Last week's Nashville Scene included this review of Lime, an upscale "Latin fusion" restaurant at 1904 Broadway. Raving about the food, the Scene noted rumblings of poor service that have been repeated elsewhere:

After two consistently excellent meals in the newly opened Lime, we’re looking forward to the summer months, when the garage doors rise and the sleek cocktail crowd pours onto the patios. But it’s worth noting that while our experiences were flawless, we have heard several complaints of inattentive or indifferent waitstaff. With pricey entrées as high as $44 and cocktails clocking in as steep as $13, it’s not unreasonable to insist on flawless service. When the fair-weather crowds storm Lime’s high-visibility patios and tequila bars, it will become even more challenging to deliver a top-quality experience to diners. Then again, Hyndman, who presides over the dining room with the sangfroid of Terry Benedict in Ocean’s Eleven, knows that better than anyone.

The Tennessean reported here that "[t]he menu draws from a multitude of Latin cuisines, including Mexican, Spanish, Cuban and Colombian."

Inside Vandy gave it this favorable review, including props to the wait staff and the attractiveness of the clientele.

Photo by Paul Takamoto. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: colombia, cuba, food, mexico, spain

Cummings developed over $15 million in Hispanic business for SunTrust

To attract diverse, small business clients through new Lenox Village branch

CEO: Nolensville Road area "not well served"

According to this December 2007 article in the Nashville Business Journal, prominent Nashville banker Tatia Cummings has been hired by locally-based Reliant Bank:

Tatia Cummings, former assistant vice president/emerging market coordinator for SunTrust Bank, has accepted a new role as business development officer for Brentwood-based Reliant Bank.

Cummings was hired to generate business for a 4,000-square-foot branch Reliant plans to open on Nolensville Road in the third quarter of next year.

Cummings is credited with leading an effort that attracted more than $15 million in business from Hispanic customers to SunTrust.

At Reliant, Cummings will not work exclusively with Hispanics. Her role is to work with the many different small business owners from diverse backgrounds in the Nolensville Road area.

One of Cummings' strength is her knowledge of the Spanish language. Cummings was born in Colombia, in South America.

The Nashville Business Journal article quotes Reliant President and CEO DeVan Ard as saying the Nolensville Road area "is not well served because of the language barrier." According to Cummings, the new branch will be located in the Lenox Village neighborhood on Nolensville Road.

See more stories about Nashville banks reaching out to Hispanic customers here. See more stories about Tatia Cummings here.

Also notable about the article is that it includes quotes from the two Hispanic chambers of commerce in Nashville. Most news reports cite only one chamber.

Labels: business, colombia, immigrants, spanish

From Cheekwood:

FESTIVAL OF THE HOLIDAYS CELEBRATES FOUR MULTI-CULTURAL HOLIDAY TRADITIONS AT CHEEKWOOD DECEMBER 10

From the Akiva School Choral Ensemble to Vanderbilt’s Victory A Capella Choir, Sunday, December 10 will be a day of sharing the unique traditions of four year-end holidays as Cheekwood hosts Festival of the Holidays with interactive multi-cultural activities on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Navidad.

“This is a special part of our Season of Celebration events,” Jack Becker, Ph.D., president of Cheekwood “It is a wonderful time for families to learn about the year-end holiday traditions of others and do so with a grand variety of fun family activities, all in one afternoon.”

Activities, from 1:00 pm-5:00 pm, include everything from hands-on art projects to sampling foods and music associated with each tradition. All activities will be held in Cheekwood’s Botanic Hall. Cheekwood thanks CLARCOR, Inc. for their support of this event as the Patron of the Day.
Following are performance times:

1:15 pm – HANUKKAH Sababa
Akiva School Choral Ensemble

2:15 pm – NAVIDAD Aurelio Martinez & Jose Alegria
La Posada

3:15 pm – KWANZAA A Surprise Kwanzaa Performance

4:15 pm – CHRISTMAS The Victory A Capella Choir
Vanderbilt University

Interactive activities associated with each of the traditions include:

Kwanzaa: participants learn how to make Kwanzaa candles; sample foods such as Janita bread, sweet potatoes, and turnip greens, all associated with Kwanzaa. Sponsored by Pam Thompson & Friends and The Jack and Jill Club of Williamson county.

Hanukkah: participants learn how to make paper dreidels; and enjoy a treat of Sufganiyot and Chanukah gelt. Sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee

Navidad: participants sample Atole (hot chocolate), Buñuelos (Traditional Colombian Christmas food); Tamales; and learn how to make Paper Nativities. Sponsored by Woodbine Community Group & Catholic Charities – Latino Services.

