Chris Rios: Yes.
Intro: Hi, my name is Adria and
Intro: I'm a musician from the
Intro: border, El Paso, Texas, and
Intro: Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.
Intro: To me, tacos sound like
Intro: a reunion with my loved ones
Intro: full of good memories,
Intro: wrapped in a tortilla,
Intro: a symphony of taste that has
Intro: no boundaries.
Intro: From the street corners in
Intro: Juarez to a fancy bistro
Intro: in El Paso, from Mexico's
Intro: heart to the world, black
Intro: beans, your choice of
Intro: guisado, shredded lettuce,
Intro: guacamole and delicious
Intro: salsa.
Intro: Oh, and don't forget cilantro
Intro: and lime for a celebration on
Intro: each bite.
Intro: This is Adria from
Intro: Estereomance and you're
Intro: listening to Tacos of Texas
Intro: on KUT.
Intro: Have you tried avocado lard?
Intro: Move over peas and
Intro: guacamole. Get in on the
Intro: latest craze in whole living
Intro: and eating with avocado
Intro: lard.
Intro: It's great for the skin,
Intro: belly and your nalgas.
Intro: Get it
Intro: now at whole comidas
Intro: stores.
Intro: Small print.
Intro: This product does not
Intro: resemble avocados or avocado
Intro: accessories. [music]
Mando Rayo: What's a Taco world? I'm taco journalist Mando Rayo
Mando Rayo: and welcome to the Tacos
Mando Rayo: of Texas podcast season
Mando Rayo: tres, tres, tres,
Mando Rayo: produced by Identity
Mando Rayo: Productions in partnership
Mando Rayo: with KUT and
Mando Rayo: KUTX Studios.
Mando Rayo: And we're back exploring
Mando Rayo: taco culture in Texas
Mando Rayo: through the eyes of the
Mando Rayo: people in the Lone Star
Mando Rayo: State.
Mando Rayo: So grab a flor
Mando Rayo: de la calabaza and tortillas
Mando Rayo: de maiz and get ready
Mando Rayo: for some muy tasty
Mando Rayo: taco conversations.
Mando Rayo: [music]
Mando Rayo: In today's episode,
Mando Rayo: we're skipping the meat
Mando Rayo: line and talking to
Mando Rayo: taqueros and taqueras in
Mando Rayo: El Paso, Austin and Fort
Mando Rayo: Worth. We'll talk to
Mando Rayo: Edgar Delfin of
Mando Rayo: Lick It Up Tacos, which
Mando Rayo: originally started in El
Mando Rayo: Paso and expanded to a
Mando Rayo: truck in Austin a few
Mando Rayo: years ago.
Mando Rayo: We'll also talk to East
Mando Rayo: Austin native Chris
Mando Rayo: Rios, whose taco truck
Mando Rayo: Vegan Nom, now has
Mando Rayo: a brick and mortar in
Mando Rayo: the North Loop
Mando Rayo: neighborhood.
Mando Rayo: Then we'll talk to Belen
Mando Rayo: Hernandez, bringing
Mando Rayo: a little love into the
Mando Rayo: virtual studio all the
Mando Rayo: way from her Fort Worth
Mando Rayo: Mexican restaurant, Belenty's Love.
Mando Rayo: We're talking about
Mando Rayo: plant based tacos
Mando Rayo: on today's Tacos of
Mando Rayo: Texas.
Mando Rayo: [music] While I'm not quite
Mando Rayo: ready to give up on my
Mando Rayo: carnitas and barbacoa,
Mando Rayo: especially con ojos,
Mando Rayo: I'm really interested in
Mando Rayo: how these taqueros have
Mando Rayo: given it up and how
Mando Rayo: they've also brought
Mando Rayo: Mexican cuisine to the
Mando Rayo: vegan restaurant
Mando Rayo: industry.
Mando Rayo: Now, I'm not trying to
Mando Rayo: convince you about
Mando Rayo: anything in this
Mando Rayo: episode, but I want to
Mando Rayo: take a closer look at
Mando Rayo: the vegan taqueros
Mando Rayo: within our cultura
Mando Rayo: because our cultura
Mando Rayo: actually begin with a
Mando Rayo: diet that was very much
Mando Rayo: a plant based one.
Mando Rayo: That's right.
Mando Rayo: Plantas.
Mando Rayo: And how do we know this?
Mando Rayo: The Florentine Codex.
Mando Rayo: The Florentine Codex is
Mando Rayo: an encyclopedia created
Mando Rayo: by a Franciscan
Mando Rayo: missionary who was
Mando Rayo: studying the Aztecs in
Mando Rayo: order to convert them to
Mando Rayo: Christianity.
Mando Rayo: In his account of the
Mando Rayo: Aztecs, he describes the
Mando Rayo: food they eat, which
Mando Rayo: were primarily plant
Mando Rayo: based before the Spanish
Mando Rayo: introduced eating
Mando Rayo: animals like pigs and
Mando Rayo: cows to the Americas.
Mando Rayo: So what does it mean to
Mando Rayo: decolonize your tacos?
Mando Rayo: I know a lot of us
Mando Rayo: Mexicanos grew up eating
Mando Rayo: carne like three times a
Mando Rayo: day. We start with
Mando Rayo: chorizo in the morning,
Mando Rayo: bistec in the afternoon
Mando Rayo: and at night, maybe some
Mando Rayo: pastor. To decolonize
Mando Rayo: your tacos means to
Mando Rayo: revisit and reclaim the
Mando Rayo: ways our ancestors
Mando Rayo: ate before they were
Mando Rayo: colonized and, say,
Mando Rayo: return to the foods that
Mando Rayo: nourished us and kept us
Mando Rayo: alive for centuries
Mando Rayo: before we started eating
Mando Rayo: in other ways, which
Mando Rayo: affected our bodies and
Mando Rayo: the environment over
Mando Rayo: time. One of the most
Mando Rayo: well-known books of the
Mando Rayo: last ten years that
Mando Rayo: talks about going back
Mando Rayo: to our Indigenous ways
Mando Rayo: of eating is Decolonize
Mando Rayo: Your Diet by Luz Calvo
Mando Rayo: and
Mando Rayo: Catriona Rueda Esquibel. Their
Mando Rayo: book has both recipes
Mando Rayo: and a manifesto in which
Mando Rayo: they urgently call on
Mando Rayo: people of all
Mando Rayo: ethnicities to connect
Mando Rayo: with their elders now to
Mando Rayo: recover the vital
Mando Rayo: cultural knowledge
Mando Rayo: needed to survive.
Mando Rayo: They share recipes like
Mando Rayo: cauliflower ceviche,
Mando Rayo: chili, the quinoa,
Mando Rayo: mesquite, corn tortillas
Mando Rayo: and amaranth chocolate
Mando Rayo: cake.
Mando Rayo: Ooh, que rico! In a KQED
Mando Rayo: article, the author
Mando Rayo: shared that they were
Mando Rayo: motivated to write the
Mando Rayo: book when one of them
Mando Rayo: was diagnosed with
Mando Rayo: breast cancer and their
Mando Rayo: research for cancer
Mando Rayo: related diets.
Mando Rayo: They came across a
Mando Rayo: phenomenon called the
Mando Rayo: Latina Immigrant Paradox
Mando Rayo: that says Latin
Mando Rayo: immigrants arrive in the
Mando Rayo: U.S. a lot healthier,
Mando Rayo: and throughout generations,
Mando Rayo: they start to lose the
Mando Rayo: health benefits they had
Mando Rayo: when they arrived.
Mando Rayo: So some people are motivated
Mando Rayo: to decolonize their
Mando Rayo: tacos because of their
Mando Rayo: health, but some go
Mando Rayo: plant based because of
Mando Rayo: their connection to the
Mando Rayo: land and animals that
Mando Rayo: Chavez and Dolores
Mando Rayo: Huerta actually didn't
Mando Rayo: eat meat because they
Mando Rayo: believed in the fair
Mando Rayo: treatment of all living
Mando Rayo: things.
Mando Rayo: Their fight for justice
Mando Rayo: didn't end with
Mando Rayo: farmworkers and applied
Mando Rayo: to everything they did.
Mando Rayo: Today, we're also seeing
Mando Rayo: more people who aren't
Mando Rayo: vegan enjoying plant
Mando Rayo: based foods as well.
Mando Rayo: An NPR story reported on
Mando Rayo: vegan mix pop ups in
Mando Rayo: Southern California,
Mando Rayo: where full time vegans,
Mando Rayo: especially white ones,
Mando Rayo: are a minority.
Mando Rayo: Young Mexican-Americans
Mando Rayo: were just hearing about
Mando Rayo: how good the food is and
Mando Rayo: showing up.
Mando Rayo: You're probably already
Mando Rayo: eating a lot of foods
Mando Rayo: that vegans eat or foods
Mando Rayo: that are decolonized.
Mando Rayo: It's time for a segment
Mando Rayo: we called
Mando Rayo: ¡Ya la comes!
Mando Rayo: Which means you
Mando Rayo: eat it already.
Mando Rayo: Beans.
Mando Rayo: ¡Ya la comes!
Mando Rayo: Rice. ¡Ya la comes! Calabazas. ¡Ya la comes! Corn
Mando Rayo: Tortillas.
