Lonestar Taco

BUILDING A NEW AMSTERDAM MARKET

2013-03-12T10:35:32Z

I wasn't a chef when the Old Fulton Fish Market was still in operation at South Street Seaport before it moved into the warehouse wilderness of The Bronx. In fact, I had only lived in New York for a little over a year before it closed. Still, I never had a chance or much of a reason to visit the Fulton Fish Market in all its stink and glory. Why would I have cared about the market or the history of the area? I doubt I even knew what the hell a fish market was.

Fast forward eight years. A few weeks ago I stood in the temporary office of the New Amsterdam Market team down at the South St. Seaport. It bleeds history. The building is primarily used as artifact storage. But recently its drafty rooms have also sheltered the tireless and freezing staff of New Amsterdam Market, while their water-damaged Sandy-stricken office at 224 Front Street is repaired and renovated. I was there to meet with Robert La Valva, the founder and visionary leader of the organization to discuss the market - revisiting the successes and failures of the past season and brainstorming about the future.

I arrived early to find the previous meeting still in progress. Robert introduced me to Erik Andrus and asked if I would mind if they finished up. I hung back, examining the room. Robert's makeshift office is dark and a bit brisk. The tobacco-brown floors and walls nearly vacuum the sun from the room. The table he uses as a desk is just by the interior windows overlooking historic slate rooftops. The mid-morning late-winter daylight cut in from the east, dropping sharp lines through the windows and casting rich, deep darkness wherever it failed to reach.

]]> The light lingered on Robert's desk where a scale model of a brick-like masted wooden ship seemed to float, waves rippling and sails fluttering. Erik explained the 1/12th scale model and his vision to return sail freight back to the Champlain-Hudson Valley waterways. He pitched it as a "A Carbon-Neutral Transport Company Connecting the Farms and Forests of Vermont with the Lower Hudson Valley". The sails, mast and riggings are designed to lower when passing under the dozens of bridges the barge will have to venture past. At port the main mast can also serve as a crane to offload packages.

Robert and I were mesmerized by the ingenuity, history, research, engineering, planning, and foresight pouring out from Erik. This wasn't an infant idea. In fact, Erik was well on the way to begin construction on a ship but had been advised to talk to Robert to see how his vision could fit into plans for the Seaport.

We looked through illustrations Robert had earlier pulled from the archives, one of which came from a late 19th century issue of Harper's Bazaar. It showed the Pier 17 area covered with floating cages that looked like pallets. They sat close enough together to allow passengers and shipmen to trek over the water and unload a barge much like the model that lay before us. Fishmongers stored live fish beneath those pallet-like wood surfaces so they would be fresh and ready for delivery to that or the next day's market.

Erik's "crazy idea" is really about reinvigorating the New York City waterways with a kind of water bound traffic that no longer exists. He was able to explain a cogent, rational and potentially transformative method for transporting several thousand tons of goods from the Champlain Valley to lower Manhattan without any use of non-renewable energy. Such traffic could bring foodstuffs and similar freight into the port area much as it had in the city's earliest days.

I was stunned at the simplicity of the idea and shocked at my own naiveté and acceptance of the huge diesel ships and trucks that are the mainstay for importing goods into the city today. But the more I listened, the more little things began to line up. Erik's vision has the potential to bring innovative new middle-class jobs to the seaport, revitalizing the area and moving it beyond the shell of a tourist hub that it has become.

We have a big dream and an outsized vision too. Our vision and project began with a taco. To make a great taco you need to have access to great ingredients, ingenious suppliers and a tight network of other companion small business owners to collaborate with, learn and grow. New Amsterdam Market created a space in the city for folks like us to succeed and grow our vision and is re-energizing the Seaport. New Amsterdam Market has become a mainstay of many residents' lives over the past seven years, and it's shown that a diversity of ideas is appealing and magnetic. New Amsterdam Market brings together business owners like Erik and ourselves, and together we can forge new ideas and create a space for incubating the dreams of the future.

