Jonnathon Lara, executive chef at Front & Main in downtown Waterville, prepares Thanksgiving turkeys while working in the restaurant’s kitchen. Lara is leaving Waterville to return to his hometown of El Paso, Texas. As a parting gift to the community, Lara and his staff made and sold tamales as a fundraiser for the Maine Children’s Home. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

When Jonnathon Lara leaves Waterville on Wednesday, he will be leaving part of his heart behind.

He is not shy about saying that.

The executive chef for four years at Front & Main restaurant downtown, Lara is heading back to his home in El Paso, Texas, to be closer to family. Lara loves the people he works with here and felt so supported by them that he decided to leave them with something near and dear to his heart: lessons on how to make tamales.

Yes, tamales, a traditional Mexican food made with masa, or corn dough, and typically filled with braised pork tossed in chili sauce, wrapped in corn husks and steamed to perfection.

Tamales are not only a traditional food served on Thanksgiving in Lara’s family; the food also served as a tool of survival throughout his life.

I met Lara on Tuesday, his 31st birthday, at Front & Main, located in the the Lockwood Hotel. He told me the story of his life, which included moving to Waterville with his wife and three boys. He also explained the importance of tamales to his existence.

Lara’s mother emigrated from Mexico many years ago, literally walking across the border into El Paso, he said. She got a job caring for twins and, when she learned she was pregnant with Lara, decided she should go back to Mexico. But, ultimately she stayed after the children’s grandfather convinced her her baby would have a better future in the U.S.

“Fast forward a couple of years, my mom was taking care of another little girl, Annette, from a different family, ” Lara said, “and that family got my mom started on making tamales.”

When Lara was growing up, a lot of people would make tamales for holidays, parties and other gatherings, he said. But for him and his mother, tamales represented more than that. They represented survival, as the pair would make and sell them when money was tight.

“If my mom knew that we needed to make rent, that I needed a pair of shoes, or have Christmas, we’d make tamales,” Lara recalled. “She was working as a server at a restaurant and after getting out of work, she would just start making them. At a young age, I would help out as much as I could. It became a thing: If we needed anything, you got to buy the corn husks and make the tamales.”

Lara had always wanted to be a chef. In 2014, he became friends with Christian Tavares, a culinary school graduate who took him under his wing and taught him everything he had learned in school. Tavares also ultimately worked as a sous chef at Front & Main.

Jonnathon Lara, left, works with kitchen staff in the kitchen Tuesday at Front & Main, a restaurant located in the Lockwood Hotel in downtown Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

Then a coincidence happened: They learned Tavares was related to the family that had taught Lara and his mother to make tamales.

Lara worked his way up at Front & Main over his four years there, having started as a line cook and then being promoted to executive sous chef. Six months ago he was promoted to executive chef.

As his time for leaving Waterville approached, Lara wanted to pass on to his co-workers a gift — of learning how to make tamales. It turned into a fun experience, he said, with kitchen staff working together and then other staff joining in. He explained that tamal is the singular form of the word; tamales, the plural.

“I’ve done tamales that are stuffed with beans, with mole, or dark chocolate sauce with chicken,” he said. “That’s a very traditional Mexican or Hispanic plate. I’ve done some with cactus, and one of my favorites is rajas con queso, or chile and cheese.”

Lara began seeing dollar signs as his crew made multiple tamales — and his wheels started turning, thinking about how they could make and sell them as a fundraiser around Thanksgiving for needy children who would benefit just as he had when he was a child.

So, he identified Maine Children’s Home as a recipient. Front & Main marketed the effort on social media, and the crew made 70 dozen tamales, which sold for $36 a dozen. Later Tuesday, Lara was to present the children’s home with half the proceeds, about $1,250.

“People just bought the tamales — it was awesome to see,” he said. “To be so far from home and to be able to bring and leave a piece of me in Maine, it became a bigger thing than I expected, really.

“It started with me wanting to teach a group of culinarians how to make tamales. It was going to be my parting gift to them, teaching them something that’s been a part of my life.

“And then I wanted to kind of repay that to Maine children who need shoes on their feet, who need a Christmas. Maine has been so awesome to me and my family. I found a home in Maine.”

Amy Calder has been a Morning Sentinel reporter 35 years. Her columns appear here Saturdays. She is the author of the book, “Comfort is an Old Barn,” a collection of her curated columns, published in 2023 by Islandport Press. She may be reached at acalder@centralmaine.com. For previous Reporting Aside columns, go to centralmaine.com