Mando Rayo: ¡Ya la comes! Nopales! ¡Ya la comes! Well,
Mando Rayo: maybe all of y'all don't
Mando Rayo: eat this one, but maybe
Mando Rayo: you should give them a
Mando Rayo: try. How about that?
Mando Rayo: So whatever your food
Mando Rayo: inclination might be
Mando Rayo: today, you're going to
Mando Rayo: enjoy hearing from vegan
Mando Rayo: taqueros that are cooking
Mando Rayo: up some of the tastiest
Mando Rayo: vegan bakers in Texas.
Mando Rayo: [crunch sound effect] Oh, it's
Mando Rayo: taco time.
Mando Rayo: And now here's a word
Mando Rayo: from our sponsors.
Mando Rayo: From me.
Mando Rayo: Vamos a Chuco Town con
Mando Rayo: Visit El Paso.
Mando Rayo: It's the hometown of
Mando Rayo: this taco journalist.
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Mando Rayo: of the Chihuahuan Desert
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Mando Rayo: park is less than 300
Mando Rayo: miles away from El Paso,
Mando Rayo: which has.
Mando Rayo: To our friends at Visit
Mando Rayo: El Paso for sponsoring
Mando Rayo: this podcast episode.
Mando Rayo: Follow Visit El Paso on
Mando Rayo: Instagram and Facebook
Mando Rayo: at Visit El Paso or
Mando Rayo: on their website at
Mando Rayo: Visit El Paso dot com.
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Mando Rayo: members and financial
Mando Rayo: success.
Mando Rayo: So they turned off all
Mando Rayo: their bank fees.
Mando Rayo: Because it's not just
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Mando Rayo: Our first guest is Edgar
Mando Rayo: Delfin, founder of
Mando Rayo: Lick It Up, located in
Mando Rayo: both El Paso and Austin,
Mando Rayo: Texas.
Mando Rayo: Lick It Up first opened
Mando Rayo: as a food truck in the
Mando Rayo: patio of a well-known
Mando Rayo: dive bar in El Paso,
Mando Rayo: Texas, and since then
Mando Rayo: expanded to a brick and
Mando Rayo: mortar at International
Mando Rayo: Bar in downtown El Paso,
Mando Rayo: as well as a food truck
Mando Rayo: in East Austin.
Mando Rayo: Edgar is also
Mando Rayo: accompanied by his
Mando Rayo: Austin food truck
Mando Rayo: assistant manager
Mando Rayo: Fernando Corona.
Mando Rayo: Here's our chat with
Mando Rayo: Fernando and Edgar in
Mando Rayo: the studio.
Edgar Delfin: My name is Edgar
Edgar Delfin: Delfin. People know me
Edgar Delfin: by Pato.
Edgar Delfin: I'm the owner and
Edgar Delfin: founder of Lick It Up.
Edgar Delfin: I'm originally from
Edgar Delfin: Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Edgar Delfin: I moved to El Paso
Edgar Delfin: back in 2013, and
Edgar Delfin: I'm here in Austin
Edgar Delfin: operating Lick It Up
Edgar Delfin: as well.
Fernando Corona: And I am Fernando,
Fernando Corona: Fernando Corona.
Fernando Corona: I am from El Paso,
Fernando Corona: and I just help
Fernando Corona: them run the business out
Fernando Corona: here in Austin.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah.
Mando Rayo: So Pato, tell me about
Mando Rayo: your nickname.
Edgar Delfin: Oh, you know what?
Edgar Delfin: My dad gave me his
Edgar Delfin: version of why they call
Edgar Delfin: me Pato, and then my
Edgar Delfin: mom gave me her
Edgar Delfin: version.
Mando Rayo: There's always multiple versions.
Edgar Delfin: It's the truth. Yeah,
Edgar Delfin: but, yeah, both of
Edgar Delfin: them say, like, when I
Edgar Delfin: was a little kid, I used
Edgar Delfin: to do, like, a like a
Edgar Delfin: duck face, you know, like,
Edgar Delfin: and like, kind of,
Edgar Delfin: like, pucker my lip.
Edgar Delfin: Yeah. And ever since
Edgar Delfin: they started calling me Pato,
Edgar Delfin: some people don't even
Edgar Delfin: know my real name.
Edgar Delfin: They're like, Oh, Edgar.
Edgar Delfin: Like who? Like who's
Edgar Delfin: Edgar? [Mando laughs] Oh yeah that guy from Lick It Up.
Edgar Delfin: Pato?
Edgar Delfin: Yeah, Yeah, I know
Edgar Delfin: that guy. That's funny, huh.
Mando Rayo: Pato the vato.
Edgar Delfin: Pato the vato, yeah,
Edgar Delfin: yeah, yeah.
Mando Rayo: So obviously,
Mando Rayo: my name is Armando, Mando.
Mando Rayo: But at home, when I go
Mando Rayo: home, they call me Paco.
Mando Rayo: No relationship is just
Mando Rayo: random anyway.
Mando Rayo: But enough about me and
Mando Rayo: nicknames. Let's get
Mando Rayo: into it. When you think
Mando Rayo: of tacos, you think of,
Mando Rayo: like, meat-heavy dishes.
Mando Rayo: Right?
Mando Rayo: So what
Mando Rayo: spread the idea or
Mando Rayo: inspiration for this
Mando Rayo: plant based food truck?
Edgar Delfin: Right.
Edgar Delfin: So back in 2017,
Edgar Delfin: I was vegan at the
Edgar Delfin: time. I'm vegetarian
Edgar Delfin: now, but I was vegan
Edgar Delfin: at the time.
Edgar Delfin: And just like anybody,
Edgar Delfin: I just want to open up
Edgar Delfin: a business. I just wanted
Edgar Delfin: to do tacos. And there
Edgar Delfin: was, there's still
Edgar Delfin: this bar called Monarch
Edgar Delfin: in El Paso over there
Edgar Delfin: by Rio Grande in Mesa
Edgar Delfin: and I decided
Edgar Delfin: to open up a food trailer,
Edgar Delfin: which was like a sheet
Edgar Delfin: metal trailer that I
Edgar Delfin: brought from Juarez.
Edgar Delfin: I mean, it was not in
Edgar Delfin: the best conditions to
Edgar Delfin: do tacos there, but I
Edgar Delfin: did it right.
Edgar Delfin: Super hot.
Edgar Delfin: If you if you cook
Edgar Delfin: tacos in the middle of
Edgar Delfin: July, with burners
Edgar Delfin: up in El Paso, Texas,
Edgar Delfin: that would change your life
Edgar Delfin: forever.
Edgar Delfin: You can definitely
Edgar Delfin: survive anything in
Edgar Delfin: the world.
Mando Rayo: But it's a dry heat, though bro,
Mando Rayo: dry heat. [laughs]
Edgar Delfin: Well, yeah, you're
Edgar Delfin: right. But not when
Edgar Delfin: the flat tabs on in
Edgar Delfin: the air to that.
Edgar Delfin: Yeah, I did have,
Edgar Delfin: like, a meat based
Edgar Delfin: menu like I used to do
Edgar Delfin: pastor tacos, alambre
Edgar Delfin: tacos, carne asada
Edgar Delfin: tacos. But I didn't
Edgar Delfin: like. I mean, I didn't
Edgar Delfin: like meat and, like,
Edgar Delfin: the smell of meat,
Edgar Delfin: like, I didn't like
Edgar Delfin: working with meat.
Edgar Delfin: And at the time I was
Edgar Delfin: like I had one vegan
Edgar Delfin: option there, which
Edgar Delfin: was like a beet taco
Edgar Delfin: and some flautas.
Edgar Delfin: Right.
Edgar Delfin: And once the some
Edgar Delfin: of the vegan community
Edgar Delfin: knew about that, about
Edgar Delfin: that menu, they were
Edgar Delfin: like, Oh, I'm going to go
Edgar Delfin: to Lick It Up because they
Edgar Delfin: have a vegan option.
Edgar Delfin: And I met a bunch of
Edgar Delfin: these people in and
Edgar Delfin: they're like, Oh, I'm
Edgar Delfin: so glad you have a vegan
Edgar Delfin: option. I was like, I'm
Edgar Delfin: vegan too is like, Oh,
Edgar Delfin: your vegan? Like, Yeah.
Edgar Delfin: And then I was like,
Edgar Delfin: thinking about, like,
Edgar Delfin: why am I doing something
Edgar Delfin: I don't like, right?
Edgar Delfin: Obviously, I knew why
Edgar Delfin: because, you know, I was
Edgar Delfin: just trying to make a business.
Edgar Delfin: So surely and steadily
Edgar Delfin: I started changing the
Edgar Delfin: menu little by little,
Edgar Delfin: and I started like,
Edgar Delfin: okay, so now it's
Edgar Delfin: going to be 70%
Edgar Delfin: non-vegan, 30%
Edgar Delfin: vegan.
Edgar Delfin: And then I went 50 50,
Edgar Delfin: then it went from 75 25.
Edgar Delfin: And before you know it,
Edgar Delfin: I just in December of
Edgar Delfin: 2018, I decided to you
Edgar Delfin: know what? I'm going to go
Edgar Delfin: completely vegan.
