Hispanic Heritage Month at Stanley Marketplace
Celebrando nuestra herencia
Meet the owners
This Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re shining a light on the Latino-owned businesses that help make Stanley feel like home here in Aurora. Their roots stretch from Mexico City and Baja to Puerto Rico and Argentina, and their stories are full of grit, family, and a whole lot of flavor.
We asked our owners about where they come from, who shaped them, and what they’re proudest of. Here’s what they shared, mostly in their own words. Read on, then come say hola.
Executive chef and co-owner, Molino Chido
Molino Chido
Champions of corn
Michael Diaz de Leon, executive chef and co-owner, is a first-generation Mexican American from El Paso, Texas. He was the first Latino in Colorado to earn a Michelin star and the first Latino nominated for a James Beard Award. For years he felt neither Mexican enough nor American enough. Now he calls living in two cultures a superpower, and hopes young Latinos watching him on TV think, “Hey, that guy’s cool.”
Molino means mill, and chido means cool. The space is modeled on Mexico City’s corner masa mills, with the mill right up front so guests can watch masa made from scratch every day. “There’s no shortcuts,” Michael says. On a busy night, that’s around 700 tacos. And the open-fire grill outside? Michael designed it during the pandemic, and his dad, a welder, built it. The mission is simple: “to just really be the champions of corn in the city.”
“I actually have a superpower because I can coexist in two different cultures.”
Michael Diaz de Leon
Co-founder, Cheluna Brewing Co.
Cheluna Brewing Co.
A cervecería born on a running route
Cheluna began on a running route. Its founders jogged past the empty Stanley Aviation building for over a year, picturing a Latin-owned brewery and taproom inside. Co-founder Javi is a first-generation Mexican American and proud Chicano whose first language was Spanish. He loves teaching guests how German lagers became Mexican lagers, the heart of what Cheluna brews. Lowrider Mexican Lager has always been their top seller, alongside creations like Chilango Mango Habanero Hefeweizen.
Javi’s mom, Esperanza, loved spending time in the taproom before she passed, and the team still channels her work ethic in hard moments. Now in its 11th year, Cheluna hosts Spanish-English language exchange nights and supports local Latin artists. Its memories could “fill a book,” including a recent taproom wedding between a run-club regular and someone he met at a Cheluna singles night.
“It was a matter of timing, persistence, and patience.”
Javi Perez
Owner, Elita
Elita
Love, served Latin-Mediterranean style
Raquela “Rocky” Serber grew up between Mexico, Baja, San Diego, and Los Angeles, in a family where love was expressed through food. At five, she dragged chairs to the stove so she could cook for people. Later she spent eight years in Israel, where she became a chef and opened her first business. That blend is why Elita serves a Latin-Mediterranean menu.
Rocky started out working at The Juniper Pig at Stanley, then bought it, signing the lease the day the COVID shutdown began. Her signature Salsa Tatemada comes from a woman she watched cook in Mexico when she was about nine. Whatever else was on the plate, that salsa made it good. Her all-Latino team keeps the heritage alive in the music, the cooking, and the family vibe. Her favorite Stanley moment? Little kids who come in just to dance to the music.
“There are few things I know for certain, but one is that I am a Latina.”
Raquela “Rocky” Serber
Founder, Maria Empanada
Maria Empanada
Empanadas and buena onda
Lorena Cantarovici came to this country with $300 and “a backpack full of dreams.” With two babies at home, she started making empanadas for Argentine friends, first in her kitchen and then in a converted garage. When a professional caterer ordered five dozen, she knew she had a business. Maria Empanada took the smallest space at Stanley, signing before even knowing where it was.
Lorena’s mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother are all named Maria, and she still remembers kneading dough at her grandmother’s table. That dough is the heart of the business. Like sushi chefs who judge each other on rice, she says dough is what makes an empanada great. Her goal is to conquer the country with empanadas and buena onda, or good vibes. Fair warning: she greets with hugs and cheek kisses, and you may catch the habit.
“Argentines are loud, opinionated and make wonderful friends.”
Lorena Cantarovici
Owner, MindCraft Makerspace
MindCraft Makerspace
Science, art, and a can-do spirit
Cristina Hartman holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and worked as an R&D engineer before a postdoctoral fellowship with the FBI. In 2021 she bought MindCraft Makerspace, a hands-on space for kids and families to explore science, art, and making. She had no business experience going in, but growing up in Puerto Rico gave her strong family ties, resilience, and a sense of humor that add up to a can-do attitude.
Her dad sparked her love of learning by teaching her fractions before kindergarten. Home sounds like Puerto Rican Christmas music and parrandas with friends, and tastes like mofongo with pork. Programs like the Around the World camp introduce kids to art from across the globe. She’s proudest of her team, many of whom have stayed for years, and she’s exploring a second location west of Denver.
“Owning a business is like having another child.”
Cristina Hartman
Owner, Casa Artesanias
Casa Artesanias
Handmade Mexico, made with love
Monica got the idea for Casa Artesanias while visiting artisan villages in Mexico. She wanted to bring home handcrafted pieces in bright, joyful colors and share them. Everything in the shop is lead-free and made in Mexico by artisans she deeply admires. “We are Indigenous, rhythm, and color,” she says, “the heartbeat of two continents, knowing no borders.”
Her favorite piece to introduce is the stone molcajete, which she calls the first food processor and the heart of the kitchen. She also swears coffee tastes better from a handmade mug. Owning a business has taught her not to be afraid to try. “Some days I sell a lot, and other days I don’t, but every day, the business is mine.”
“Our human warmth is our greatest export.”
Monica
Owner, Create Kitchen & Bar
Create Kitchen & Bar
An open door, always
Erasmo “Ras” Casiano grew up in a loud, mixed household with a Mexican mom, a Bolivian stepdad, and Puerto Rican neighbors. Weekends meant open-door cookouts with posole, menudo, or tamales. After four back surgeries took him out of restaurant kitchens, his wife suggested he teach. Create Kitchen & Bar was the result: a cooking school with a full bar that feels like everyone gathered in the kitchen at a party.
Classes travel from Puerto Rico and Argentina to Mexico’s salsas and moles, showing that Latin food is “more than just cilantro and lime juice.” Ras also runs Lucina in Park Hill and Chiquita in Uptown, an ancestral Mexican restaurant that nixtamalizes its own corn. To him, those traditions are proof of survival: “We’ll speak your language, but we’re not touching this.” His advice to the next generation: “Sí se puede.”
“We're here to celebrate everyone's culture, color, traditions, methods, all of it.”
Erasmo “Ras” Casiano
Come celebrate with us
Across these seven stories, a few threads keep showing up: family recipes and family memories, risks taken on faith, teams that feel like familia, and a deep pride in where they come from. As Rocky put it, this is “one of the most resilient cultures on earth.”
Hispanic Heritage Month runs through October 15, but these doors are open all year. Stop by to raise a Lowrider at Cheluna, grab fresh-from-the-molino tacos at Molino Chido, try the Salsa Tatemada at Elita, bite into an empanada at Maria Empanada, take a class at Create Kitchen & Bar, make something at MindCraft, and find a handcrafted piece to take home at Casa Artesanias. ¡Nos vemos en Stanley!