ArtsCenter, El Chilango Creator Adds Flavor to the Area

Simply put, he is an artist, musician, restaurant owner, real estate developer, husband and father.

However, Menache's contributions to local arts culture -- especially within the Latino community -- are too numerous to be as easily defined.

As a result of Menache's work over the past 30 years, the Carrboro/Chapel Hill area has experienced a resurgent interest in Latino culture and fine arts education.

Menache, a native Parisian, moved to Mexico City with his parents when he was a teenager. There he studied at a French school while living day-to-day life in Mexican society.

Consequently Menache grew up with a particularly keen sense of biculturalism, which allowed him to identify with both his French origins and his newfound Mexican culture.

Menache, the creator of both the Carrboro ArtsCenter and the El Chilango Mexican restaurant and cultural center, is far from content to be doing only one thing at a time.

Although it might be thought of as somewhat odd for a Frenchman to be in charge of a Mexican restaurant, Menache has taken on the challenge with exceptional creativity and vigor.

With the hope that the restaurant will be a meeting place for people of all backgrounds and cultures, Menache serves up authentic Mexican foods and hosts weekly salsa lessons and dancing, and performances by Latino musical groups.

"We thought that there was a good opportunity to serve a lot of people," he said. Menache and his wife started to plan ways to work with the Latino community, and "We decided to start a restaurant because it would be a great point to gather people -- they'll come and eat and we'll get to meet them and see who has an interest in our plan."

Menache's plans have continued to grow, with expansion of the cultural center's size and scope in the works. "We want to find a place where we can have soccer fields, a big building for events and classrooms where we can teach Latino people skills and give legal aid," he said.

The restaurant is currently hosting a retrospective of Menache's own artwork from the past 25 years.

It was during student uprisings in Mexico over 25 years ago that Menache met a woman from Chapel Hill, fell in love and moved to the United States.

Though he was not sure how long he would reside here, Menache decided to make the most of his time. He enrolled at N.C. Central University as the school's first full-time white student, and after graduating pursued a master's in fine arts at UNC, where he also taught for a year.

Driven by the fear of "losing life" before having reached his ultimate potential, Menache dreamed of creating his own arts school. In 1974, he did exactly that, founding the Carrboro Arts School. "I'm not for jumping into someone else's boat. I'm more for creating my own," he said.

Menache was a main proponent of the renovation of Carr Mill, and he placed his new school in the resulting Carr Mill Mall. Twelve years later, the school had outgrown the location. He began plans for what is now the Carrboro ArtsCenter, and was finally able to build the arts center he had been dreaming of.

Now the ArtsCenter is host to a number of cultural events, featuring art exhibits, live performances and educational programs. In an effort to promote "integration not discrimination," Menache has instituted Spanish-language classes aimed at teaching American employers how to better communicate with their immigrant employees.

He is also working on plans to develop a Latino radio station and arts center that will encourage Latin and North American cultures to reciprocally learn from one another.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at

artsdesk@unc.edu.