Edgar Delfin: And everybody was super
Edgar Delfin: excited. But I think
Edgar Delfin: that was important for
Edgar Delfin: me to make that
Edgar Delfin: transition because I
Edgar Delfin: just wanted to have
Edgar Delfin: the same menu.
Edgar Delfin: But everything vegan,
Edgar Delfin: right?
Edgar Delfin: And then that's where
Edgar Delfin: you start figuring
Edgar Delfin: out, well, what can I
Edgar Delfin: make this same
Edgar Delfin: profile of flavor
Edgar Delfin: without losing any of
Edgar Delfin: my, you know, not
Edgar Delfin: alienating some of my
Edgar Delfin: customers? Right.
Edgar Delfin: So just like anything
Edgar Delfin: in cooking, you just
Edgar Delfin: have to try it out.
Edgar Delfin: Keep doing it.
Edgar Delfin: Making the salsas is
Edgar Delfin: good, making the carne
Edgar Delfin: asada good.
Edgar Delfin: Are we going to use this
Edgar Delfin: kind of protein? Are we
Edgar Delfin: going to use soy based?
Edgar Delfin: Are we going to use all
Edgar Delfin: of this? So all of this
Edgar Delfin: things just started
Edgar Delfin: coming together,
Edgar Delfin: right? I always tell
Edgar Delfin: this to anybody, like
Edgar Delfin: I'm not afraid of
Edgar Delfin: making well-seasoned
Edgar Delfin: greasy tacos.
Edgar Delfin: I'm not afraid of that
Edgar Delfin: because that's the
Edgar Delfin: kind of food I used to
Edgar Delfin: try out in Juarez.
Mando Rayo: In Juarez.
Edgar Delfin: I mean, this is just a personal
Edgar Delfin: taste of mine that I
Edgar Delfin: just like a greasy
Edgar Delfin: taco. I do.
Edgar Delfin: There's something about
Edgar Delfin: a greasy taco, but it
Edgar Delfin: has to do a lot with
Edgar Delfin: the size of the
Edgar Delfin: flattop.
Edgar Delfin: If you notice, most
Edgar Delfin: any taquerias or any
Edgar Delfin: taco stands in Mexico,
Edgar Delfin: their flattop is so
Edgar Delfin: small, right?
Edgar Delfin: But because it's so
Edgar Delfin: small, you have the
Edgar Delfin: meats and the
Edgar Delfin: tortillas kind of
Edgar Delfin: right next to each
Edgar Delfin: other and they get
Edgar Delfin: some of that fat, some
Edgar Delfin: of the salt, some like
Edgar Delfin: all that flavor, and
Edgar Delfin: they kind of just cook
Edgar Delfin: it all together.
Mando Rayo: Oh yeah, it's that sazón.
Edgar Delfin: Sazón, you know, and I
Edgar Delfin: noticed like where it
Edgar Delfin: does have more a more
Edgar Delfin: budget buy, a bigger
Edgar Delfin: flat top, they kind of
Edgar Delfin: separate that their tier
Edgar Delfin: from the protein.
Edgar Delfin: Right. And it's
Edgar Delfin: different. The
Edgar Delfin: tortilla doesn't taste
Edgar Delfin: the same. Yeah.
Edgar Delfin: So I almost all my
Edgar Delfin: cooks try to get some
Edgar Delfin: of that fat. They try
Edgar Delfin: to put that seasoning
Edgar Delfin: from the top, from our
Edgar Delfin: soy based protein
Edgar Delfin: in the taco.
Edgar Delfin: So going back to the
Edgar Delfin: question is that yes,
Edgar Delfin: Lick It Up was based
Edgar Delfin: off of what my
Edgar Delfin: experience what
Edgar Delfin: flavors came from
Edgar Delfin: Ciudad Juarez.
Edgar Delfin: Yeah, because Ciudad
Edgar Delfin: Juarez, after 12
Edgar Delfin: a.m.
Edgar Delfin: at night, you're going
Edgar Delfin: to find out the best
Edgar Delfin: food and like
Edgar Delfin: anywhere.
Edgar Delfin: And it's great.
Edgar Delfin: And it's and you see
Edgar Delfin: these big lines and
Edgar Delfin: you got this huge
Edgar Delfin: community of people
Edgar Delfin: who like to party and
Edgar Delfin: they like to eat and
Edgar Delfin: they'll tell you, like, nah,
Edgar Delfin: man, we're going to
Edgar Delfin: eat tripas today or
Edgar Delfin: tonight and tomorrow
Edgar Delfin: we're going to do tortas and
Edgar Delfin: Sunday, we're going to do
Edgar Delfin: flautas.
Edgar Delfin: And then a little
Edgar Delfin: crudo, yeah, we're going
Edgar Delfin: to do menudo here.
Edgar Delfin: And then we're going to do barbacoa.
Edgar Delfin: And then it's Monday
Edgar Delfin: and it's like, oh, man,
Edgar Delfin: we got to go get some
Edgar Delfin: burritos.
Edgar Delfin: And it's just a
Edgar Delfin: nonstop thing of just
Edgar Delfin: eating, eating.
Mando Rayo: You just like, open up
Mando Rayo: the world of El Paso
Mando Rayo: Juarez. It's a new world. It is.
Edgar Delfin: Right. And it's the
Edgar Delfin: same with El Paso.
Edgar Delfin: So, yeah, like, you
Edgar Delfin: have all these people just
Edgar Delfin: eating this amazing
Edgar Delfin: food, but that I think
Edgar Delfin: that's what Lick It Up
Edgar Delfin: comes down to.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
Edgar Delfin: That Fernando or me or
Edgar Delfin: my other employees,
Edgar Delfin: they understand that
Edgar Delfin: trajection.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
Edgar Delfin: They understand where
Edgar Delfin: it comes from.
Mando Rayo: Right. Right.
Edgar Delfin: It's not like we just
Edgar Delfin: like, Oh, we're going
Edgar Delfin: to make tacos.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Edgar Delfin: How do you make tacos?
Edgar Delfin: We didn't google this,
Edgar Delfin: right?
Edgar Delfin: There are some things
Edgar Delfin: you can't google.
Mando Rayo: Right, Right. Yeah, yeah.
Edgar Delfin: You can't google an adobada recipe sometimes.
Mando Rayo: Oh yeah.
Edgar Delfin: You can't Google how
Edgar Delfin: to season a protein.
Edgar Delfin: You can't.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
Edgar Delfin: That's just the experience
Edgar Delfin: of doing this all
Edgar Delfin: the time. And even you
Edgar Delfin: ask the cooks on, on
Edgar Delfin: the taquerias,
Edgar Delfin: what do you put in that.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah.
Edgar Delfin: Lo por que le pone esto primero? You have to
Edgar Delfin: ask questions.
Edgar Delfin: Even though they're busy
Edgar Delfin: and they don't like those questions,
Edgar Delfin: they'll answer them.
Mando Rayo: They'll answer them,hey'll answer them,
Mando Rayo: they'll answer them.
Mando Rayo: And what brought you to Austin,
Mando Rayo: both of you?
Fernando Corona: Oh, well, just a
Fernando Corona: change in pace.
Fernando Corona: Really. Get to the
Fernando Corona: next level in a
Fernando Corona: way. You know,
Fernando Corona: trying to graduate
Fernando Corona: from El Paso,
Fernando Corona: basically.
Mando Rayo: Do we all graduate from
Mando Rayo: a El Paso?
Fernando Corona: We could say that,
Fernando Corona: yeah. That's great. [all laugh]
Mando Rayo: But why Austin
Mando Rayo: specifically?
Edgar Delfin: Actually the funny
Edgar Delfin: story is that we were
Edgar Delfin: going to open up like
Edgar Delfin: it up before South by
Edgar Delfin: Southwest in 2020,
Edgar Delfin: and then we started
Edgar Delfin: seeing those those reports
Edgar Delfin: of like, Oh, there's this,
Edgar Delfin: there's this virus going
Edgar Delfin: on. And me and my
Edgar Delfin: partner, we're like, nah
Edgar Delfin: come on, it's not
Edgar Delfin: going to happen. Let's
Edgar Delfin: do this. And
Edgar Delfin: first week of March or
Edgar Delfin: even before March,
Edgar Delfin: like we started hearing
Edgar Delfin: like companies pulling
Edgar Delfin: out of south by and I
Edgar Delfin: was like, Oh, this is real.
Edgar Delfin: So we stopped there.
Edgar Delfin: We didn't go.
Edgar Delfin: But then we're like,
Edgar Delfin: All right, well, it's
Edgar Delfin: August.
Edgar Delfin: Our sales did plummet
Edgar Delfin: over there and like,
Edgar Delfin: like any restaurant
Edgar Delfin: business during the
Edgar Delfin: pandemic. We bought a
Edgar Delfin: food truck and we
Edgar Delfin: opened up a food truck
Edgar Delfin: here. At one point, we
Edgar Delfin: had four food trucks,
Edgar Delfin: but then we came with
Edgar Delfin: another problem, which
Edgar Delfin: was the labor demand.
