SF Gate reports that the man who brought Mexican cuisine to the attention of middle America
has passed away;
Larry J. Cano, the founder of the El Torito restaurant chain who helped popularize guacamole, fajitas and margaritas with the U.S. masses, has died at age 90.
.... Cano,
who served as a fighter pilot during World War II, took over a
closed-down Polynesian restaurant in Los Angeles in 1954 and turned it
into the first El Torito.
Find an appetite, and fill it;
He
served a mild version of Mexican food that was friendly to mid-century
American tastes at a time when there was a burgeoning hunger for the
cuisine. Cano said a more authentic cuisine might have scared off many
American diners when he was starting out.
"You
have to do what you have to do," he told the OC Weekly newspaper in
2011. "It would be ridiculous to have spicy food for the first time
someone tries Mexican food and kill them."
RIP (burp).
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