In 2005, after the Fulton Fish Market finally left the Seaport, corporate developers put forth a vision to reframe and rebuild the area into a vast combined retail and residential project. Simultaneously, independent businesses and new residents saw an opportunity around the Seaport and took advantage of the unique historical spaces and affordable rents. With the addition of New Amsterdam Market, the Seaport blossomed into a vibrant, diverse and lively community. In contrast, Pier 17 remained a tourist destination despite a dwindling number of visitors. But all that changed when Superstorm Sandy's great waves came and pushed nearly everyone away.

Venture down to the South Street Seaport today and you'll find that the only lively places left are run by small business folk that are struggling to keep open. Unlike the little guys, many of the big developers and corporations chose not to face the challenges and costly expense of re-opening their doors. Instead, they turned their backs on the neighborhood and dug in for more city and state financed kickbacks - more time to pursue the larger and yet hollow goal of a glass filled castle of retail shops in the sky. But small business owners can't afford to write off the damages and expenses of renovation. They aren't willing to close up shop and lay off employees. Instead, they poured more of their lives, savings, and hopes and dreams into the area. They rebuilt their ruined spaces as quickly as possible in hopes of renewed commerce and foot traffic at the Seaport.

I believe that a lively, vibrant and permanent commercial seaport could empower the city again. Why let the shells of the New Market and Tin Buildings sit empty when the South Street Seaport has a unique position in New York's history? It already possesses the characteristics that can lead to this renewal. A permanent New Amsterdam Market can provide a jolt of that energy into a desperately needed place. A place a few steps from the docks where fishmongers, farmers, merchants, chefs and shippers intermingled and cast out shouts of the day's comings and goings. A place where serendipity enables them to talk to the Eriks and Roberts and future Lonestar Tacos of the city.

And a place where we can create history rather than just observe it. That place is near at hand: the fate of these city owned properties is now in the hands of our government. Will the Tin Building and New Market Buildings be rendered asunder and rebuilt as tributes to corporate wealth? Or can they be re-imagined into New Amsterdam Market, a vision that will weave the Seaport back into the vital fabric of New York? A place where entrepreneurs get their start, where chefs run across the Brooklyn bridge to meet their favorite purveyor of vanilla or olives or local fish. A place where a 21st century farmer and shipbuilder can deliver his first load of Japonica style rice raised in the Champlain Valley of Vermont. A place that celebrates and utilizes the currents of wind and water that made this city the center of the world.

New Amsterdam Market can re-energize the downtown area from the wanton wreck that Sandy left and be rebuilt, reinforced and reimagined to withstand the rising tides of the future.

Return the New Market and Tin Buildings into the hands of visionary leaders and the supporters of the New Amsterdam Market and grow the future of tomorrow today.

Resources for your Mexican Feast

2013-02-13T21:05:14Z

On February 13th, 2013 we were invited by Edible Manhattan to give a very short talk on how to make tortillas over at the Brooklyn Brewery. This is a list of resources that expand on that talk.

How to Roll the Perfect Tortilla

How to make Corn Masa and Corn Tortillas at home

Some of our favorite places to pickup Mexican Ingredients and cooking supplies in the NYC Area

How to make masa and corn tortillas

2013-02-13T18:19:02Z

First we have to talk a little about the tradition of corn tortillas. In most Mexican families, corn tortillas are the centerpiece of a meal. Without good corn, you aren't off to a good start. They have been around for millennia. There are many more well educated and well learned folks such as Diana Kennedy that have researched and written on the tortilla and you should seek them out and read them yourselves for that perspective. We're speaking from a place of general understanding, we'll leave the scholastic to the scholastics.

That said, being in New York City in this millennia, we are lucky enough to have two sources of terrific, traditionally made corn masa. "Masa" literally means dough, but in the context of Mexican food it refers specifically to corn dough. To arrive at masa, you have to put great quality corn through a proces called Nixtamalization.

We asked our friend Shauna Page over at Nixtamal Tortilleria to give us a short explanation of the process and recipe for those of you that would like to try this at home. It's a time consuming process, but not extremely difficult if you have the tools.

Ingredients:

Nixtamal makes the most traditionally authentic masa in the city, they've gone to great lengths to find a varietal of corn grown in the United States. She would argue hers are the best and most traditional, but we also think Hot Bread Kitchen's is pretty damn good too.

Masa is made from five things:

Dry Corn, Water, Calcium Hydroxide, Time and Heat.