Edgar Delfin: Yeah. So I was like,
Edgar Delfin: okay, that's a reason
Edgar Delfin: Fernandes here, because
Edgar Delfin: he's been really loyal
Edgar Delfin: to us. He's he's been
Edgar Delfin: through all of it. You
Edgar Delfin: know, he's done
Edgar Delfin: 12 hour shifts
Edgar Delfin: sometimes. Yeah, Yeah.
Fernando Corona: Festivals.
Edgar Delfin: Festivals.
Fernando Corona: They can thin.
Edgar Delfin: He can.
Mando Rayo: Parties? Any Quinceañeras? [crosstalk] Ándale,
Mando Rayo: ándale, ándale. Well,
Mando Rayo: Fernando, why don't you tell us a little bit
Mando Rayo: about your experience
Mando Rayo: and maybe some of the
Mando Rayo: menu items.
Fernando Corona: Well, personally,
Fernando Corona: I'm not vegan, but
Fernando Corona: joining this team
Fernando Corona: has been really eye
Fernando Corona: opening to not only
Fernando Corona: how to cook vegan
Fernando Corona: food, but how
Fernando Corona: it is actually
Fernando Corona: possible to
Fernando Corona: translate the
Fernando Corona: actual meat recipe
Fernando Corona: into something
Fernando Corona: easy. And you don't
Fernando Corona: have to stick to just
Fernando Corona: one set of vegan
Fernando Corona: options. For
Fernando Corona: example, like you were
Fernando Corona: saying, you're soy
Fernando Corona: or you can do.
Fernando Corona: I don't know, tempeh.
Fernando Corona: I don't know if it's the same,
Fernando Corona: but it's been really,
Fernando Corona: really cool.
Fernando Corona: And I know that
Fernando Corona: there are not many
Fernando Corona: vegan options out
Fernando Corona: there.
Fernando Corona: And I think
Fernando Corona: as far as I have
Fernando Corona: tasted, Lick It Up
Fernando Corona: is like the most
Fernando Corona: traditional taste
Fernando Corona: in vegan food.
Mando Rayo: Like traditional
Mando Rayo: vegan or traditional
Mando Rayo: Mexican?
Fernando Corona: Traditional Mexican.
Fernando Corona: It's as close as it
Fernando Corona: can get to like the
Fernando Corona: real deal.
Mando Rayo: Speaking of your menu,
Mando Rayo: give us a rundown of
Mando Rayo: your tacos.
Edgar Delfin: Okay.
Edgar Delfin: So right now we're
Edgar Delfin: running with six
Edgar Delfin: tacos.
Edgar Delfin: It's a carne asada
Edgar Delfin: taco and
Edgar Delfin: it's soy based.
Edgar Delfin: We don't buy none of
Edgar Delfin: those, like beyond
Edgar Delfin: beef, beyond meat or
Edgar Delfin: impossible.
Edgar Delfin: We make it in-house.
Edgar Delfin: It's marinated with
Edgar Delfin: soy sauce, a vegetable
Edgar Delfin: concentrate.
Edgar Delfin: We do pepper, thyme.
Edgar Delfin: We marinated pretty
Edgar Delfin: good until you get
Edgar Delfin: close to that flavor,
Edgar Delfin: obviously. Lime juice,
Edgar Delfin: vinegar.
Edgar Delfin: And we have it with
Edgar Delfin: some pico de gallo.
Edgar Delfin: We have our abodaba
Edgar Delfin: Taco, which is another
Edgar Delfin: wild recipe that
Edgar Delfin: Butcher gave me back
Edgar Delfin: in Juarez.
Mando Rayo: Oh, okay.
Edgar Delfin: So I follow that one
Edgar Delfin: true to the heart.
Edgar Delfin: I always love the
Edgar Delfin: adobada.
Edgar Delfin: Then we have a mushroom
Edgar Delfin: chorizo taco, which is
Edgar Delfin: a like a
Edgar Delfin: mushroom, chorizo
Edgar Delfin: soy-based chorizo with
Edgar Delfin: some mushroom green
Edgar Delfin: chili peppers and
Edgar Delfin: onions.
Edgar Delfin: And then we top it off
Edgar Delfin: with some cabbage and
Edgar Delfin: some crema all made
Edgar Delfin: in-house.
Edgar Delfin: Then we have our
Edgar Delfin: chorizo con papas. Mm
Edgar Delfin: hmm. Which is always
Edgar Delfin: good. Classic,
Edgar Delfin: classic.
Edgar Delfin: And we put some cheese
Edgar Delfin: on that.
Edgar Delfin: I kind of recommend that
Edgar Delfin: with a flour tortilla,
Edgar Delfin: and then we have a potato.
Edgar Delfin: Un papa asada which is
Edgar Delfin: papas with carne
Edgar Delfin: asada, pico de gallo
Edgar Delfin: and crema.
Edgar Delfin: We do use a lot of
Edgar Delfin: cheese because I mean,
Edgar Delfin: we're from Chihuahua.
Edgar Delfin: Chihuahua uses cheese
Edgar Delfin: on their tacos.
Mando Rayo: That's right.
Edgar Delfin: People from the south of
Edgar Delfin: Mexico, they're so
Edgar Delfin: tough on us on the
Edgar Delfin: north because we use
Edgar Delfin: cheese on our tacos.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, I know, I know.
Edgar Delfin: But I don't care. They're cheese.
Fernando Corona: And it's
Fernando Corona: plant-based cheese.
Edgar Delfin: It's plant-based cheese.
Mando Rayo: Right, right, right.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. So do you
Mando Rayo: still have a shop
Mando Rayo: in El Paso también and
Mando Rayo: Austin?
Edgar Delfin: Yes.
Mando Rayo: What does that look
Mando Rayo: like?
Edgar Delfin: Well, in El Paso,
Edgar Delfin: we're inside of
Edgar Delfin: International Bar, so
Edgar Delfin: you can probably say
Edgar Delfin: it's a restaurant.
Mando Rayo: Okay.
Edgar Delfin: We have a kitchen
Edgar Delfin: there.
Edgar Delfin: Now, what's important
Edgar Delfin: to me is that
Edgar Delfin: Lick It Up is open late
Edgar Delfin: at night. I started
Edgar Delfin: the business closing
Edgar Delfin: at 2 a.m.
Edgar Delfin: and expect the same to
Edgar Delfin: do it that way.
Edgar Delfin: No vegan hours for me,
Edgar Delfin: right? I open at five
Edgar Delfin: and we close at 2 a.m.
Edgar Delfin: and that's the way I
Edgar Delfin: was raised with the
Edgar Delfin: taquerias in Ciudad
Edgar Delfin: Juarez in El Paso.
Edgar Delfin: But the reception's
Edgar Delfin: been good.
Edgar Delfin: I always love when people
Edgar Delfin: say like, Oh, I can't believe
Edgar Delfin: this is vegan.
Edgar Delfin: That's what I want to hear.
Edgar Delfin: A couple of times I
Edgar Delfin: had Mexican,
Edgar Delfin: like, abuelitas
Edgar Delfin: grandmothers trying
Edgar Delfin: our food and saying
Edgar Delfin: that it's great.
Edgar Delfin: And for me that's the
Edgar Delfin: biggest compliment.
Edgar Delfin: A huge compliment.
Mando Rayo: That is it.
Mando Rayo: Abuelita's stamp of
Mando Rayo: approval.
Edgar Delfin: If somebody said it's too
Edgar Delfin: oily, it's too this.
Edgar Delfin: Eh okay.
Mando Rayo: Esta bien, esta bien.
Edgar Delfin: But my abuelita likes
Edgar Delfin: it. So.
Mando Rayo: So then. Yeah, Deal with
Mando Rayo: it. Deal with it. [laughs]
Fernando Corona: That's the main critic.
Mando Rayo: That's a main critic. Yeah,
Mando Rayo: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Mando Rayo: yeah. So in closing,
Mando Rayo: what would you say to
Mando Rayo: somebody that isn't as
Mando Rayo: familiar with vegan food
Mando Rayo: Mexicano?
Mando Rayo: What will get them to your
Mando Rayo: food truck?
Edgar Delfin: Okay, so there's a
Edgar Delfin: couple of things.
Edgar Delfin: All of my employees
Edgar Delfin: are not vegan
Edgar Delfin: and they still try the
Edgar Delfin: food and they go, It's
Edgar Delfin: good. Like Carmen.
Edgar Delfin: She has a great palate
Edgar Delfin: for food. She does.
Edgar Delfin: She she'll tell.
Edgar Delfin: It's like it's like
Edgar Delfin: a compass for her.
Edgar Delfin: And she'll tell you,
Edgar Delfin: like, go here.
Edgar Delfin: Go there.
Edgar Delfin: Go a little less here.
Edgar Delfin: Or even though I have
Edgar Delfin: my recipes, I
Edgar Delfin: think recipes are only
Edgar Delfin: an indication of where
Edgar Delfin: to go.
Edgar Delfin: But it won't take you
Edgar Delfin: where you need to go.
Edgar Delfin: Because for the
Edgar Delfin: whole reason that
Edgar Delfin: ingredients changed,
Edgar Delfin: tomatoes change.
Edgar Delfin: Jalapeños are not the
Edgar Delfin: same. Chile de arbol,
Edgar Delfin: like the salt.
Edgar Delfin: All these little things
Edgar Delfin: do matter.
