Passing of Elvia Staines Left a Huge Void Among Family and Friends

Staines shared that her mom’s passing has left a huge void, not just for their family at the restaurant, but for everyone who turned to her for recipes and cooking tips. She mentioned that her mom played a significant role in the lives of many cooks on the island. Now, she is determined to carry on the business in honor of her mother’s memory.

 

On the Phone: Jennie Staines, Daughter of Elvia Staines

“ People used to make lines to eat at Elvi’s. I remember that, and she always had this passion in cooking and inspired all the cooks that were with her, the waiters. Like, one of them that – most of the people that worked with her have owned restaurants, not only here in L.A. In San Pedro, but abroad, like, we have a girl named Bonnie Pascacio, she was our waitress for lunch, and she lives in California, if I’m not mistaken, but she’s cooking there. That’s one of the persons she inspired. Rene Reyes, he was a waiter here, too. He has Caramba. She just had the gift and, and she was such a giver and she teach people how to do many things and that’s the way she did and she helped with all organizations also with charity and she was a charitable lady and her skills she just extended to all the people that worked around us.  Like me, I felt like  a part of me left me because like when I was working, she would always have to approve on the dishes, helped me out to better them and  now I won’t have her, but  I feel that  the love that she gave me through the years, and she helped me raise my two kids also, and she means the world to me. And I feel that she will always be with me while I am cooking, while I’m doing, preparing everything for Elvis because I intend to keep her name and have it very high.”