The product is the definition of simplicity itself, but it is a bit of process to yield the product.

If you are an adventurous cook this is for you, otherwise leave it to the pro's at Nixtamal Tortilleria or Hot Bread Kitchen in the NYC area.

Dry Corn: As Shauna explained to us, the best corn for masa is dent or flint corn. This corn has a larger kernel that what you are used to off a sweet corn cob and it is typically one that has evolved or been bred to readily absorb water.

Most new varieties of corn are not so great at this, which is why if you want the most variety of this quality corn, head to Mexico. But Shauna has found a variety here in the United States that works very well and happens to be an heirloom varietal, one that is more than 50 years old. The corn varieties can vary from the most common, white, to yellow, blue, green or red.

Calcium Hydroxide: This is a food grade lime product, very finely ground limestone that is cleaned and processed for food safety. It can also be found as cal, slake lime or cal lime.

Your best bet to find this is in your nearest Mexican market, it's also available online from various suppliers. A more readily available lime is pickling lime, which is twice as concentrated as Calcium Hydroxide so adjust the recipe accordingly if substituting pickling lime.

Water: Quality begats quality. If you start with poor quality or unfiltered water you'll get an inferior masa in the end. Whenever possible use filtered water. I've used regular NYC tap water (or tap stock as I like to call it) and done just fine.

Equipment:

A Large pot - Preferable non-reactive, yea, those aluminum ones are not so great and in fact dangerous. Calcium Hydroxide + Aluminum = Hydrogen Gas. You don't want hydrogen gas in your kitchen with an open flame. Stainless Steel is best. You need a pot big enough to hold everything combined and with room to boot for simmering and bubbling.

Grinder - You need a grinder that can handle wet ingredients. I've used the kitchen aid meat grinder with moderate success, but it is very time consuming. Small batches and several grinds can make it happen. You could also use the traditional metate, which is even more time consuming. But if you are game for adding another kitchen implement to your array this hand crank grinder, search yourself I won't speak for any brands, will get the job done and works well as a flour and other dry grain grinder at other times.

Tortilla Press - The heavy duty cast iron ones are the best. We use a 8" one that weighs about 5# but I've used a 10" one that makes the small tortillas in one press, much faster than the little one which requires a few turns, flips and presses to get an even circular tortilla.

How to make nixtamal and then masa

(Adapted from Shauna Page's recipe from Nixtamal Tortilleria)

4 cups of water- Bring to boil. Drop to 200F and maintain.
Pour 2 cups Dry Corn into the boiling water.
Add 1/4 cup of cal (flake lime, calcium hydroxide) or only 2 T of pickling lime.
Stir very well, Cover with a lid, Turn off Heat
Remove the top after 45-60 minutes, or when the corn is soft enough to remove the outer skin by pressing it against the palm of your hand. The corn should absorb some of the water and look a little plump and be firm yet soft enough to eat.
Remove the top and let stand for 8-12 hours. The corn will nearly absorb all of the water in this time.
Remove the nixtamal (corn at this stage) from the excess water. Lightly rinse large container. The husks/shells will flow over the top of the rim if you set the faucet on a slow and steady stream stir with you hands to get the bottom husks up. Try not to wash too vigorously.
Begin grinding. If using a kitchen aid meat grinder set the speed to 5 or 6 max and work in small batches, have water handy to adjust consistency and improve the grind. Basically the same process for hand grinders or metates but a lot more effort and time is involved. If you have a stone masa grinder, one grind will suffice, just ensure you have the right setting, fine or coarse. Adjust to your taste.

If you are planning to make tamales a coarser masa is required, so maybe stop after the first or second grind. Tortillas do better with a finer grind but sometimes they are nice with a rough grind as well. Hot Bread Kitchen's masa is a bit of a rougher grind than Nixtamal if you'd like a way of comparing.

How to make a corn tortillas with a press

Materials needed:

Tortilla Press, Bowl, Scale (optional), Plastic bag (cut into a square to fit both sides of your press with 3 openings and one edge), cast iron pan (comal, griddle or whatever flat surface you prefer), neutral cooking oil.

