Maíz de la Vida was scheduled to celebrate two years of business at its Gulch restaurant Wednesday evening with a festival the team is calling Cornstock. Chef Julio Hernandez and his staff were scheduled to host the celebration at 5 p.m. at the restaurant's home at 606 8th Ave S, with live music, a new fall menu and specialty anniversary drinks.
The anniversary bash, detailed by Nashville Lifestyles, was scheduled to feature four live acts spanning genres: singer-songwriter Alexandra Luccetti, alternative punk outfit Rabbit Club, Wily's Bluegrass Band, and Los Locos Tristes playing traditional Latin rock. Guests were invited to explore the restaurant's new fall menu alongside the limited-run drink specials, with the outlet describing the whole event as centered on community and culture — fitting for a restaurant built around preserving culinary heritage.
From Stimulus Checks to a Gulch Storefront
Two years in a storefront is a relatively recent chapter for a project that started with considerably humbler tools. Maíz de la Vida got its start in 2020, during the depths of the pandemic, when Hernandez pooled stimulus checks and personal savings to buy a 600-pound stone grain mill and 200 pounds of dried corn, according to Axios. The project grew from home tortilla-making to a food truck and later a planned restaurant.
The Gulch restaurant itself opened as a partnership between Hernandez and local entrepreneur Andy Mumma, the founder of Barista Parlor and Chopper Tiki, as reported by WhatNow. The restaurant is in the Antiques Building on the border of the Gulch and Pie Town. The Catbird Seat's 2025 relocation also drew attention, per Hoodline's earlier reporting.
A Chef's Path From Tlaxcala to Hillwood Country Club
Hernandez's culinary resume stretches well beyond Nashville. Born in Tlaxcala, Mexico, he cooked in New York City kitchens including Becco, Spice Market and Toloache before spending eight years refining French technique at Nashville's Hillwood Country Club, according to StarChefs. That blend of classical training and Mexican heritage cooking has since earned him national recognition: he was a James Beard Award semifinalist for Emerging Chef in 2023, 6AM City reported.
Hernandez was featured in the Nashville episode of Netflix's Somebody Feed Phil. Hernandez also won the Nashville Scene's Iron Fork culinary competition, the outlet noted.
The Scale Behind the Masa
What looks like a neighborhood taco spot runs on an industrial-scale corn operation behind the scenes. The restaurant group processes roughly 1,000 pounds of heirloom corn per week, sourcing varieties imported directly from Mexico while also partnering with Caney Fork Farms in Carthage, Tennessee, to grow similar varieties locally, according to the Nashville Scene. Across all of its concepts, Maíz de la Vida now imports about 15 tons of heirloom corn annually, turning it into roughly 30 tons of masa and up to 800 tortillas a day, Hoodline previously reported.
That production feeds a growing footprint across the city. In addition to the Gulch restaurant, the company still runs its original taco truck outside Chopper Tiki in East Nashville, alongside a North Nashville tortilla shop. In April, Hernandez converted that North Nashville space into a 12-seat lunch counter and commissary kitchen called Fonda Fina, expanding the brand's local footprint even as the Gulch flagship marks its own milestone.
