FOOD & DR INK
Latina suffered from two burglaries in quick succession which, though the couple philosophically say that they learned a great deal of lessons from the experience, was extremely hard – but it was family that pulled them through. “They’re all so involved: they’re so happy, and proud of us,” Catalina says. “I remember one day when I was so, so tired – around the time of the break-ins – I was just so down. I remember coming back home, and talking with my daughter who was six at the time – I said: ‘You know what? I’m thinking about selling the bus.’ And she was like: ‘You can’t DO THAT!’” Catalina puts her hands on her hips and widens her eyes in mock child outrage, smiling from ear to ear: “‘I LOVE our bus! Where am I going to work?!’ And I thought – she’s already seeing a future: she’s seeing herself working in La Latina. That was a lot to me: that pushed me to keep going.” “We try to keep that balance: family first, but also keeping the business up and running. Being an entrepreneurial couple and having a business together is obviously testing us in all ways possible,
but I say to Nelson, ‘Probably I will get old with you: we survived kids, we survived the business, so we are child-proof and business-proof – we’re a good pair!” Though even a short visit to La Latina in the lunch rush – surrounded by happy families, office workers, shoppers seeking respite, all tucking into the three delicious dishes served up by this hardworking couple – would leave you in no doubt that it’s quite definitely already a much-loved eatery, Catalina’s dream is to have a ‘proper’ restaurant one day: a bricks and mortar establishment where they can expand their offering. “Fingers crossed,” she says. “Though I would like to take the bus with me: it’s like another baby for us! We need the perfect location where I can place the bus and have a proper restaurant there too – I’m always on the lookout. Kids love coming to the bus, having a meal here: it’s the whole experience, it’s not just the food. So I don’t want to leave it! We are Latin: I want to have a restaurant where people can have food, and nice cocktails, and maybe they can dance, with live music…” she grins. “That’s the plan: fingers crossed.”
“It's the whole experience, it's not just the food”
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