Christmas: activities include making Clothespin Reindeer; and participants will be able to sample Christmas cookies and holiday punch.

Cheekwood’s Season of Celebration 2006 runs through December 31 and is a children’s wonderland of decorations, storytelling, cookie decorating, and musical performances as Cheekwood celebrates Christmas around the world.

Cheekwood inspires and educates by making art, horticulture and nature accessible to a diverse community. Cheekwood is located at 1200 Forrest Park Drive in Nashville, 8 miles southwest of downtown Nashville. Open Tuesday – Saturday 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. For further information call 615-356-8000 or visit www.cheekwood.org.

Labels: arts, colombia, events, food

South American natives recognized in nonprofit, entrepreneur categories

Last month, the Nashville Business Journal hosted the Women Of Influence Awards Banquet to "honor thirty amazing women who have led, inspired and influenced the lives of many people in Middle Tennessee."

Among the three winners in "Nonprofit Leadership" was Diana Holland of Tango Nashville. Among the five winners in the "Entrepreneur" category was Marcela Gomez of Hispanic Marketing Group/Diversity Brands.

Gomez is a native of Bogota, Colombia. Holland was born in Argentina and is a self-proclaimed “porteña” (native of the port city of Buenos Aires).

Labels: argentina, business, colombia, immigrants

Artists from Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico

Reception May 4

The Palette Art Gallery is showing works from five Latin-American artists through May 19. A reception will be held Friday, May 4, from 6-9pm. More information available by clicking on the flyer.

Labels: arts, cinco de mayo, colombia, ecuador, mexico

"Parishioners who yearned to hear the word of God in their native language"

The Tennessean reported in this story that Sumner County Catholic churches are supportive of a groundswell in demand for Spanish-speaking mass and religious gatherings in various churches. The article lists three specific congregations and cites one reverend who visits five Spanish-speaking communities weekly.

"Diorka Ortega, a Cuban from West Palm Beach, Fla., said the idea for a Spanish-language Mass at Our Lady of the Lake started with a few parishioners who yearned to hear the word of God in their native language."

"'We had seven families that got together and proposed it to Father Bevington and the congregation. Everyone was so supportive,' said Ortega, who serves as the coordinator for the church's Hispanic ministry."

"Ortega said that the Spanish-language Mass began at Our Lady of the Lake about a year ago, with about 30 in attendance. 'Now, we have about 200 people who attend on a regular basis,' she said. Ortega attributed the rapid rise to word of mouth in a close-knit Hispanic community."

"She said that the Hispanic parishioners 'come from all over Latin America … Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Peru. (Hispanics) are a growing part of the population, and there's a real need for spiritual enhancement in their lives,' Ortega said."

Read full story here

Photo by Tracy

Labels: argentina, colombia, ecuador, faith, mexico, panama, peru, spanish

The Nashville Business Journal published this profile of Nashville businesswoman and joint Colombia-U.S. citizen Monica Galyon. Excerpts of the story are below:

"Monica Galyon, founder and president of the Barr Group, enjoys success today but she weathered more adversity than most entrepreneurs face to get there."

"A Miami-born, Hispanic woman who left high school at age 17 to join the work force, Galyon now heads a company projected to have approximately $5 million in 2007 revenues."

"The Barr Group, established in 1999, is a national, full-service distributor of a variety of products and services - including packaging, printing, signs, electronics, promotional products, industrial and chemical supplies and power tools."

"'I used to hide the fact that I was Colombian, when I started this business,' says Galyon. 'It absolutely gets your foot in the door, but our output needs to be better than majority-owned companies. We have a black eye going in. It's a disadvantage but also an opportunity.'"

The article also mentions Galyon's work on the Music City Walk of Fame.

Read the full story here.

Labels: business, colombia

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Chinese, Latin-Reggae-Cumbia, Andean, Indie/Pop/Acoustic, Appalachian, Arabic, Mexican, Navajo, Puerto Rican, Egyptian music, dance, and visual art

Hosted by Dr. Ming Wang and Demi Escudero of Colombia

"How many artists are there in Nashville that no one knows about because they are from other countries?"

Dr. Ming Wang, an internationally known LASIK eye surgeon, and Ms. Demi Escudero from Columbia, South America, will host the 2nd annual multi-cultural music diversity event “Seeking music, seeking vision, seeking voice” on Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 6pm in Brentwood, TN.

This unique, multi-cultural event will feature music performances from several continents and from many different countries from around the world. Dr. Wang and Ms. Escudero organized the first “Seeking” event last year and it was a sensational success with artists from 19 countries represented. While preparing for this year’s “Seeking music” event, the overwhelming response from artists and the public made the organizers move the venue to a new location with larger space to accommodate the musicians and artists from the various countries.