Edgar Delfin: And as we finish our
Edgar Delfin: recipes, she'll always
Edgar Delfin: give some kind of
Edgar Delfin: insight.
Edgar Delfin: So she's doing
Edgar Delfin: food that she likes
Edgar Delfin: also, even though
Edgar Delfin: she's not vegan, right?
Edgar Delfin: Yeah. So if you're not
Edgar Delfin: vegan and you want to try
Edgar Delfin: this food out, trust
Edgar Delfin: me, there's some input
Edgar Delfin: from people who are
Edgar Delfin: not vegan and they
Edgar Delfin: want to taste it the
Edgar Delfin: same way. We're not
Edgar Delfin: trying to make food
Edgar Delfin: for vegans.
Edgar Delfin: I'm sorry. I think I
Edgar Delfin: love my vegan customers.
Edgar Delfin: Yeah. We're not trying
Edgar Delfin: to make foods for
Edgar Delfin: vegan. I'm trying to make
Edgar Delfin: good food for
Edgar Delfin: everybody. Yeah.
Mando Rayo: With sazón.
Edgar Delfin: With sazón and that's
Edgar Delfin: it. You know, we just
Edgar Delfin: don't use animal
Edgar Delfin: products. That's it.
Edgar Delfin: Yeah, but the flavor
Edgar Delfin: and the love is there for
Edgar Delfin: sure.
Mando Rayo: Well, it sounds great.
Mando Rayo: I can't wait to come and
Mando Rayo: try it out.
Edgar Delfin: Yeah, of course.
Mando Rayo: Well, thanks so much for
Mando Rayo: coming by the studio.
Mando Rayo: Definitely some paisas.
Edgar Delfin: Yeah. Yeah. Of course.
Mando Rayo: Bringing in the comida
Mando Rayo: en the border
Mando Rayo: todo eso. [laughs]
Edgar Delfin: Yeah.
Mando Rayo: All right. Thanks, fellas.
Edgar Delfin: All right thank you, Mando. Thank you so much.
Mando Rayo: [crunch sound effect] Oh, it's taco time.
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Mando Rayo: this podcast episode.
Mando Rayo: [music] Our next guest,
Mando Rayo: Chris Rios, is an East
Mando Rayo: Austin native and the
Mando Rayo: founder and executive
Mando Rayo: chef of the Vegan Nom
Mando Rayo: Austin's original all
Mando Rayo: vegan taco truck.
Mando Rayo: Vegan Nom has won and
Mando Rayo: been nominated for
Mando Rayo: multiple awards for best
Mando Rayo: tacos and best food
Mando Rayo: truck in America.
Mando Rayo: Chris is currently
Mando Rayo: working to open a patio
Mando Rayo: restaurant in the North
Mando Rayo: Loop neighborhood.
Mando Rayo: Chris, welcome to the
Mando Rayo: show.
Chris Rios: Hey, thank you. Thanks
Chris Rios: for having me here.
Mando Rayo: Hey, I hear this is your
Mando Rayo: first podcast.
Chris Rios: It is my first podcast.
Chris Rios: So it's a historic event
Chris Rios: for me and just happy to
Chris Rios: be here.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Tell me you're
Mando Rayo: originally from Austin,
Mando Rayo: aren't you?
Chris Rios: Yes. Born and raised on
Chris Rios: the east side. So I'm
Chris Rios: very rare, you know.
Chris Rios: And it's been such a
Chris Rios: privilege being a part
Chris Rios: of the community my whole
Chris Rios: life. East Austin.
Chris Rios: I hold a fond memories
Chris Rios: and just a lot of
Chris Rios: emotion in my heart
Chris Rios: there. So a lot of good
Chris Rios: childhood memories when
Chris Rios: I'm there.
Mando Rayo: Love it, Love it. Thank
Mando Rayo: you so much. And thank
Mando Rayo: you for being here as
Mando Rayo: well.
Chris Rios: Yeah man, I appreciate it. I'm
Chris Rios: happy to be here. It's
Chris Rios: an honor.
Mando Rayo: You know, we're talking about
Mando Rayo: plant based tacos, vegan
Mando Rayo: tacos, obviously.
Mando Rayo: When did you become a
Mando Rayo: vegan?
Chris Rios: Oh, wow. So I became
Chris Rios: vegan back in 2011.
Chris Rios: October 26, 2011.
Mando Rayo: Wow, you got the exact
Mando Rayo: day.
Chris Rios: That's my vegan birthday.
Chris Rios: I celebrate that every
Chris Rios: year.
Chris Rios: And it's been a life
Chris Rios: changing event for me,
Chris Rios: not only on a health
Chris Rios: perspective, but just my
Chris Rios: whole life and circle
Chris Rios: and family and
Chris Rios: friends and community.
Mando Rayo: What inspired you?
Chris Rios: I became vegan because I
Chris Rios: was about the climate
Chris Rios: change. I started thinking
Chris Rios: about how current
Chris Rios: situations with our food
Chris Rios: supply was affecting the
Chris Rios: Earth. I was concerned
Chris Rios: about the water.
Chris Rios: I'm concerned about water
Chris Rios: pollution.
Chris Rios: I was concerned about
Chris Rios: animal welfare and just
Chris Rios: a lot of things that I
Chris Rios: was starting to see.
Chris Rios: I was like, Man, if we
Chris Rios: don't do something about
Chris Rios: this.
Chris Rios: I mean, it empowered me
Chris Rios: to do something that
Chris Rios: that's what it was
Chris Rios: inspired me to do
Chris Rios: something.
Chris Rios: You know, I'm Latino.
Chris Rios: I grew up on the East Side
Chris Rios: when it was predominantly
Chris Rios: Hispanic. Yeah.
Chris Rios: And, you know, my
Chris Rios: family, my grandma, both
Chris Rios: my grandma, we're a cooking
Chris Rios: family.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
Chris Rios: And we grew up, you
Chris Rios: know, in that it's part of
Chris Rios: our culture to eat meat.
Chris Rios: I thought about that and
Chris Rios: I was like, What if I
Chris Rios: can make some things to
Chris Rios: where, you know,
Chris Rios: veganism will allow me
Chris Rios: to help me and my family
Chris Rios: get have become healthier
Chris Rios: somehow. And there's a
Chris Rios: lot of positive things
Chris Rios: that goes with it.
Chris Rios: I feel healthier.
Chris Rios: I feel, you know, I feel
Chris Rios: it's a spiritual journey
Chris Rios: for me.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah.
Mando Rayo: No, I appreciate that.
Mando Rayo: And I respect that as
Mando Rayo: well. And you were
Mando Rayo: inspired so much so that
Mando Rayo: you started your own
Mando Rayo: food truck.
Chris Rios: I did.
Chris Rios: I did start my own food
Chris Rios: truck. I had my own
Chris Rios: shipping supply
Chris Rios: business, and I was one
Chris Rios: of those guys that would
Chris Rios: just daydream about like
Chris Rios: having his own food
Chris Rios: industry business.
Chris Rios: And this is before Chef
Chris Rios: the movie. [Mando laughs] I was
Chris Rios: no chef.
Chris Rios: But I could relate to
Chris Rios: that movie because I had
Chris Rios: that enthusiasm, that
Chris Rios: passion about like, I
Chris Rios: want to do this.
Chris Rios: And I would make mock
Chris Rios: menus like this one we'll do.
Chris Rios: And I'd show my family and friends
Chris Rios: and everyone gets hyped
Chris Rios: up. You know how it is,
Chris Rios: right?
Mando Rayo: Yeah, I totally agree.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah.
Chris Rios: Yeah, it all started
Chris Rios: with the menu in the name
Chris Rios: and I was just bouncing
Chris Rios: around like, What should
Chris Rios: I do? What should I do?
Chris Rios: And then I became vegan
Chris Rios: in October and I
Chris Rios: tried to go out and get
Chris Rios: some vegan tacos.
Chris Rios: [both laugh]
Mando Rayo: How was that?
Chris Rios: Oh, I failed miserably.
Chris Rios: I was like, Oh my God, I can't get
Chris Rios: my taco fix. And, you
Chris Rios: know, my family, we're
Chris Rios: big about tacos. You grow up eating
Chris Rios: breakfast tacos,
Chris Rios: especially, man.
Mando Rayo: Right?
Chris Rios: Right. You know, So I
Chris Rios: was like, That's it.
Chris Rios: You know what I'm going to
Chris Rios: do? Vegan tacos, rockin'
Chris Rios: vegan tacos.
Chris Rios: And so I got to have,
Chris Rios: like, a parent name or
Chris Rios: something because nobody knows
Chris Rios: what vegan is. I'm like,
Chris Rios: you know, The Vegan Nom
Chris Rios: because it's like, taste
Chris Rios: so good.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Rios: So six months later,
Chris Rios: I open up The Vegan Nom
Chris Rios: on the luck of faith, my
Chris Rios: last $500 that I have
Chris Rios: and I just had some faith.
Chris Rios: I was like, I'm going to do this.
Chris Rios: The odds were against me
Chris Rios: and my family, you know,
Chris Rios: a lot of them that were supportive,
Chris Rios: but they thought I was crazy.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah.
Mando Rayo: They were like, what?
