A6 • Friday, January 11, 2019 | Cannon Beach Gazette | CannonBeachGazette.com
Mi Corazón: Restaurant offers authentic ambiance
Continued from Page A1
“You will see more art
than anything else,” Alvarez
said. “You don’t see those
clichéd things you see here
(in the U.S.). We just want to
show people the real way we
have Mexican.”
The two men have long
possessed a dream to open
a Mexican restaurant in the
community they love. They
both have roots in the local
restaurant industry: Alva-
rez worked several years
at the Lazy Susan Café and
Monrroy worked his way
from dishwasher to break-
fast cook at the Stephanie
Inn.
They opened a restaurant
in Warrenton about four
years ago, but still hoped to
eventually fi nd a location
closer to home. Accord-
ing to Alvarez, they also
were determined, “If we’re
going to open a restaurant,
it doesn’t matter how long
it takes us, we have to be in
downtown.”
“We feel like it’s worth
it,” he said, adding they
passed up other locations
in Tolovana. “We’ve been
waiting for this for so many
years.”
Their patience paid off
when, about a year ago,
they found the ideal spot.
Fruffl es vacated the build-
ing at 140 S. Hemlock, Five
Zero Trees took part of the
space for a cannabis store
and Alvarez and Monrroy
jumped on the other half,
which included an upstairs
space for Alvarez to rent
and use for a salon.
The building needed
plumbing, electricity, and
restrooms — everything to
transform it into a restau-
rant — but they could not
be deterred. In February,
they closed the restaurant
in Warrenton, eliminat-
ing the commute and free-
ing themselves up to run
the salon, which opened
in March and where Mon-
rroy is a makeup artist, and
The Daily Astorian
The Shilo Inn in Seaside will soon add a Mo’s Restaurant.
Mo’s coming to Seaside
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
‘LIKE IN ME
XICO’
‘We really w
ant people to
feel like they
’re in Mexico.
’
— Emiliano
Alvarez
Katherine Lacaze
Longtime Cannon Beach residents Enrique Monrroy (left) and Emiliano Alvarez are fi nally
recognizing their dream of owning and operating a Mexican restaurant in downtown Cannon
Beach with the opening of Mi Corazón.
more importantly, focus on
the new restaurant.
Their journey during the
past year has not been with-
out challenges, mostly pro-
fessional, but also personal.
Their friend and partner
Claudia Salgado, a Cannon
Beach resident, traumati-
cally passed away July 8 in
a car wreck near Salem.
“It’s been hard for us,
because we were a team of
three,” Alvarez said. “She
wasn’t really an employee.
She was part of the family.”
She was Monrroy’s de
facto right-hand in the
kitchen. The men relied on
her work ethic and enthu-
siasm, and they expressed
regret she will not see their
collective efforts come to
fruition. They have planted
an herb garden near the
restaurant, which doubles
as a memorial to Salgado.
When they sent a video of
the nearly completed inte-
rior to her children, they
responded that their mother
would be proud of what has
been created.
All the furniture within
the restaurant is custom-
ized, except for the chairs.
The light fi xtures were
created by Russ Mor-
gan, who designs upcy-
cled chandeliers and light
shades with found objects,
wire, and tumbled glass.
Local woodcarver Dennis
Thomas hand-crafted the
tables, which each have
a unique shape. Socorro
Sanchez-Cantu’s art hangs
from the walls, along with
hand-crafted
Milagros,
decorative
heart-shaped
votive offerings tradition-
ally used to ask for healing
in the Catholic Church.
“They’re pretty trendy
at this moment, but very
traditional, as well,” Alva-
rez said.
Under Monrroy, the
head chef, the restaurant’s
menu derives its range of
dishes and fl avors from
Michoacán, a state in Cen-
tral Mexico. The food will
be made from scratch,
down to the condiments
and tortillas. Even the bar
drinks, served on the rocks,
will incorporate fresh-
pressed ingredients.
They also have made
a conscious effort to cre-
ate an environmentally
friendly location. They will
not use plastic straws and
the to-go boxes are made
with recyclable materials.
Sitting inside the restau-
rant, refl ecting on the
months of hard work they
have poured into it, Mon-
rroy confessed, “there’s a
lot of feelings right now.”
“I’m excited and emo-
tional,” he said. “It’s my
baby.”
