Taco Tuesday at One 11 Kitchen & Bar

One 11’s chef/owner Lior Rahmanian.

Where and when did the tradition of Taco Tuesday begin?  According to Thrillist—an online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment—its history goes back to the first use of the phrase in the August 20, 1973 edition of the Rapid City Journal in South Dakota. “Under the drawing of a Spanish flamenco dancer, the Sno-white Drive-In asked people to 'Stop in on Taco Tuesday.’”  In South Dakota?  Not in San Antonio where I was introduced to Mexican food in the early 1950s? Not in Tucson, home of chimichangas—created when a cook accidentally dropped a soft burrito into a deep fryer? 

This dynamic question reminded me of “Citizen Khan”—an article by Kathryn Schultz published in the New Yorker (June 6, 2016).  It was a remarkable tale of Wyoming’s most famous and beloved Muslim—Zarif Khan, a.k.a. “Hot Tamale Louie.” Khan was a Sunni Muslim born in 1891 in an Afghan village near the Kyber Pass.  Seeking a better future, he left home in 1907, made his way to San Francisco via Bombay, and ultimately arrived in the surprisingly cosmopolitan frontier town of Sheridan, Wyoming in 1909.  The enterprising young immigrant and the new state of Wyoming were a good fit. True to Wyoming’s motto as “the Equality State,” the folks of Sheridan seemed not to care that Khan was a Muslim or that he didn’t become an American citizen until 1926.  

Khan opened a small café and sold hot tamales, chili and hamburgers from the time of Buffalo Bill when President Taft was in office until the arrival of the Beatles in America during Lyndon Johnson’s administration. Louie’s tamales and burgers were legendary, and Khan was beloved for his hospitality and generous contributions to the Sheridan community. In February 1926, he finally became a naturalized American citizen. But under the racist Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Khan didn’t qualify as “white.” Later that same year, his newly gained citizenship was revoked and not restored until 1954. 

Since arriving in Nevada City two months ago, I’ve been eager to learn more about this 1850s Gold Rush town’s once thriving Chinese Quarter.  What happened to community following a fire in 1880 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882? What marks its historic footprint on Commercial Street and what businesses are there today?  Sopa Thai Cuisine and One 11 Kitchen & Bar are two popular eateries located in the old Chinese Quarter.  Both offer lovely outdoor patios with graceful trees and the quiet that comes from being situated a block up from historic Broad Street. 

Having lived for three years in Thailand in the late 1960s, I immediately connected with Sopa Thai’s kitchen and its authentic Thai cuisine.  On the two-month anniversary of moving into our new home near the historic downtown, Kit suggested we celebrate by dining at Sopa Thai. When we arrived, we learned it is closed on Tuesdays.  Reading Kit’s disappointment, I suggested we walk down slope a block and check out the menu at One 11 Kitchen & Bar.  That led us to our first Taco Tuesday at One 11.

Two months earlier, our nephews Joel and Nathan were in town helping us move in.  One evening, they drove into town and returned with the most delicious tacos, Spanish rice, beans, and fresh salsa I think I’ve ever tasted.  I assumed One 11, the source of the amazing tacos, was a Mexican restaurant.  A month later, I read about the restaurant’s chef in the 2021 issue of Destination, published by the Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce. 

Lior Rahmanian, One 11’s owner/chef lived the first ten years of his life in Iran before his family moved to Los Angeles.  His path to becoming a chef is the result of his Iranian heritage and his interest in Ayurvedic medicine.   “I have a passion for both,” he revealed in the article, “but cooking picked itself.”  The two led him to Nevada County.

Using sustainable and locally sourced ingredients in his cooking, he can apply Ayurveda’s holistic principals to what he prepares in his kitchen. The Tuesday we walked into One 11, Lior was at work behind the counter in the small, open kitchen he incorporated into his design plan.  I recognized him from the magazine article, and a delightful conversation over the counter ensued.  After settling in at an outdoor table, Kit ordered a bottle of locally sourced Chacewater organic Sauvignon Blanc.  Following a toast to life in our new town, we perused the Taco Tuesday menu:

Tacos:  topped with chipotle aioli, beet slaw, onion & cilantro on organic corn tortillas.

Choice of 3 tacos: either grass-fed steak, pulled pork belly, Mary’s chicken, wild pollock fish or sweet potato.

While our order was being prepared, Lior came over to our table and shared more of his journey from Iran to Nevada City—the town in the Sierra foothills he felt was the right fit for his life and restaurant.  We feel the same way about our decision to begin our next chapter in Nevada City, where Taco Tuesday is every Tuesday at One 11 Kitchen & Bar, and henceforth in our kitchen as well.