“A unique, multi-cultural artistic event like this is in its range of diversity”, Dr. Wang said, who together with Ms. Escudero are the founders of the “Seeking music, seeking vision, seeking voice” annual event. Dr. Wang explained: “Artistically, it is so much more fun to compare and to experience the range of different artistic expressions among the artists from different cultures and countries. Music for example is an art of contrast, namely, the very essence of music lies its contrasting themes, rhythm, tempos and musicality. The strength of multi-culture art lies not in its singular prominence like many European works of art, such as those of Da Vinci and Michelangelo, but in the range of different expressions by different cultures. When we enjoy and contrast the artistic styles and expressions of artists from different cultures and people, we truly experience the best in all of us as human beings.”

“In February 2006, I was introduced to Dr. Wang at a small gathering of musicians and artists. At once, there was a connection to the doctor. We shared many of the same views on cultural art”, co-founder Ms. Escudero said. She continued: “Dr. Wang asked: ‘How many artists are there in Nashville that no one knows about because they are from other countries? The barriers of segregating artists must be removed’. This statement from Dr. Wang caught everyone's attention immediately. That evening, ‘Seeking music, seeking vision, seeking voice’ was born. I realized that here was a visionary who saw that the barriers between cultures had to be removed in order for acknowledgement of a multi-cultural society to take root and bloom in a city of newly found cultural diversity such as Nashville.” The purpose for "Seeking music, seeking vision, seeking voice” is to collectively explore and support the talents of our multi-cultural artists through music, the visual arts and dance.

Musical performances at this year’s “Seeking music” event will include music and dance and other forms of art shows from several continents and a large number of countries. The evening will begin with a performance of the Chinese violin (er-hu) and classical guitar by Dr. Wang and Mr. Carlos Gonzales, Latin-Reggae-Cumbia by Danny Salazar, traditional Andean performance by Jaime Chavez and Calixto Cordova, photography and jewelry by Melissa Lea Albuquerque, Mexican folk art by Danny Salazar and Mexican fine art paintings by Lupita Martinez, tranditional Egyptian oriental dance by Jennifer, Chinese folk dance by Lucy Lan, Indie and pop dance by Samantha lu, Applalanchian dark folk dance by Aimee Wilson and Arabic dance by Hussam AL-Aydi. The evening will also include Rex Begaye from Sarasota, Florida, Puerto Rican fine art by Betsy Nieves, fine art show by Mike Quinones Zongzalez and traditional Columbian dance and salsa dance performed by Xiomara.

Dr. Wang described the broader significance of such a multi-culture art event in today’s society. He said: “In today’s tumultuous and warring world, there are much misunderstanding among countries and people. We increasingly realize that the most precious thing in all of our lives is peace, security, love and happiness. I firmly believe that the best way for people to live peacefully on Planet Earth and truly enjoy the spirit of the human experience is to be sensitive to and respect each other, and to truly value each human being for who he or she is, and not for who she or he should be based on what another person thinks. A multi-cultural artistic event such as this one is truly timely and much needed. It will help break the barrier among people and connect people through common interest and appreciation of art and common aspiration for happiness and joy”.

Dr. Wang, Ms. Escudero and Ms. Melissa Lea Beasley are founders of the “Seeking music” annual event and they plan to form a non profit organization that supports and exposes multi cultural artists and brings awareness of the beauty and diversity of the human race through the arts to Nashville.

For information about this year’s “Seeking music” annual event, contact Ms. Demi Escudero at demiescudero@comcast.net and Dr. Ming Wang at drwang@wangvisioninstitute.com. $5/person (to support Seeking Music Foundation). RSVP to Ms. Escudero or Dr. Wang or call Don and Maxine Dearman at (615) 776-7262.

For more information click on the flyer below:

Labels: arts, colombia, mexico, puerto rico

Merry Christmas from the Hispanic Nashville Notebook, and saludos navidenos to our friends across Latin America.

Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace
good will toward men

Gloria a Dios en las alturas
y en la tierra paz
buena voluntad para con los hombres



El Salvador
Photo by Calero

Ecuador
Photo by jremigio

Peru
Photo by Jeff Barry

Argentina
Photo by blmurch

Chile
Photo by Ryan Greenberg

Colombia
Photo by Montanero

Venezuela
Photo by Spanner Dan

Mexico
Photo by Suchy

Labels: argentina, chile, colombia, ecuador, el salvador, mexico, peru, venezuela