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JL: Tell me about the most recent dish that the two of you developed together. Who came up with the initial idea, what was the process like, and then the finished product?

RA: I think it’s flautas. It’s something that we worked on together, both of us, in deciding which kind of flautas we’re going to have there. We’re going to have the traditionals, and we’re going to have new ones. For example, we’re going to have flautas ahogadas, which is a version of the torta ahogada, but it will be on a corn tortilla, and it’s going to be drowned with the same salsa.

JMDC: It’s spicy.

RA: We’re going to have cochinita pibil flautas. Bean flautas. Shrimp flautas.

JDMC: Not only flautas, but also more seafood, like camarones al pastor. I was like, “Add more achiote.” He said, “Put it this way.”

RA: It’s basically the same formula we used at La Casita. It’s a mix of his seasoning and my seasoning. It’s a combination of both of our flavors.

JMDC: When it’s ready, we don’t allow any changes. It is what it is, and you respect that. We send the message to the kitchen that those are very much the plates. You’re not allowed to change them. Nothing. They’re going to serve it the same way we create it.

JL: Who else do you look to in the restaurant industry for inspiration?

RA: There are many of them. Each chef we’ve met has their own unique way of working, their own unique way of seasoning, and believe or not, there’s something you can always learn from that. For example, the right moment to add the salsa, the right moment to add the pepper or salt, little things like that.

JMDC: Even if they’re not professional chefs, there are a lot of people who cook locally here in Los Angeles that have small restaurants. Oh my god, they’ve just been working in the kitchen, creating dishes, every day. You’re going to learn from professional chefs. In our case, from our grandmothers and mothers. You have to have the basics and the love. There are a lot of great local chefs, very talented chefs, here in Los Angeles.

JL: How do you try to balance what you grew up with in Jalisco versus what you’ve found throughout Mexico? I know you’ve traveled extensively throughout Mexico.

RA: Every time that we travel, we learn something new. We come back and then we apply it to our cooking. It’s well balanced in the way we stick to the traditional. We don’t change or do fusion. La Casita and Mexicano are going to be nothing but traditional. It’s like we’re taking you on a trip to a magical town in Mexico…Something new that we have learned, we bring it and use it for the people to try. We use it once we have mastered it.

JL: Originally, did you plan to make La Casita Mexicana more in the style of Jalisco or did you plan to source from all the regions?

JMDC: We just planned to show flavors from all the states in Mexico. La Casita has a lot of flavors from Jalisco, but also has flavors from Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz, northern areas, western states. Some of those flavors, we will include at Mexicano…We’re not just from Jalisco, we’re from Mexico, so we represent the whole Mexican cuisine…We just serve food from all over, because we love all Mexican food.

JL: What will it take for you to consider Mexicano and Flautas a success?

RA: I guess the uniqueness of each one of them, and the prime ingredients we’re going to be using. Quality never goes out of style. If you’re committed to it 100%, and you do things right, success comes automatically to you.

JMDC: Since we opened La Casita Mexicana, everybody knows our name, so we have a big advantage now. They just look at Jaime and Ramiro from the last 15 or 16 years. We’re just been working on Mexican cuisine, the passion, love and honesty. The work is going to reflect that. When you’re honest and love what you do, success comes. How are we going to define success here? When people leave this place happy, because they have received a good meal. That’s a great success for us. Money comes and goes, but once people leave this place and they’re happy, that’s the best thing that ever happens to us.

JL: When people hear the names Jaime and Ramiro, what would you like them to think?

JMDC: People who love to eat, people who are very passionate. They think about mole, they think about chiles en nogada, they think about Mexican cuisine.

RA: When someone sees me on the street and they look at me, I see a smile on their face, and they start drooling say, “Mmm…chiles en nogada, pozole, pipian.” It’s like a joke.