Hello Dear Readers:

"Here we go, on the run and full of prospects for 2021," --that was my newsletter's opening sentence back in February. Next thing I know we're soaring into June and I never finished writing it. Yes, the whirlwind romance with Chile Lindo continues as tempestuous as our San Francisco spring weather. What's new?

Top on the list of masterstrokes and fait accompli during the second shutdown was acquiring a beer and wine license. Second, I applied to the Shared Spaces City program and built three beautiful parklets. This means that I now offer a selection of excellent Chilean wines (and California soon to come) that go perfecto with our traditional empanadas! The parklets allow outdoor seating and the City has relaxed restrictions so restaurants can now serve alcohol al fresco--we're beginning to look like a cosmopolitan city. It took a pandemic for the City to realize that the bureaucracy on the hospitality business was "killing the goose that lays the golden eggs," forcing one shutdown after another and turning San Francisco into a mall of nothing but chain stores, banks, and Walgreens.

Thanks to outdoor seating, I started producing a weekly music event called Chile Lindo Live! This event was featured in SF/Arts Weekly--thank you Laura Fraenza--in the first edition published this year. Chile Lindo Live!, held Thursdays and Fridays, 6 - 9 PM, and Saturdays, 2 - 5 PM, has been cathartic. The musicians and public alike are charged with energy being deprived of the live music scene--for such a long time--in a city that is privileged with extraordinary musicians. Thank you to everyone who joined to check out the bands and thank you to all the extraordinary musicians. I look forward to posting these great sessions on a Chile Lindo Live! youtube channel, dedicated to these great bands that range from Spanish rumba to Cuban son to jazz standards.

My friend Herbert Sigüenza, actor, writer, and founding member of the hilarious political satire theatre troupe Culture Clash, produced a series for the San Diego Repertory Theatre called Vamos! The series features culture and cuisine from Latin America and guess who's featured on Episode 2 which is dedicated to Chile? Yes, yours truly. You can find me at 11:15 showing the laborious process of making a traditional Chile Lindo empanada in the YouTube video featured in this newsletter, although I think you'll enjoy the entire Vamos! episode.

When I first started writing this newsletter, before Valentines Day, I was dedicating it to friends and community that came together during the pandemic. Thus, following you will find some of the local folks that kept producing art projects and some of the small businesses that managed to stay afloat, and that I invite you to support.

Finally, for the first time in 26 years of running Chile Lindo (or better said, it running me) the shop was burglarized. The locks were clipped, the front door broken, and the register was stolen. I won't go into too many details, but I'll just say that the door has been replaced and things are back on track. However, when it happened I was simply exhausted and wrote a post on Facebook that expressed how I was feeling. I cannot say how moved I was by the response, the loving comments popping up one after the other, and the enormous emotional support. Two people in the community reached out to Mission Local and they covered the story.

So many people were upset that this happened, that I was beginning to feel guilty that maybe I made too big a deal of it, but the truth is that this operation continues to run by the grace of God rather than by an annual budget that makes sense. My good friend Sara Powell started a GoFundMe campaign. I never started one during the pandemic because everyone was going through hard times and instead I applied for grants and PPP loans. I did get some, but the process is burdensome and the funds go fast. If you can make a donation, fabulous! If you can share with your contacts, please do. But please, under no circumstance feel obligated to donate. To those that already donated, thank you! I also want to thank Mission Local for the article. And I especially want to thank Sara Powell for this initiative. The truth is that I cannot allow Chile Lindo to fail, for it would not be my loss, but rather that of a very large community. This little business makes a big difference.

Saludos y cariños,

Paula Tejeda

Chile Lindo

I can't thank enough all the FABULOUS musicians that have played Chile Lindo Live! I wish I could feature them all. I will, however, publish a newsletter dedicated to all the bands and musicians performing with links to the upcoming YouTube Chile Lindo Live! channel. This is a huge priority on my list. San Francisco is blessed to have top notch musicians playing locally and supporting small businesses. Thank you! Thank you!

Herbert Sigüenza and I go way back to the days when the Mission district set off so much of what now we consider annual traditions such as the Carnaval and the Day of the Dead. I know Herbert's work as an actor, painter, installation artist, and as the founding member, together with Richard Montoya and Ric Salinas, of the performance troupe Culture Clash. These days Herbert Sigüenza is the playwrite-in-residence for the San Diego Repertory Theatre and his latest project is a series that highlights Latin American culture and cuisine. Peruvians are famous for ceviche and Chileans for empanadas, so no wonder Episode 1 features a Peruvian ceviche recipe and Episode 2 the Chilean empanada. Thank you Herbert for inviting me to be part of this fun project and I also want to thank my friend, photographer Amy Carr, for filming my segments.

I cannot tell you how much fun it is to go on a Kai Bansner rickshaw tour that features a seven-speaker sound system integrated into the heated leather seats. You can take a tour of the Mission District's murals or go on one of his "date nights."

For more on Kai's rickshaw rides read Mission Local's feature: Kai Bansner builds custom rickshaws from Indonesia to give mural tours

Website: https://kaitours.bike/

Website: maruyasf.org

Easter Island is a Chilean territory in the South Pacific Ocean. Its native name is Rapa Nui but its first inhabitants called it, due to its isolation, "Te Pito o Te Henua," or "The Navel of the World." From this remote island emerges Mahaní Teave, a concert pianist who has risen to international acclaim. Her meteoric career did not stop her from founding, in 2012, the Easter Island Music School, the first music school on the island, teaching piano, cello, ukulele, and violin. The school teaches both classical and Polynesian music. I had the great honor to meet Mahaní when she gave a concert, in 2013, at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley. The concert was produced by renowned flutist and Grammy nominee Viviana Guzman (Chilean living in Half Moon Bay, CA).

“A little door opened and I decided to go through it because nobody else will,” she added. “I realized we need a school, and I am the tool of this universe to do what has to be done at this moment.” ...read more.

PBS arts and culture series CANVAS featured Mahaní Teave as well.

Rapa Nui Odyssey is Mahaní Teave's debut recording--a Rubicon Classics Release

Her story is featured in the documentary "Song of Rapa Nui" (2020), directed by John Forsen. Teaser on Vimeo.