This new SF restaurant, once home to a Prohibition-era bar, is paying tribute to its Hispanic roots

SAN FRANCISCO - A restaurant owner in San Francisco' s Mission District is preserving the Latin and Caribbean roots of his newly acquired restaurant, even though he's not from that region.

You may already know the work of Chef Johnnie Young; he owns Hot Johnnie's Smokehouse on 18th and Castro streets.

A San Francisco native, he specialized in French cuisine, graduating from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts after gaining inspiration from his dad.

"He's the one that believed in me," said Young. "My family's from Hong Kong. They came here in the '60s when they were 10 years old and they grew up in Chinatown, so we're really a lot of part of that history."

Now, he's learning Latin and Caribbean dishes, after buying Cha Cha Cha from its long-time owners and renaming the space to