For most of his life, Carlos Villaseñor has sold and prepared food for wine country residents with a taste for la cocina Mexicana.

As a kid, he and his siblings drove up and down the valley peddling homemade chorizo, cheese, tortillas, churros and other pastries made by his parents to farmworkers and other immigrants from Mexico.

Since those days, he’s parlayed his apron-string culinary lessons into a pair of North Bay restaurants and a thriving catering business.

His father got his start in hospitality with a restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission Distrct in the 1960s. After the family relocated to Napa for employment, his parents, Ismael and Guillermina Villaseñor, opened their first wine country eatery in 1972 where they also made queso fresca and panela for those who enjoyed Mexican cheeses.

The Villaseñors shifted their focus in 1983 when they opened a Mexican bakery and tortilla shop in Bel Aire Plaza, Carlos recalls. “My father also put in a kitchen and customers kept asking for other things, like they had made in the other place. It wasn’t long before the kitchen took over the panderia.”

These days, his parents are enjoying retirement and he and his siblings are carrying on the Villaseñor tradition of tasty food served in restaurants in Napa and Solano counties. His brother and sister, Fernando and Gabriela run the popular Bel Aire restaurant today, while brother Daniel cooks up Mexican favorites at St. Helena’s Villa Corona. Carlos has a pair of Villa Corona restaurants in Vacaville and does most of the catering offered by the Villaseñor operation.

Carlos is quick to point out that while traditional dishes of Mexico — or what some might term “authentic” — are on his menu, a number of dishes have been given a California spin.

For example, tortugas — deep fried tortillas stuffed with grilled vegetables and jack cheese — are an invention of his father, not something you’ll find on a menu in Guadalajara or Mexico City.

“My wife and I came up with our ensalada primavera, which is romaine lettuce, cantaloupe, apple, corn, shredded carrots, cucumber and sunflower seeds, dressed with balsamic vinaigrette,” he adds.

It stands to reason that since the Villaseñor family has been in California for half a century, the cultures of both Mexico and the United States have come together in the kitchen. But there’s no doubt that both technique and flavor are rooted in Mexico when one tastes the food from Carlos’ kitchen.

He’s agreed to share a few of his recipes and ideas with Register readers, including one for two versions of tortugas and the tasty ensalada primavera. He’s also providing a basic outline for preparing a delicious pot of beans that he calls frijoles charros (cowboy beans).

Carlos’ catering menu includes a number of tempting antojitos (appetizers), ranging from ceviche tostadas to black bean flautas topped with guacamole, sour cream and salsa picada, from mini chicken sopitos to miniature salsa verde-topped spinach and mushroom tamales.

Platillos, or main dishes, include Carlos’ popular fish tacos, featuring sautéed fresh Pacific fish wrapped in a corn tortilla with a tangy cabbage dressing, topped with pico de gallo, as well as gaviotas — enchiladas filled generously with a sautéed mix of prawns, tomatoes, garlic and onion, topped with salsa verde and jack cheese. Prawns seem to be a favorite of Carlos and his clientele, as he offers them sautéed in either garlic butter or “a la Diabla,” a sauce that’s definitely picante.

Chiles play an important role in his cooking as well, as the menu features chiles rellenos as well as chile verde. And how good would a Mexican-American cook be if he didn’t offer diners carnitas and a choice of meat and vegetarian tamales?

Prices are reasonable as well. For example, his on-site catering fee offering a single entree, appetizer and dessert amounts to less than $30 per person. For pickup or delivery, the cost per person for the same menu amounts to slightly over $20 per person. To contact Carlos Villaseñor personally about catering operations or to request a menu, call him at 365-4194.