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CULTURE<br />
seeker<br />
When Hope Peshlakai’s new<br />
Downtown <strong>Mesa</strong> restaurant opens<br />
in spring <strong>2022</strong>, visitors will get an<br />
opportunity to sample more than the<br />
Diné chef ’s family recipes. They’ll get a<br />
chance to engage with Arizona’s Navajo<br />
culture and community.<br />
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE<br />
ARIZONA TO SOMEONE WHO’S<br />
NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE?<br />
The people are so kind, generous and<br />
open. Plus, you can’t find sunsets like<br />
ours anywhere else.<br />
WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT<br />
MESA?<br />
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?<br />
I’m proud to be the first Navajo woman<br />
to own a business in downtown.<br />
Knowing that my ancestors walked<br />
these streets and now one of their<br />
own runs a business… well, that’s the<br />
American dream.<br />
WHY ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT<br />
OPENING A NAVAJO RESTAURANT?<br />
Tastes and smells bring me back to my<br />
childhood on the reservation. I have so<br />
many memories of food and I want to<br />
share that. I love to feed people.<br />
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING<br />
FORWARD TO WITH HOPE’S<br />
FRYBREAD?<br />
Having the restaurant be a gathering<br />
place for other Navajo. I’d like it to be a<br />
space for cultural events, for artists to<br />
share their work or do book signings, to<br />
provide jobs even.<br />
Hope’s Frybread will open at 144 South<br />
<strong>Mesa</strong> Drive, just north of Main Street in<br />
early spring.<br />
HOPE PESHLAKAI<br />
OWNER AND CHEF, HOPE’S FRYBREAD<br />
visitmesa.com<br />
From the first week we signed the<br />
lease for the restaurant, the community<br />
welcomed us. We are lucky to have so<br />
many cheering on our success.