The restaurant will
be open from 10 a.m. to
9 p.m. during the off-sea-
son and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
in the summer. For more
information, visit the Mi
Corazón Facebook page or
call 503-436-4074.
Aya: The man behind the ‘mooing sirens’ dies at 94
Continued from Page A1
intricate ways of doing
things,” Hawley said. “He
clearly had that bent of
mind.”
As a child, those skills
fueled Aya’s sense of humor
and propensity for pranking,
said Hawley, who knew Aya
since elementary school. He
remembers one day when
Aya fi gured out how to hook
into the school’s bell system
and rang the bell early during
a physical education class.
“He was just incorrigi-
ble until he graduated high
school ... until he went into
the Army,” Hawley said.
“But he was great fun to be
around.”
Aya graduated from
Gabel Country Day School
in 1943 and soon after
decided to join the Army.
After World War II, Aya
attended Stanford Univer-
sity, where he earned his
degree in philosophy, but
soon after served in the
Army again in Stuttgart,
Germany, during the post-
war Allied occupation of
Germany.
In 1953, Aya moved
to San Francisco, where
he began his career as a
researcher and statistician
for the Pacifi c Bell Tele-
phone Co. He continued to
serve in the Army Reserve
before retiring with the rank
of major in 1968.
After more than 30 years,
he retired from Pacifi c Bell
in 1984 and moved to Can-
non Beach.
Warning system
Aya’s curiosity and incli-
nation to create came to
defi ne his local legacy in
unexpected ways. Shortly
after moving to Oregon, Aya
was elected to the fi re dis-
trict’s board, where he led
the charge to design and
install the famous “mooing”
community warning system
(COWS) for tsunamis at a
time when tsunami danger
was not at the forefront of
the community’s mind.
In fact, Aya himself voted
against funding the system
the fi rst time around as a
board member.
“It’d been 21 years since
the last tsunami in 1964, and
at the time it seemed like a
waste of money to invest in
alarms when these events
were so rare,” Aya said in a
2017 interview.
But two days after the
vote, Aya remembered see-
ing a group of children
building a sandcastle at the
edge of the surf with no
adults watching them. The
sight made him wonder
how these kids would know
about a tsunami warning
and inspired him to research
and discover the threat of a
tsunami hitting the Pacifi c
Northwest was much more
likely than people assumed
at the time.
Experience Family Dining in
a Relaxed & Friendly
Environment
Rainmar Bartl, who
knew Aya both as a friend
and colleague on the Plan-
ning Commission, remem-
bers him talking about his
research and “being ahead
of his time” when it came to
tsunami preparedness.
“At the time it was kind
of revolutionary,” Bartl said.
Before he knew it, Aya
became the voice of tsu-
nami preparedness, leading
the drive to establish a warn-
ing system that was a fi rst of
its kind in U.S. and has been
used as a model for others
down the coast. In the 1990s,
Aya led the push to move the
town’s fi re station out of the
tsunami inundation zone on
Spruce Street and build the
new station at higher eleva-
tion at Sunset Boulevard,
said Garry Smith, the fi re dis-
trict’s board president, who
worked with Aya for years.
“If it hadn’t been for his
persistence I’m not sure if
(the new fi re station) would
have happened when it
did,” Smith said. “He had
the foresight and drive to
get things done at the dis-
trict. He contributed not just
to the COWS and the fi re
station, but to all the proj-
ects, whether it had to do
with the trucks, the equip-
ment, fundraising ... He was
an avid supporter of the fi re
department.”
Finding humor
But even in something as
SEE FULL
OBITUARY | A2
serious as a tsunami warning
system, Aya found a way to
incorporate humor. When it
came to test the warning sys-
tem, he worried about how
the public would react after
hearing the loud alarms over
and over for multiple days.
To lighten the mood, Aya
decided to use a prerecorded
“mooing” sound he found in
a BBC sound effects library
instead of a regular siren.
“I was emailing with
an author friend of mine,
who is an archconservative
guy, about the problem. As
a joke, I thought because
the acronym for our system
was COWS — for Com-
munity Warning System —
that maybe we could broad-
cast a mooing sound,” Aya
said in 2017. “He thought it
was hilarious, and I fi gured
if someone serious like him
thought mooing was funny,
maybe less serious people
would, too.”
