We followed him into the kitchen. Esmeralda was whisking something in a bowl and Juana was directing the culinary efforts of two men and a woman who were dressed in white kitchen uniforms.

"Yes, exactly like that," she told one of the men, and patted him on the butt. He just grinned and kept working. She turned to us and smiled. She was dressed elegantly in a dark blue dress that was styled in a manner that hinted at her Mexican heritage.

"Esmeralda," she said. Her daughter turned and put down her whisk and smiled at us. She was dressed in a white miniskirt and white high heels and a...