S A N TA M O N I C A
REFLECTING THE CONCERNS OF THE COMMUNITY smmirror.com
January 13 - January 19, 2023 Volume CLXXV, Issue 179
INSIDE
LAPD Releases Body Cam Footage Showing Tasering PAGE 6
El Cholo Celebrates 100th Anniversary Restaurant planning on opening new location in Salt Lake City as well this year By Dolores Quintana El Cholo Restaurant is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023 and is the restaurant will not only expand but wants to share the celebration of this momentous achievement with everyone. The restaurant –with a popular location on Wilshire and 11th in Santa Monica – has a new slogan and logo, “Creating Memories for 100 Years!” and is actively planning a series of special events and promotions during 2023 for its longtime customers and Southern California guests. Owner Ron Salisbury will also be celebrating his 90th birthday in 2023 and has worked for the restaurant for 68 years. Salisbury said, via a press release, “Many other restaurants, when they approach 100, start slowing down or taking their eye off the ball. But we still stand firmly at the top of our game. We continue to be aggressive in providing the best Mexican restaurant experience possible – one that only El Cholo can offer. Myself, my kids, my grandkids and even my great-grandkids are proudly committed to continuing the El Cholo tradition – one that my grandparents began way back in 1923 – well into the future!”
Here’s what’s coming for El Cholo in 2023: the company will open a brand new El Cholo location in Salt Lake City, Utah and El Cholo on Western Avenue will enjoy a significant expansion, which will include the construction of a beautiful new patio. Additionally, starting on Jan. 1, 2023, customers who are 100 years old or older will be able to eat for free, throughout the 2023 calendar year and El Cholo will be serving a special, $100 Margarita, served in a beautiful, hand-blown, collectible glass. The restaurant will add the dish “A Taste of History”, served on a commemorative plate. The plate will be sold as a separate item for collectors. El Cholo will bring back such classic dishes as the Spanish omelet; enchiladas with fried egg; tostada Compuesta; Sopa de Fideo, among many other favorites. One of these classics, Chicken Mole Enchiladas, will retain a permanent space on the main menu. The dish will be accompanied by the year “2023” imprinted next to its name on the El Cholo menu – in keeping with the tradition that many of the classic food items served by the restaurant have long included their years of origin next to their listings on the menu. El Cholo was founded by Ron Salisbury’s grandfather, Alejandro Borquez, who had recently moved to the sleepy town of Los Angeles with his young bride, Rosa, a culinarily-gifted young woman. After a particularly tasty dinner, Borquez pushed back from the dinner table and complimented
Rosa: “You are such a good cook, Rosa, we should open a restaurant.” Rosa, who put care and attention into her love of cooking for everyone, learned these special recipes during her childhood days living in the Arizona territory. In 1923, the Borquez Family opened Sonora Café, named after their home state, Sonora, Mexico. The site of the restaurant was in Downtown LA, on Broadway and Santa Barbara Avenue, near the LA Coliseum which also opened in 1923. The original menu includes very early California plates, including now legendary sweet green corn tamales. El Cholo is not only one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles but one of its first Mexican restaurants. El Cholo has six restaurants as part of the historic business and is still owned by the Borquez family through their Restaurant Business corporation.
El Cholo also has a history with Hollywood as a favored restaurant with members of the entertainment industry. Actress and singer Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas said, “I was first introduced to El Cholo by Jack Nicholson in 1969. He told me stories about how struggling actors would come to El Cholo and buy a bowl of Frijoles a la Hoja (beans in a pot) for 35 cents, and how the waitresses would bring a side of warm tortillas and salsa at no extra charge. This was how Jack survived for many years. As for me, well I’ve never left the place! We have celebrated every birthday of mine, as well as the birthdays of my various boyfriends and all of my children at El Cholo for half a century, including my famous 40th birthday party. Ron and I have been friends for an eternity, and I have also been close to many members of the staff. I will never find a more fun and delicious hangout, ever!”
Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges for Using Snapchat to Entice Children into Producing Sexually Explicit Videos Mark David Wallin faces up to life in prison after January 6 guilty plea By Sam Catanzaro A Del Rey man last week pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for using Snapchat to meet and entice children to produce sexually explicit videos. Mark David Wallin, 42, of Los Angeles’ Del Rey neighborhood, pleaded guilty Friday to one of production of child pornography and one count of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity. Wallin has been in federal custody since his arrest in this case in July 2022. According to his plea agreement, from 2019 to August 2021, Wallin used Snapchat
to “meet” pre-teen boys and girls – both abroad and in the United States – then develop romantic relationships with them online, with the intent to obtain sexually explicit images and videos from the children. Wallin also persuaded the victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct via video chat, which allowed him to take screenshot images and videos, according to court documents. After his victims sent him sexually explicit content, Wallin would demand additional sexually explicit photos and videos from them. “For example, in February and March of 2020, Wallin enticed a victim, who was approximately 9-10 years old at the time, to engage in sexually explicit conduct to be displayed to him via Snapchat, a multimedia instant messaging application,” the Department of Justice said in a press release. “Wallin admitted to knowingly causing at least four additional victims – ranging in age from 12 to
16 years old – to create or participate in the creation of multiple files of sexually explicit material featuring themselves.” Wallin further admitted to possessing on a smartphone approximately 200 sexually explicit videos featuring children in August 2021. United States District Judge Maame EwusiMensah Frimpong scheduled an April 21 sentencing hearing, at which time Wallin will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment. A spokesperson person for Snap – based in Santa Monica – declined to comment on the case but did say on background that the sexual exploitation and abuse of any users is illegal, unacceptable and prohibited by the app’s Community Guidelines. In addition, the spokesperson said that reports of child sexual exploitation and abuse are quickly reviewed
by trust and safety teams and evidence of this activity results in immediate account termination, with no chance for reinstatement, and is reported to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which then coordinates, as appropriate, with domestic and international law enforcement. The spokesperson also noted that Snap uses tools to proactively detect, disrupt and report both images and videos, depicting this illegal content, to the NCMEC.