Though Aya retired from
the fi re district in 2015, his
voice is still the one that tells
everyone to get to higher
ground.
“It’s kind of ironic ... now
he’s gone, but his voice is
going to live on as the one
who tells you to evacuate
as long as that system is in
place,” Smith said.
powered by
Serving Seafood, Pizza,
Sandwiches, Espressos, Beer,
Wine, Ice Cream and our
Homemade Desserts
We have a fabulous patio
where you can enjoy the
weather and your meal.
156 N. Hemlock • Cannon Beach
503.436.9551
Meyers: Former fi re
chief brings experience
Continued from Page A1
“It has nothing to do
with her. She’s going to be
awesome for the bureau,”
he said. “It’s all about life-
style change. It’s such a
unique opportunity. There
are not a lot of emergency
management opportunities
on the coast.”
Myers was known for
his “Blueprint for Suc-
cess” plan in Portland,
which aimed to equip the
city’s fi refi ghters with
more skills to respond
effectively to health emer-
gencies like overdoses
and mental health cri-
ses — calls that have
become increasingly more
common.
He was also recognized
for hiring the department’s
fi rst equity manager and
for doing a complete revi-
sion to the employee disci-
pline process.
Cannon Beach cre-
ated the full-time emer-
gency manager position
to restructure the way the
city approaches emer-
gency planning. The city
had previously contracted
with consultant Stacy Burr
for emergency planning.
“He’s extremely quali-
fi ed and he’s excited about
what we’re trying to do,
and that’s to develop an
emergency management
program that involves
everyone in the city,” City
Manager Bruce St. Denis
said.
His fi rst day will be Feb.
1.
“I think Cannon Beach
needs a comprehensive
plan, and that starts with
me meeting with the com-
munity and seeing what
the needs are,” Myers said.
“My ultimate goal is for
Cannon Beach to be the
gold standard for coastal
community resiliency. I
think we can do that.”
Phone and Internet Discounts
Available to CenturyLink Customers
The Oregon Public Utility Commission designated
CenturyLink as an Eligible Telecommunications
Carrier within its service area for universal service
purposes. CenturyLink’s basic local service rates
for residential voice lines are $15.80-$17.55 per
month and business services are $23.00-$28.00
per month. Specific rates will be provided upon
request.
CenturyLink participates in a government benefit
program (Lifeline) to make residential telephone or
broadband service more affordable to eligible low-
income individuals and families. Eligible customers
are those that meet eligibility standards as defined
by the FCC and state commissions. Residents
who live on federally recognized Tribal Lands
may qualify for additional Tribal benefits if they
participate in certain additional federal eligibility
programs. The Lifeline discount is available for
only one telephone or qualifying broadband service
per household, which can be either a wireline or
wireless service. Broadband speeds must be 18
Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload or faster to
qualify.
A household is defined for the purposes of the
Lifeline program as any individual or group of
individuals who live together at the same address
and share income and expenses. Lifeline service is
not transferable, and only eligible consumers may
enroll in the program. Consumers who willfully
make false statements in order to obtain Lifeline
telephone or broadband service can be punished
by fine or imprisonment and can be barred from
the program.
If you live in a CenturyLink service area, please call
1-888-833-9522 or visit centurylink.com/lifeline
with questions or to request an application for the
Lifeline program.
“TO-GO”
Orders Welcome
Owned and Operated by the Cleary Family
SEASIDE — Mo’s
Restaurant is coming to
Seaside.
The regional seafood
and chowder chain has
signed a long-term lease
with the Shilo Inn for the
hotel’s restaurant space
overlooking the Prome-
nade and Pacifi c Ocean,
according to an announce-
ment from Mo’s. The
restaurant will start ren-
ovations this month and
could open in the spring.
“The addition of Mo’s
in Seaside is a great
opportunity for our entire
company,” Jolee Ban-
croft, the company’s pres-
ident, said in a release.
“We are so excited to
bring our culture of fam-
ily dining to this esteemed
community.”
Mo’s has been in Can-
non Beach since 1991 and
opened a new location
and commercial chowder
kitchen in Astoria in 2017.
Shilo Inns reached out to
Mo’s about moving into
Seaside, said Riley Plesha,
the restaurant’s director of
marketing.
The new location will
have a mix of indoor and
outdoor seating for up to
200 diners. The restaurant
is closed for renovation
until March or April.
music fi rst