Chris Rios: No meat? No cheese? My
Chris Rios: cousins, too, like.
Mando Rayo: Well, you don't eat pork.
Mando Rayo: Here, try this baloney
Mando Rayo: sandwich. [laughs]
Chris Rios: I get that all the time.
Mando Rayo: Right?
Chris Rios: They didn't understand,
Chris Rios: but they were like, he's
Chris Rios: doing his thing, hijo is
Chris Rios: doing his thing.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. Love it, love it.
Chris Rios: I kind of, I've kind of always
Chris Rios: been like that.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Rios: But I'll tell you what,
Chris Rios: though, man. It. It was
Chris Rios: definitely an awesome
Chris Rios: journey of the day that
Chris Rios: I opened. I remember the
Chris Rios: first day I opened up
Chris Rios: and we made an
Chris Rios: announcement on social
Chris Rios: media was it had a
Chris Rios: footprint, but it wasn't
Chris Rios: as big as it is now.
Chris Rios: Like, you know, you can
Chris Rios: just go out there and just
Chris Rios: put the word out. It's
Chris Rios: like, okay, everybody knows.
Chris Rios: So there, it really had
Chris Rios: to work. I passed out
Chris Rios: fliers and felt like
Chris Rios: Ritchie Valens from La
Chris Rios: Bamba.
Chris Rios: Chris Rios and his rocking vegan tacos,
Chris Rios: it was awesome because
Chris Rios: that first day that we
Chris Rios: opened up doors, I mean,
Chris Rios: there was like so many
Chris Rios: people that showed up to
Chris Rios: support. And I'm telling
Chris Rios: you, I was the line cook
Chris Rios: and I've been the line
Chris Rios: cook for the first four
Chris Rios: or five years at Vegan
Chris Rios: Nom, the main one, like
Chris Rios: the main one that was
Chris Rios: just kicking them in, in
Chris Rios: and out. But that day
Chris Rios: was like.
Chris Rios: The most. I was like, I
Chris Rios: was just like going at
Chris Rios: it and it was just nonstop.
Chris Rios: And and we sold out like
Chris Rios: in two or 3 hours.
Chris Rios: But I'll tell you what,
Chris Rios: man, that was some of the most
Chris Rios: concentrated time where
Chris Rios: I work nonstop.
Chris Rios: And I was like, Oh my God, what
Chris Rios: did I get myself into?
Chris Rios: I only got one person
Chris Rios: here and I'm like,
Chris Rios: knocking out these tacos.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, Yeah.
Chris Rios: You know, it it was just
Chris Rios: amazing. And we've we've
Chris Rios: been we've had that
Chris Rios: support ever since, and
Chris Rios: it's been just an
Chris Rios: amazing journey, and
Chris Rios: it's. It's changed my
Chris Rios: life.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah, it sounds like it, it's amazing.
Mando Rayo: And so, like, when you
Mando Rayo: just opened, were you
Mando Rayo: thinking, well, I need
Mando Rayo: to make vegan tacos for
Mando Rayo: a certain clientele or
Mando Rayo: or it has to taste this
Mando Rayo: way or that way?
Chris Rios: Oh you know what?
Chris Rios: I, I put it out there.
Chris Rios: I said, this is what I
Chris Rios: like. This is what I
Chris Rios: grew up with. This is
Chris Rios: something that I wanted
Chris Rios: to share with the community.
Chris Rios: And I feel like
Chris Rios: breakfast tacos
Chris Rios: especially, it's
Chris Rios: comforting. It's comfort
Chris Rios: food. It brings me comfort.
Chris Rios: It reminds me of growing
Chris Rios: up as a little kid.
Chris Rios: So I wanted to share
Chris Rios: what I grew up with but
Chris Rios: make it vegan with the
Chris Rios: community, you know,
Chris Rios: talking about the target
Chris Rios: markets and stuff like
Chris Rios: that. I knew what was
Chris Rios: out there at the time,
Chris Rios: and it wasn't
Chris Rios: predominantly Hispanic,
Chris Rios: but throughout the years
Chris Rios: and the course of time,
Chris Rios: even up today, man, it's
Chris Rios: just all people of
Chris Rios: color. And yeah, it's
Chris Rios: celebration.
Chris Rios: And I just it really
Chris Rios: feels good.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, that's great.
Mando Rayo: That's great. And so
Mando Rayo: give me a rundown of
Mando Rayo: like, say, your breakfast
Mando Rayo: tacos. What does that
Mando Rayo: look like?
Chris Rios: Our breakfast tacos look
Chris Rios: like traditional tacos.
Chris Rios: So we've got instead of
Chris Rios: scrambled eggs, we have
Chris Rios: tofu scramble.
Chris Rios: And I've created my tofu
Chris Rios: scramble where it resembles
Chris Rios: eggs. So it's not too
Chris Rios: like vegan or granola
Chris Rios: or. Yeah, yeah.
Chris Rios: It's just it resembles
Chris Rios: eggs.
Chris Rios: And we have everything
Chris Rios: from migas
Chris Rios: to country breakfast
Chris Rios: sausage to
Chris Rios: chorizo, bacon,
Chris Rios: potatoes. Come on,
Chris Rios: papas, potato.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. Anyway.
Mando Rayo: Right, right, right.
Chris Rios: Man, that's the go to.
Chris Rios: It's fun to make all
Chris Rios: those things because
Chris Rios: it's like, man, we're actually
Chris Rios: doing it. You know,
Chris Rios: frijoles? Yeah, we got
Chris Rios: all the cool, We got all
Chris Rios: the good stuff, man. We
Chris Rios: got, like, all the
Chris Rios: salsas, you know?
Chris Rios: And to me, I remember
Chris Rios: when before I opened up
Chris Rios: Vegan Nom, I created the
Chris Rios: vegan chorizo. And we still
Chris Rios: use that to this day.
Chris Rios: And I, I would have taco
Chris Rios: parties on the weekend
Chris Rios: and I'll be like, Come on
Chris Rios: over, let's do this.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, Yeah. Do you get that chorizo drip
Mando Rayo: still?
Chris Rios: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Chris Rios: yeah. You still got that
Chris Rios: chorizo.
Mando Rayo: You got to have that, right.
Chris Rios: You have that chorizo drip, man. Exactly.
Chris Rios: And so, you know, to me,
Chris Rios: it's like being able to
Chris Rios: create something like
Chris Rios: that and just remind you
Chris Rios: there was no other vegan
Chris Rios: substitutes back then,
Chris Rios: so we had to really make
Chris Rios: this, you know, so, you
Chris Rios: know, the the chorizo,
Chris Rios: you know, when I first
Chris Rios: made that, I was like, I
Chris Rios: did it. Oh, God, It's
Chris Rios: like this is like real
Chris Rios: chorio guys. And we were
Chris Rios: just like, all eating it
Chris Rios: up and it was just
Chris Rios: amazing. And I remember
Chris Rios: that day when I discovered that.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah.
Chris Rios: And then decoded it and
Chris Rios: I'm like, okay, we did it.
Mando Rayo: [laughs] Big accomplishment, eh?
Chris Rios: Oh it was a big accomplishment.
Mando Rayo: So you were thinking,
Mando Rayo: Here's a flavors that I
Mando Rayo: like. I'm going introduce
Mando Rayo: him to folks or I'm
Mando Rayo: going to try to resemble
Mando Rayo: some some of those
Mando Rayo: flavors growing up.
Chris Rios: Yes.
Mando Rayo: What do you think people
Mando Rayo: are looking for in vegan
Mando Rayo: food?
Chris Rios: I think that vegan
Chris Rios: or not, people just want
Chris Rios: to eat tasty food.
Chris Rios: They want to enjoy their
Chris Rios: food. They would enjoy
Chris Rios: their tacos.
Chris Rios: So I think maybe,
Chris Rios: you know, because there's some people
Chris Rios: out there like, oh, it's
Chris Rios: vegan, I ain't going
Chris Rios: there or, you know, or
Chris Rios: there's people like, Hey, if
Chris Rios: it's not vegan, I'm I'm
Chris Rios: not going there, you
Chris Rios: know? So to me, I think
Chris Rios: food brings people
Chris Rios: together. It's always
Chris Rios: been that way and it's
Chris Rios: delicious. I think
Chris Rios: you're just looking for something
Chris Rios: to celebrate, that's why they eat it
Chris Rios: like, Oh my God, this is
Chris Rios: like, the most tastiest
Chris Rios: thing I've ever had,
Chris Rios: vegan or not.
Mando Rayo: Right, right.
Chris Rios: I think that's what they're
Chris Rios: looking for.
Mando Rayo: If it has that sazón and,
Mando Rayo: you know, you're there.
Chris Rios: Exactly, for sure.
Mando Rayo: Nice and I hear you're
Mando Rayo: transitioning now from a
Mando Rayo: truck to brick and
Mando Rayo: mortar.
Chris Rios: Yeah, we are.
Chris Rios: And that's a really cool
Chris Rios: story. And I'm glad you
Chris Rios: asked because we're
Chris Rios: going to be opening up a
Chris Rios: restaurant space in
Chris Rios: North Loop Boulevard,
Chris Rios: which is right down the street
Chris Rios: off, you know, north of here.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. I'm very familiar.
