Makers & Finders to open Henderson location
At the new Makers & Finders in Henderson, the 40-foot dining room mural is hard to miss. And even harder to read.
To most, it’s simply a colorful, eclectic, even surrealist sweep of images: a bloom of orchids, a floating island, three street signs in Spanish, a red vehicle on an elevated freeway, an empanada running across a suspension bridge, a notebook open to a handwritten page, a slice of skyline emerging above, the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign in a waxy green thicket with red berries.
But to owner and CEO Josh Molina (and those in the know), the mural offers a visual timeline of the restaurant, of his family’s journey to the American dream.
The orchids are a species growing Colombia, where his parents emigrated from. The island is a Colombian coffee farm. The street signs bear names once considered for the restaurant. The elevated freeway, the towers of the Manhattan Bridge and the skyline all summon New York City, where Molina was born. Empanadas (running or at rest) are a signature dish. The notebook shows his grandmother’s recipe for black beans. The green and red thicket is a coffee plant.
And the vehicle?
“It’s the 1997 red Dodge Caravan my family drove across the country when we came to Las Vegas,” Molina said. “The mural is, to me, one of the most personal parts of this location.”
The new Makers & Finders, opening Saturday at 75 S. Valle Verde Drive, makes for Makers No. 3, following locations in the Arts District (the original) and Downtown Summerlin, plus a Chinatown roastery and a coffee shop in Area15.
“It feels different but in a good way,” Molina said of the latest expansion of the café serving Latin foods and coffee. “I feel much more prepared. I feel comfortable in this position now. I’m humbled by the whole experience but very much confident in the whole space.”
Morning cocktails
That space, the largest Makers to date, encompasses 3,000 square feet across the dining room, 14-seat bar, open kitchen, and a soon-to-be-completed terrace with a pergola and its own mural, stretching 35 feet. The kitchen had to be installed from scratch in this former bank, and the project will cost at least $500,000, Molina said.
For what’s different at the Makers in Henderson, see: beverages. A coffee lounge allows for quick counter ordering instead of sit-down dining. Draft beer selections have doubled. There are five new cocktails, including a cocomelon margarita showcasing Lunazul Blanco Tequila, coconut rum, coconut syrup and watermelon.
Flights of three tequilas are organized into tiers of premium, super-premium and rare. Among the rare spirits is Casa Dragones Añejo Barrel Blend, a sustainably harvested tequila aged in new French and American oak. The bar, in a generous move, is open in the a.m., turning morning into happy hour.
Forbidden: limp chips
The menu at the new store remains the same as the other Makers & Finders (the name comes from the “Makers & Finders” book series by literary critic Van Wyck Brooks).
Look for a flight of empanadas — “they’re a staple; they’re what we’re known for,” Molina said — in queso, spicy mushroom, shrimp, beef and chicken. There’s bandeja paisa, a composed plate of flat iron steak, pork belly, fried sweet plantains, a sunny-side egg, avocado and pickled onions. (“Paisa” is Colombian slang for people from Medellin.)
Chilaquiles with egg, black beans, avocado, onion-jalapeño mix and housemade salsa verde reflect an essential Makers approach to the dish: the right pan and sturdy chips.
“Chilaquiles need to be made in a cast iron skillet,” Molina said. “I also really feel chilaquiles shouldn’t have soggy chips. We need the thickest chip!”
The other morning, Molina led staff training in preparation for a friends-and-family tasting of chilaquiles and other dishes from the menu. The new Makers & Finders wasn’t open yet, but somehow, it already felt settled in the neighborhood.
“Food and beverage is what we sell,” Molina said, “but what we represent is community.”
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram and @ItsJLW on Twitter.
