All You Can Eat: It’s all in the

Saturday 2/12 CONTINUED FROM PAGE25 It’s hotter here

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. A heart-rending story involving a memory-erasing machine that can obliterate all recollection of an ex-lover. $10, 8pm. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com

Met Live in HD: Fire Shut Up in My Bones,

Encore Broadcast. Following the great publicity and high praise for the production, a national encore of the title has been added during Black History Month. $18-25, 12:45pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

Sunday 2/13

music

Black Sterlings feat. Sharif and Justin

Storer. Acoustic tunes. Free, 2pm. Glass House Winery, 5898 Free Union Rd., Free Union. glasshousewinery.com Brunch with Sammy. Enjoy brunch with Sammy Horn on piano. Free, 10am. The Pub at Lake Monticello, 51 Bunker Blvd., Palmyra. lmoa.org

Charlottesville Symphony Masterworks

III. See listing for Saturday, February 12. $1045, 3:30pm. Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center, 1400 Melbourne Rd. cvillesymphony.org Irish Music. Live music in the orchard room. Free, 2:30pm. Albemarle CiderWorks, 2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden. albemarleciderworks.com Vincent Zorn. Enjoy brunch with live music. Free, noon. South and Central Latin Grill, Dairy Market. southandcentralgrill.com

Virginia in Love: Celtic Music for Valen-

tine’s Day. Hear romantic ballads and legends of the British Isles, including Robin Hood & Maid Marian. $10-25, 4pm. Grace Episcopal Church, 5607 Gordonsville Rd., Keswick. tnrbaroque.org

dance

Salsa Class. Learn to salsa and strut your stuff. $6-8, 7pm. IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE. ixartpark.org

classes

Bubbles and Blooms. Celebrate Galentine’s Day by creating a farm-fresh arrangement, led by Harmony Harvest Farm. $85, 2pm. Dairy Market’s Brick Cellar, 946 Grady Ave. dairymarketcville.com Floral Workshop with Liliharp Flowers. Create your own arrangement of dried florals to enjoy through the winter months. $135, 4pm. Cake Bloom, 705 W Main St. cakebloom.com

Paint and Sip with Catelyn Kelsey Designs.

Learn a variety of acrylic paint techniques and skills. $35, 2pm. Eastwood Farm and Winery, 2531 Scottsville Rd. eastwoodfarm andwinery.com

etc.

Fifty Shades of Grey Brunch. Enjoy brunch with your screening. $10, noon. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 5th Street Station. drafthouse.com Magic Mike: Galentine’s Day Event. Celebrate Galentines Day with the girls and iconic dancers of Club Xquisite. $5, 4:30 and 7pm. Regal Cinema Stonefield, The Shops at Stonefield. regmovies.com

Paramount at the Movies Presents: Pride

& Prejudice. Gather your ladies and experience the superior adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel on the Big Screen. $5-8, 2pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

The Mayorga family’s Guajiros Miami Eatery heats up the food scene

By Chris Martin

living@c-ville.com

One of Charlottesville’s most buzzed-about restaurants in recent years, Guajiros Miami Eatery, arrived on West Main Street through a leap of faith, a series of coincidences, and, most importantly, a love of a mother’s recipes.

“We have been dreaming of hospitality,” says the family-run business’ patriarch Harvey Mayorga Sr. “I have always wanted to be a hospitality guy after working in finance. In Nicaragua I had a bar, a club, a band, a disco in the Cayman Islands, and my kids worked in hotels and high-end restaurants.”

The Mayorgas are Nicaraguan in nationality and Miami-an by American dream. Three brothers run the restaurant day-today: Danilo Mayorga takes care of the front of the house, Harvey Mayorga Jr. curates cocktails, and Sebastian Mayorga runs the kitchen. Their father, Harvey Sr., keeps the books while mother, Jacqueline Roque, contributes family recipes—dishes she served to her children for years are now on the restaurant’s menu. Sometimes, you’ll see sisters Bessie and Dora, as well as Harvey Jr.’s wife Carla Chavez-Mayorga with their children, littlest Harvey and Eva. (C-VILLE knows this big, friendly family well: This writer is a cousin of the Mayorgas, too.)

Guajiros has been a family thing every step of the way. Harvey Jr. immigrated to America with $300 in his pocket, staying with an aunt and uncle in Florida, and learning to speak English. His first bartending shift was thrust upon him after two years in the U.S., while he was taking shelter from a storm at a hotel. “A hurricane came through Miami, and the hotel was full,” says Harvey Jr. “I had no clue how to make a single drink.”

His parents were visiting at the time, and got to witness his initial restaurant gig. “It was so overwhelming I couldn’t remember

STAFF PHOTO

The classic Cuban with ham, seasoned pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard is one of Guajiros Miami Eatery’s most popular menu items.

who ordered what,” he says. “I would make the drinks and blank. My dad, who was always paying attention to everything, was like, ‘he wants the beer, he wants the margarita, he wants the bloody mary.’”

When Harvey Sr.’s leukemia recurred after a four-year remission and he couldn’t find treatment, he and Jacqueline left Nicaragua to join Harvey Jr. in the U.S.—with Dora, Danilo, and Sebastian in tow. The children spoke no English when they arrived in Miami, and Sebastian says that at 12 years old, “Out of my crew of 10 friends, every single one of them was a different nationality.”

For the Mayorgas, food was a way of celebrating that diversity.

The brothers speak fondly of fritangas, Nicaraguan-style buffets that serve heaps of classics like gallo pinto and queso frito alongside carne asada, pork, and chicken. “Seeing all that culture being shared in one spot in

SUPPLIED PHOTO fritangas—not only Cuban cuisine, not only Nicaraguan cuisine—was mind-blowing for me,” says Harvey Jr. “I don’t want to be labeled as a Nicaraguan restaurant because we want to have the melting pot of cultures.”

The family’s restaurant operation in Charlottesville began at a spot off Route 29, when Carla pushed Harvey Jr. to open the first Guajiros. “I called Danilo, I told him we found a place to open a restaurant,” Harvey Jr. says. “Danilo said, ‘I’ll quit my job the day you sign the lease.’” Two weeks and a day later, Danilo was in Charlottesville.

Once they had their initial location, the Mayorga brothers selected dishes they knew best—the ones cooked for them over the years by their mother. “All [recipes] are mine, and Harvey has improved a few,” says Jacqueline. “This is what we used to eat; we had five kids and had 11 people in our house. I had to make food that could feed all of them.”

Harvey Sr. fills with pride as he watches customers eat the same dishes his family lived on. “We are so thankful for the people and the community,” he says. “I see that young people, families, locals, students, and people visiting Charlottesville come to Guajiros. Their support has been amazing through these hard times in COVID.”

In working together, the brothers have discovered the collaboration that defines a successful kitchen, as they push and hustle in tandem. “Within these walls, it’s our way of talking to each other and showing our feelings,” says Harvey Jr.

For Sebastian, it’s also a way to define yourself within a large family. “Guajiros is my brother’s dream, and I found a facet of myself as I am finding out that I can cook and lead a kitchen,” he says. “We know that this place is a way to express ourselves to one another without even talking.”