Chris Rios: North campus. It was
Chris Rios: formerly occupied by
Chris Rios: Ferris Mediterranean.
Chris Rios: I'm not sure if anybody's familiar with Ferris.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Rios: So we have both
Chris Rios: buildings on site and
Chris Rios: yeah, it's a homecoming
Chris Rios: for us because back in
Chris Rios: 2012, when I first
Chris Rios: opened up Vegan Nom in
Chris Rios: May, had a little
Chris Rios: taqueria trailer, 7 by
Chris Rios: 12 we'd stuff four
Chris Rios: people in there.
Chris Rios: And we were there for
Chris Rios: like four years and
Chris Rios: now we just celebrated
Chris Rios: our eleven year anniversary.
Mando Rayo: So what are the new things
Mando Rayo: that you're going to be
Mando Rayo: able to do in this
Mando Rayo: bigger space?
Chris Rios: Oh, we're going to have
Chris Rios: a ton of space.
Chris Rios: Our goal is to
Chris Rios: upgrade a lot of the
Chris Rios: things that we're doing with our taqueria.
Chris Rios: So we want to have some
Chris Rios: handmade corn and flour
Chris Rios: tortillas and we're
Chris Rios: going to come out. We're going to
Chris Rios: I do a vegan brisket
Chris Rios: taco, which is
Chris Rios: really delicious and
Chris Rios: spot on, and we do
Chris Rios: really, really well.
Mando Rayo: What's the protein?
Chris Rios: I use seitan and throughout
Chris Rios: the years it's changed
Chris Rios: because before it was like,
Chris Rios: okay, you seitan can do
Chris Rios: this now, but as you get
Chris Rios: older in the game and
Chris Rios: you get introduced to the
Chris Rios: stuff, you're able to do
Chris Rios: more techniques and add
Chris Rios: more ingredients to make
Chris Rios: it more lifelike.
Chris Rios: And we've got that crust
Chris Rios: we've got the burnt
Chris Rios: ends. And it's just it's
Chris Rios: amazing. So we're going
Chris Rios: to put that on the menu.
Chris Rios: So I'm excited about
Chris Rios: that. And so we're going
Chris Rios: to introduce some of
Chris Rios: that on a menu that we
Chris Rios: can just, you know, play
Chris Rios: around with and just have
Chris Rios: fun.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Yeah. Well, Chris,
Mando Rayo: thanks so much.
Mando Rayo: I'm excited to come by.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
Chris Rios: Yeah, Mando, anytime.
Mando Rayo: And I appreciate you
Mando Rayo: coming on to the studio
Mando Rayo: and having a little chat
Mando Rayo: with me.
Chris Rios: Yeah. Pleasure, Mando.
Chris Rios: It was good meeting you, man.
Mando Rayo: Yeah, man.
Chris Rios: Appreciate you, brother.
Mando Rayo: [music] Our final guest is
Mando Rayo: Belen Hernandez, owner
Mando Rayo: of the vegan Mexican
Mando Rayo: restaurant Belenty’s
Mando Rayo: Love in Fort Worth,
Mando Rayo: Texas.
Mando Rayo: Belen is from a small
Mando Rayo: town in Tamaulipas,
Mando Rayo: Mexico, San Fernando.
Mando Rayo: She's been in the U.S.
Mando Rayo: for over 21 years and
Mando Rayo: has three beautiful
Mando Rayo: kids, Sammy, Mia,
Mando Rayo: and DeMarcus Jr.
Mando Rayo: She's a vegan woman who
Mando Rayo: loves to cook and always
Mando Rayo: cooks with love.
Mando Rayo: Hello, Belen. How are
Mando Rayo: you?
Belen Hernandez: I'm good. How are
Belen Hernandez: you?
Mando Rayo: I'm. I'm doing great.
Mando Rayo: I'm thinking about all
Mando Rayo: the different styles of
Mando Rayo: tacos I've eaten all my
Mando Rayo: life. And now
Mando Rayo: I feel like I need a new
Mando Rayo: one coming up to Fort
Mando Rayo: Worth.
Belen Hernandez: Yes. You need to
Belen Hernandez: try Belenty’s Love
Belen Hernandez: for sure.
Belen Hernandez: [Mando laughs] You're going to be surprised.
Mando Rayo: Yeah? You opened up your
Mando Rayo: restaurant about five
Mando Rayo: years ago.
Mando Rayo: You used to serve meat,
Mando Rayo: but now you don't.
Mando Rayo: What got you to change?
Belen Hernandez: Well, it was our
Belen Hernandez: son, the one who
Belen Hernandez: start first. He was only
Belen Hernandez: ten years.
Belen Hernandez: So he come to me
Belen Hernandez: and tell me. Hey, Mama,
Belen Hernandez: I don't want to eat meat
Belen Hernandez: no more. He saw
Belen Hernandez: this video about
Belen Hernandez: how they killed the
Belen Hernandez: little chickens and all that.
Belen Hernandez: And I say, okay, maybe
Belen Hernandez: he's not going to do
Belen Hernandez: this just, like, temporary
Belen Hernandez: thing or something.
Belen Hernandez: But no, it's been
Belen Hernandez: 13 years.
Belen Hernandez: Now he's 23.
Mando Rayo: Oh, wow. Wow, wow.
Mando Rayo: And then. So then you
Mando Rayo: started like, okay, so
Mando Rayo: now I'm going to do a
Mando Rayo: Mexican restaurant, but
Mando Rayo: go full vegetarian.
Mando Rayo: Vegan?
Belen Hernandez: Yes. We owned
Belen Hernandez: restaurants before, but
Belen Hernandez: of course it was regular Mexican,
Belen Hernandez: meat food.
Belen Hernandez: We owned the restaurant.
Belen Hernandez: I mean, we was vegan
Belen Hernandez: at the same time. You
Belen Hernandez: know, you don't feel
Belen Hernandez: right because I
Belen Hernandez: can't even try my own
Belen Hernandez: food on my own restaurant.
Belen Hernandez: I mean, being vegan you're supposed to,
Belen Hernandez: like, change everything
Belen Hernandez: because it's not
Belen Hernandez: just diet is a lifestyle.
Belen Hernandez: So we choose to go
Belen Hernandez: for a Belenty’s
Belen Hernandez: Love and which is
Belen Hernandez: the name, because
Belen Hernandez: that's my nickname.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. Okay.
Belen Hernandez: And love because
Belen Hernandez: everything that we cook
Belen Hernandez: is with love. It's
Belen Hernandez: been five years
Belen Hernandez: already and it's
Belen Hernandez: been has been amazing.
Belen Hernandez: It's been really good.
Mando Rayo: So what kind of dishes
Mando Rayo: are you introducing to
Mando Rayo: your customers?
Belen Hernandez: Well, Belenty’s menu
Belen Hernandez: is super, super
Belen Hernandez: big, but we have a
Belen Hernandez: lot of the issues.
Belen Hernandez: No one can explain
Belen Hernandez: people how this
Belen Hernandez: works because
Belen Hernandez: they're always like,
Belen Hernandez: okay, vegan and
Belen Hernandez: Mexican, that don't
Belen Hernandez: go together.
Belen Hernandez: I'm like, of course
Belen Hernandez: we go together is
Belen Hernandez: like in Mexico,
Belen Hernandez: we're vegan, We don't even
Belen Hernandez: know. But yeah,
Belen Hernandez: many times all of
Belen Hernandez: the dishes that we have
Belen Hernandez: right now that people
Belen Hernandez: love, we have the
Belen Hernandez: birria tacos, you know,
Belen Hernandez: has been popular.
Mando Rayo: Oh, yeah.
Belen Hernandez: Everybody's selling birria
Belen Hernandez: tacos.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
Belen Hernandez: Well, we got birria tacos
Belen Hernandez: and it's been super
Belen Hernandez: successful. People
Belen Hernandez: love it.
Belen Hernandez: And it's exactly
Belen Hernandez: the same recipe.
Belen Hernandez: We just change the
Belen Hernandez: meat and we use the
Belen Hernandez: vegan mozzarella
Belen Hernandez: cheese on it. The
Belen Hernandez: only these right now is
Belen Hernandez: no animal products
Belen Hernandez: on it. But the flavor
Belen Hernandez: is is the same, is
Belen Hernandez: the same.
Mando Rayo: Looking at vegan
Mando Rayo: options, you know
Mando Rayo: definitely in Mexican
Mando Rayo: restaurants, you're
Mando Rayo: always trying to figure out
Mando Rayo: like, okay, well, what
Mando Rayo: works? Well, it's not
Mando Rayo: just adding
Mando Rayo: tofu, but you got to
Mando Rayo: play with the recipes
Mando Rayo: that you take time to
Mando Rayo: kind of do that?
Belen Hernandez: I'm very creative
Belen Hernandez: when it's about cooking
Belen Hernandez: and I love it.
Belen Hernandez: I'm the one who come
Belen Hernandez: up with new recipes
Belen Hernandez: all the time.
Belen Hernandez: You know, we have pastor too,
Belen Hernandez: vegan pastor that
Belen Hernandez: is homemade too.
