Gregorio Vaquero

Gregorio is one of the most responsible kitchen workers I have worked with. He would constantly hit on my girlfriend at the time, not at all worried that I was right next to him. He and his family have a ranch in mexico with sixty some odd cows. One day he looked a bit preoccupied so I asked him what was wrong and he responded, “Seven cows have gone missing on the ranch.” The going rate for an average size cow in mexico is about 700usd. He is constantly trying to get me to invest money in this family business.

There just aren’t enough people making good pickles.  It’s all about distribution and the accessability of a product.  Rockaway Taco is on it.

The pinch in global economics will be a good motivator for fine-tuning our budget-savvy businesses.  I hope it will funnel through restaurants as well.

Commercial kitchens are a heafty contributor to an incredible amount of waste.  I have worked in kitchens in mexico, the united states, canada, switzerland, and they all leave behind a messy trail at the end of the night. The restaurant industry has such a small profit margin hovering around it, you would think that restauranteurs would be looking for every possible way to cut back.  But people think that a restaurant is a numbers and cents game, when it may be more about making sense of your business and what happens inside.

Food gets thrown out.  Ovens, salamanders, gas burners, and hot water runs all day long.  The board of health demands that you use harsh chemicals as cleaning products that just get poured down the drain.

That is only the start of it all.  American commercial kitchen equiptment runs at thirty percent efficiency.  Seventy percent of the heat from a pot of soup sitting on a stovetop burner gets sucked up through a huge stainless steel vent that you probably paid at least ten thousand dollars for.  And those hood vents suck air at one thousand three hundred cubic feet per minute.  But there is not even near this much air in a normal kitchen.  So, your hood vent ends up sucking air from the dining room.  But in the winter one has to heat the dining room in order to keep the guests comfortable and happy.  So you end up with this absurd scernerio, where your paying for hot air in the dining room, only to pay for it to be sucked back out into the cold.  ConEd (the electric company) might be stoked about this game, but your wallet wont be.

Induction burners, pellet stoves, brick ovens, and pressure cookers are some good efficient cooking options to do a little research on.

keep food on the street.

Chofo

This guy doesn’t like change, but its understandable.  He runs a production kitchen in brooklyn that makes food for five other restaurants and catering gigs.  Everyone in the kitchen gives him incredible respect.  The fast paced morning race to be as efficient as possible and complete your list of tasks has everyone moving in a seemingly chaotic fashion.  It works though.

With the sight of snow falling out the window its hard to think of summer activities.  I can assure you that rockaway taco staff is on the clock.  It will give you something to look forward to.

*there has been a lack of movement in both of the oceans that I surf in.  Mexico has been silent.  Rockaway has been cold.  Rockaway is getting some good press though.

Stop buying pre made salsa.  It can’t get any easier than this.  If you say you aren’t a good cook and you everything you touch you burn.  Perfect!  The more you burn this the better it will be.

3 tomatoes

3 green chiles (jalapeño or chile serrano)

1/4 small red onion

Salt

Water

Burn it all on the open flame of your stove.  No pots, no pans.  Just char it.  Let it cool, then put it all in blender and go!  Add salt to taste and thin out mix with water.

How can this be considered real ‘cheese‘?