean at The Culinary Institute of America. He is the author of The Migrant’s Table (2004), The Ethnic Restaurateur (2016), and the co-editor of Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food and South Asia (2012). He is currently the President of the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS). 

 

Juan Sosa, Daniel Flores, and Paula Zumas are the co-owners of Aqui Es: A Taste of Mexico, a Mexican restaurant based in Bethlehem that was recently ranked the 3rd best taco restaurant in the United States through a study done between Business Insider and Yelp. Juan and Daniel will speak about their perspectives on the restaurant industry and entrepreneurship in Bethlehem.