Belen Hernandez: I come out with the
Belen Hernandez: recipes are playing
Belen Hernandez: with ingredients
Belen Hernandez: and everything. And
Belen Hernandez: it's been super,
Belen Hernandez: super good and successful
Belen Hernandez: too. People love
Belen Hernandez: it. If you come to
Belen Hernandez: the Belenty's and I
Belen Hernandez: give you birria
Belen Hernandez: tacos and pastor
Belen Hernandez: tacos and I don't
Belen Hernandez: tell you that it's vegan
Belen Hernandez: you're going to eat it like
Belen Hernandez: and you think all
Belen Hernandez: this is meat but
Belen Hernandez: it's not.
Belen Hernandez: [Mando laughs] So that's how good
Belen Hernandez: it is.
Mando Rayo: That's how good it is, right?
Mando Rayo: Oh, and what kind of
Mando Rayo: proteins are you kind of
Mando Rayo: thinking about for some
Mando Rayo: of the dishes?
Belen Hernandez: One of the dishes
Belen Hernandez: we use for the
Belen Hernandez: discada that is a
Belen Hernandez: homemade. We use
Belen Hernandez: soy. We use the
Belen Hernandez: tofu, of course,
Belen Hernandez: too. We make the chicken.
Belen Hernandez: We use a lot of the
Belen Hernandez: mushrooms.
Belen Hernandez: We have ceviche
Belen Hernandez: made of mushrooms, too.
Belen Hernandez: We have the oyster
Belen Hernandez: mushroom. You know, the
Belen Hernandez: texture is very
Belen Hernandez: like meaty. So it
Belen Hernandez: really is.
Belen Hernandez: We've been coming out now
Belen Hernandez: with a new recipe
Belen Hernandez: for tacos that we're
Belen Hernandez: going to make, like
Belen Hernandez: steak tacos.
Mando Rayo: Mm hmm.
Belen Hernandez: And everything is
Belen Hernandez: made of mushrooms.
Belen Hernandez: We had barbacoa
Belen Hernandez: tacos that is made with mushrooms too,
Belen Hernandez: but it tastes so
Belen Hernandez: good. It is really,
Belen Hernandez: really good.
Belen Hernandez: Of course, people, they
Belen Hernandez: love meat.
Belen Hernandez: Maybe they can tell
Belen Hernandez: the different about barbacoa
Belen Hernandez: because, you know, barbacoa is barbacoa.
Mando Rayo: There's no there's no there's
Mando Rayo: no
Mando Rayo: ojos [laughs].
Belen Hernandez: It is mushrooms.
Belen Hernandez: And it's it's really,
Belen Hernandez: really good.
Mando Rayo: Why was it important for
Mando Rayo: you to do a vegan
Mando Rayo: Mexican restaurant?
Belen Hernandez: Okay. Of course,
Belen Hernandez: because I'm Mexican,
Belen Hernandez: I'm from Tamaulipas.
Belen Hernandez: So it was very
Belen Hernandez: important to me because
Belen Hernandez: at the moment that we
Belen Hernandez: open and start our
Belen Hernandez: franchise,
Belen Hernandez: Belenty's Love, it was nothing
Belen Hernandez: like really Mexican
Belen Hernandez: in our area.
Speaker: Oh, okay.
Speaker: We started in Granbury.
Speaker: It was a small town.
Speaker: It was like nothing but
Speaker: meat eater people there.
Speaker: But the response they gave
Speaker: us, it was so amazing.
Speaker: And then when we moved to
Speaker: Fort Worth, we are the only
Speaker: Mexican vegan restaurant,
Speaker: 100% vegan, in Fort Worth.
Mando Rayo: And so going back to you
Mando Rayo: personally, when you
Mando Rayo: opened up the restaurant,
Mando Rayo: too, what was the
Mando Rayo: response maybe from
Mando Rayo: Mexicanos that were like
Mando Rayo: looking for their
Mando Rayo: tradition?
Belen Hernandez: I'm still trying to
Belen Hernandez: bring more of my people
Belen Hernandez: to Belenty's.
Belen Hernandez: More Mexicans.
Mando Rayo: Yeah.
Belen Hernandez: Because they not to
Belen Hernandez: all being the try
Belen Hernandez: vegan sometimes.
Belen Hernandez: But we need it, we
Belen Hernandez: need it because our
Belen Hernandez: community is getting
Belen Hernandez: sick. And when I
Belen Hernandez: start with this concept,
Belen Hernandez: people call me crazy.
Belen Hernandez: Plenty times they tell me,
Belen Hernandez: are you crazy?
Belen Hernandez: Are you insane? How
Belen Hernandez: are you going to do these
Belen Hernandez: Mexican and vegan?
Belen Hernandez: You know, we have
Belen Hernandez: fideo, lentils.
Belen Hernandez: We have a lot of things
Belen Hernandez: that we combine all
Belen Hernandez: the Mexican ingredients,
Belen Hernandez: you know, we use
Belen Hernandez: all the black beans.
Belen Hernandez: I mean, it's really good.
Belen Hernandez: You know, in my personal
Belen Hernandez: life, you really
Belen Hernandez: have a big, big,
Belen Hernandez: huge impact.
Belen Hernandez: Different.
Belen Hernandez: It changed my life,
Belen Hernandez: my health.
Belen Hernandez: I lose weight.
Belen Hernandez: I'm super healthy.
Belen Hernandez: I'm about to be 44
Belen Hernandez: year old and I feel
Belen Hernandez: like I'm 25.
Belen Hernandez: I mean, it's
Belen Hernandez: amazing.
Belen Hernandez: [Mando laughs] It is amazing.
Mando Rayo: Yeah. No, that's great.
Mando Rayo: Hey, I'll order, you
Mando Rayo: know, una [indistinguishable] para mi, por favor. [both
Mando Rayo: laugh] Well,
Mando Rayo: definitely next time I'm
Mando Rayo: up in the Fort Worth
Mando Rayo: area, I'm going to stop
Mando Rayo: by at Belenty's Love.
Belen Hernandez: Belenty's love, please.
Belen Hernandez: Okay, I'll see you soon.
Belen Hernandez: Okay?
Mando Rayo: Okay. Thank you so much.
Mando Rayo: Take care. [music]
Mando Rayo: Well, I'm feeling the
Mando Rayo: love from these
Mando Rayo: vegan taqueros today.
Mando Rayo: I think it's true that
Mando Rayo: at the end of the day,
Mando Rayo: people are just looking
Mando Rayo: for food that tastes
Mando Rayo: good.
Mando Rayo: And I'm sure that for
Mando Rayo: Mexican vegans, once
Mando Rayo: you've had a taste of
Mando Rayo: our cultura's food, it's
Mando Rayo: hard not to miss that
Mando Rayo: flavor and want to
Mando Rayo: recreate it.
Mando Rayo: Special thanks to our
Mando Rayo: guests, Edgar Delfin and
Mando Rayo: Fernando Corona
Mando Rayo: of Lick It Up Tacos in El Paso, in Austin.
Mando Rayo: Chris Rios, of Vegan Nom
Mando Rayo: Austin.
Mando Rayo: And Belen Hernandez
Mando Rayo: of Belenty's Love in Fort
Mando Rayo: Worth. Shout outs to
Mando Rayo: more Mexican-run plant
Mando Rayo: based and meat free or
Mando Rayo: meat minimal
Mando Rayo: institutions throughout
Mando Rayo: Texas.
Mando Rayo: Mr. Natural of Austin,
Mando Rayo: Texas, Cafe Mayapan
Mando Rayo: in El Paso and
Mando Rayo: La Botanica in San
Mando Rayo: Antonio.
Mando Rayo: This has been Tacos of
Mando Rayo: Texas podcast developed
Mando Rayo: and produced by Identity
Mando Rayo: Productions.
Mando Rayo: If you enjoyed today's
Mando Rayo: episode and are craving
Mando Rayo: for more taco content,
Mando Rayo: go to our website at
Mando Rayo: www dot identity dot
Mando Rayo: productions or follow us
Mando Rayo: on Instagram, TikTok,
Mando Rayo: Facebook and YouTube
Mando Rayo: at Identity Productions
Mando Rayo: and United
Mando Rayo: Tacos of America.
Mando Rayo: This is your host.
Mando Rayo: Mando
Mando Rayo: "Ya La Comes" Rayo.
Mando Rayo: [music] On the next proximo
Mando Rayo: Tacos of Texas, James
Mando Rayo: Beard Awards.
Mando Rayo: In this episode, we'll
Mando Rayo: talk with Latino James
Mando Rayo: Beard nominees,
Mando Rayo: finalists, and winners
Mando Rayo: as they open up about
Mando Rayo: their experiences with
Mando Rayo: receiving their honor.
Mando Rayo: [music]
Outro: The Tacos of Texas podcast is
Outro: presented by Identity
Outro: Productions in partnership
Outro: with KUT and KUTX Studios.
Outro: Our host and producer is
Outro: Mando Rayo.
Outro: Our audio is mixed by
Outro: Nicholas Worthen and Ever
Outro: Calderon. On our story
Outro: producer is me, Sharon
Outro: Arteaga, and our creative
Outro: producer is Dennis Burnett.
Outro: Music was created by
Outro: Pelegrosa in Austin, Texas,
Outro: and King Benny Productions,
Outro: located in the Quinto barrio
Outro: of Houston.