The result was not what we hoped for so decided to sell the restaurant. Wanting to include the great reception for Southwest food that had come about as a result of Sonora Cafe, in 1924, We converted El Cholo Orange to be named South of Santa Fe and changed the decor with one half El Cholo menu and one half Southwestern cuisine. This was a partnership with a long time family friend, the famous baseball player Nolan Ryan. There were 7 other food operations and we had the only bar. Seven months later in Newport Beach (by the John Wayne airport) we opened Margarita Ryan’s Cantina in a food court. It was the opportunity to make Roberto Juarez Head Chef who had started as a young dishwasher and had proved to have great talent and leadership abilities. It was the first new El Cholo in 28 years and, in keeping with our theme to only open a new restaurant when the right site presented itself. The 1980’s started with the opening of El Cholo in Orange in an old Spanish style building in the Town and Country shopping center. ^ "No Kid Hungry Blog: Chef Mary Sue Milliken".^ "Sex, Love & Food w/ Celebrity Chefs Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger".
"Julia Child Foundation Honors Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken". ^ "Mary Sue Milliken Top Chef Masters Contestant Bio".^ "Featured Chef: Chefs Mary Sue Milliken And Susan Feniger"."Border Grill: 99 Essential Restaurants 2011". ^ "Border Grill at Mandalay Bay Las Vegas"."You'll Never Eat Lunch in This City Again". Milliken serves on the Board of Directors of Share Our Strength. Josh Schweitzer was previously married to Milliken's business partner Susan Feniger. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Josh Schweitzer, and their two sons. She was the co-recipient of the 2018 Julia Child Award from The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts. She was the first runner-up and won $40,000 for her charity, Share Our Strength. Most recently, Milliken appeared on the third season of Top Chef Masters that aired in 2011. Milliken and Feniger were a team of sixteen chefs on the Julia Child series, Cooking With Master Chefs, in 1993. Milliken also prepared with Feniger the food that was served in the 2001 movie, Tortilla Soup. Prior to the shows on the Food Network, in 1993 Milliken and Feniger appeared with Julia Child in her PBS series Cooking With Master Chefs. Milliken is also a seasoned TV personality, starring with Feniger in 396 episodes of Too Hot Tamales and Tamales World Tour on the Food Network in the 1990s. In collaboration with Feniger and others, Milliken has published five cookbooks: City Cuisine (1989), Mesa Mexicana (1994), Cantina: The Best of Casual Mexican Cooking (1996), Cooking with Too Hot Tamales (1997) and Mexican Cooking for Dummies (1999/2002). Publishing and television/film Mary Sue Milliken with chef Fergus Henderson at a dinner at the US Embassy in London in 2019.
The success of the three restaurants has often led Milliken and Feniger to be recognized for single-handedly changing Los Angeles' culinary landscape. Broadening their culinary horizons, Milliken and her partner opened Ciudad in Los Angeles in 1998. The restaurant later expanded to Pasadena (closed) and the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. In 1985, they opened the Mexican restaurant Border Grill in the original City Café space, before moving it to Santa Monica in 1990. They eventually expanded to a larger space on La Brea Avenue, renaming the establishment CITY Restaurant. Career Restaurants Īfter working together in Chicago and Paris, Milliken and her longtime collaborator, Susan Feniger, settled in Los Angeles where they founded the critically acclaimed City Café in 1981. Milliken is a graduate of Chicago's Washburne Culinary & Hospitality Institute. Mary Sue Milliken is an American chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and radio and TV personality with a focus on Latin cuisine in the United States. Too Hot Tamales, Border Grill, SOCALO, CITY Restaurants