Flores Concepts, the culinary group that started it all with El Charro Café, is bringing the brand new restaurant The Monica to downtown Tucson.
The family of restaurants has been busy in the last couple of years, like launching new eating spots like Charro Vida and Barrio Charro, and now they’re excited to introduce a new innovative kitchen and patio, which is coming to the Hexagon building at 40 E. Congress St.
A gathering of tasty recipes
The creative minds behind The Monica revealed the following renderings and are planning to open the new spot in early 2022 to coincide with El Charro Café’s 100th anniversary.
The latest concept will be a “culinary celebration of Tucson with a refreshed approach to eating.” They’re in the process of stockpiling recipes from several chefs involved in the El Charro family, as well as a host of others that are known for their scratch cooking and family recipes. However, unlike its other restaurants in town, The Monica will not be a Mexican-centric kitchen.
Chef Carlotta Flores is referring to the new concept as a “collection of family recipes from around our table and the tables in our community curated and co-developed by our amazing team of chefs and food-loving professionals.”
Family traditions — a century in the making
The name behind The Monica is a tribute to Monica Flin, the founder of Tucson’s oldest restaurant family. It’ll be Tucson’s first buffet and pantry-style kitchen that’s aiming to bring back a style of comfort, classic, and customized eating.
Plus, The Monica will be open for mornings, lunch, dinner, late-night, and Happy Hour.
Chef Danny Perez, formerly of The JW Marriott and La Paloma, will be in charge of the kitchen and operations at The Monica, and a team of culinary creators like Chef Carlotta Flores, Chef Gary Hickey, Don Guerra of Barrio Bread, and more will be contributing.
They’ll all have a say in the kitchen with others from the Si Charro! family of restaurants — offering their “family favorite recipes and creating a diverse collection of flavors and options.”
Fun, fun, fun in the outdoors and sun
Being that the restaurant is located on the first floor of the Hexagon building, it’s going to have one of the largest — if not the biggest — open-air patios in downtown Tucson. The space is sandwiched between two buildings so it ought to provide plenty of shade during the scorching summers.
Inside the restaurant, you’ll find a full-service bar, a private dining room area, a local craft retail shop offering downtown lifestyle necessities, and an open floor seating and service plan. Flores Concepts expects it to be effective during busier hours of the day, while keeping everyone comfortable at the same time.
“The Monica will be like visiting your favorite Aunt, Tia, Nana, or Grandma’s kitchen where there was always something delicious cooking on the stove and it was always Made with Love. Every component of The Monica will be designed to make guests feel at home, offering food from branded menus and recipes that have love as its first ingredient.”
Additionally, the new eating spot will be offering dine-in, takeout, delivery, catering, subscription meal services for home meal prep, and options for special dietary needs such as a keto only, vegan, and more.
The Monica is located at 40 E. Congress St. Stay tuned for more updates but in the meantime, visit floresconcepts.com for more information.
Article written by:
Matt Sterner
More about MattAt a very young age, Matt Sterner was gifted with the artistic ability to masterfully roll a burrito to the highest of standards, but the wrapped medley of delicious innards wasn’t his first love. Matt’s first true love was a combination of reading, writing, and creating. He grew up reading comics, the ingredients list of his shampoo and conditioner bottles, choose-your-own-adventure books, and the Scrabble dictionary — something he found useful when challenging his grandmother to a game.
He attended college at New Mexico State University and graduated with a degree in Digital Filmmaking. One of his favorite classes was screenwriting because he became responsible for the story’s birth before it came to life on-screen. After school, Matt took on numerous positions at a local television station in Tucson. From dealing out stories about heartbreak to producing “fluffier” content for a lifestyle broadcast, he learned what it takes to adapt to the many emotions the world of media can stir. Since 2017, Matt has dabbled in the culinary world of Tucson as well as San Diego, California from time to time.
If you’re in the mood for strange stories, head over to his pride and joy, wonkytimes.com. And in case you’re curious — yes, after all of this time, he still manages to roll a killer burrito.
