Over 53 years after his death, Agustin Lara is finding a new audience in the unlikeliest of locales.
The famed Mexican composer, who died in 1970, is seeing his legacy live on in Vibank’s newest business, the Luna de Plata bakery and cafe.
Griselda Cruz and her husband, Alfredo Cabrera Osorio, opened the eatery Jan. 26 after moving to Vibank last August.
Inside the Main Street building (owned by Dwayne Deck), customers can enjoy pastries, dough-nuts, cakes, Mexican breads, hojaldres — a fried dough eaten as a breakfast meal in Latin America — and more.
Coffee, cappuccinos and lattes are available, made with beans imported from near the couple’s hometown of Veracruz, Mexico. And children and families can also enjoy a selection of board games and arcade classics while they feast.
Early reviews have been overwhelmingly positive.
“People is friendly. And now with this business they is really, really supporting us and we are really, really glad to be here,” Cruz said in an interview Monday.
The business name, she explained, was inspired by the opening line in Lara’s song Veracruz, which translates to “I was born with the silver moon, and I was born with the soul of a pirate.”
For Cruz it’s a reminder of home, and also a vibe she hopes to re-create with Luna de Plata.
“Because we are in the Gulf of Mexico, we have all the ocean in front of us in our hometown so you can just walk around and see the moon reflecting in the sea and he got (inspiration) from that,” Cruz explained. “And I love the song because I just love to go see there. You can relax, talk to someone or just having your own space, and it’s just relaxing to be there.”
Critically, she longs for the Veracruz of old rather than of today. Cruz says her family moved to Canada from Mexico 11 years ago to escape escalating violence linked to drug cartels in the area. She operated a restaurant in her home country but Osorio worked as a lawyer for the federal government. Plans to find a new home accelerated, she continued, after her husband’s boss was dismembered by a cartel and Osorio was offered a promotion into a similar position, but in a different community.
“It was peaceful but then the cartel came and it started to be just no safer for kids or for ourself and that’s when we started to look up where we can be happy as a family and enjoy each other without being worried every day that something was going to happen,” said Cruz.
The Associated Press reported Monday on a mass murder in Veracruz state, believed to be linked to cartels operating in the area. The story added that Veracruz was one of Mexico’s most violent states when the Zetas cartel was fighting for control of the region and continues to see murders linked to the Gulf cartel and other gangs in the area.
“If you want to grow up in that (legal) position, yeah the cartel doesn’t like us,” Osorio added with a soft chuckle.
In Vibank however, Cruz says the family has been welcomed with open arms, including their three children who attend the local school.
Cruz also says the family has plans to expand its business offerings, including gluten-free and sugar-free food items and the development of an upstairs space that can be booked for meetings and celebrations.
“I just wanted to say … thank you to the community for helping us to open their arms not just for our business but also for our family,” she said. “I am really happy to be here and I am loving the town and glad I did this here.”