Check the masa and if needed add water and mix until the masa is wet enough to leave a bit of moisture on your hand but come off easily and not so much as to be tacky or sticky.
Heat your cooking surface and apply a bit of oil to coat the pan. Not too much oil. Medium high heat.
Take a clump, weigh if you have a kitchen scale handy 30-35 grams makes a nice 5" tortilla, adjust up or down to your preference.
Gently roll between your hands. Rubbing the back sides of your opposite palms together with the ball resting in the heart of your palm works well. You need not have a perfect sphere the press does a good job with anything close.
Place the ball between the sheets of plastic on the press base 1/3 away from the hinge).
Close the handle lightly and press down firmly. You are not trying to complete the tortilla in one stroke, so keep that in mind when applying pressure.
Open the press, look at the dough and turn 90 degrees or 180 degrees to complete rounding out the tortilla with one or two more less firm presses.
Remove the tortilla encased in the plastic. Carefully open the plastic, peeling back like removing a sticker off a container, yet apply a light pressure to ensure the dough sticks to the other side.
Flip the tortilla dough into your other palm and carefully peel off the other side. Again, light pressure.
Place in hot pan, gently but deliberately.
Cook under the edges begin to curl up (about a 1/4 " wide) and the dough looks to be drying out.
Flip and cook for about 20 secs.
Flip again with 20-30 more seconds.
Put in a container or wrap in a towel to keep warm. Or pop it into your mouth. watch out, it's hot.
Re-heating cool tortillas is a snap. Same pan, same heat, sprinkle a bit of water (Or use a mister, which works best) on the non pan facing surface. Flip once it has absorbed. Serve with ingredients or your dreams.

We are not an Island

2012-12-20T19:43:28Z

We are not an island. We can't say it enough. Without our network of friends local to NYC, abroad in faraway places, and the vast network of internet acquaintances and industry associates we couldn't have had such a phenomenal year.

Our success as a company this year is not just measured in profitability, while we managed to operate within the black, we are a far cry from being able to pay for ourselves and a full-time staff. To get there we'll have to open a space and commit to a much larger team. That has always been the goal, this has been a year of planting seeds.

Sure, we still haven't found our permanent home, but this year's journey has felt like a giant leap. Pivotal to our progress has been our friends Jen and James Vellano and their company of wonders Maison Privé. Maison Privé is their small but agile catering and private chef company.

Maison Privé focuses on sustainably sourced and quality ingredients such as Veta la Palma's delectable Lubina. Photo by Jen Vellano

]]> Their clientele are the leaders of the world. They are the movers and shakers of society. Jen and Jim navigate their private lives and events with ease and grace and for those looking for the best in fine dining for a special occasion or every night in their homes, Maison Privé is the team you want.

No company can take the best of regional produce and producers and create as delightful pairing of tastes and expressions as they can. After all they both have worked tirelessly to get to where they are.

Jen, worked up until the day she went into labor and bore her beautiful joy of a son Lucca and was back leading a covey of chefs, including me, at a private event a few weeks later. They define commitment to craft, they embody character, and they embrace a challenge.

Chef Jen Vellano, of Maison Privé, takes a second to set the last nail in the final wall in their commercial kitchen in Greenwich, CT

Moreover, at a time of need, no matter how busy they were themselves they have taken the time to help their friends. They support their staff in ways few in the restaurant industry would ever consider. They are an inspiration to us, because they are doing it, and doing it very well.

When things fell sour for us with a commercial kitchen in Brooklyn, they opened theirs to us. They had just taken the leap and committed to a commercial space when things were starting to seem amiss for us. Jim called me to ask advice and share stories and I asked him id he'd be open to sharing the kitchen with us for a bit. Without hesitation they let us in and as soon as the tiles were set got us going in their space.

We have no regrets. Everyday we work out of their kitchen we get an opportunity to listen, learn, share experiences and grow together.

It's a funny thing, this starting your own business. Really it has so little about earning money or livelihood and so much about learning the limits of yourselves and the limitlessness of your friends, supporters and family and what they all can bring to your lives. We fill enriched because of their efforts and are thankful to have them as friends and supporters. We are truly thankful heading into these holidays and wish you all the best in the coming New Year!

Support La Newyorkina and Fany Gerson

2012-12-18T19:30:00Z

As we've mentioned, our friend Fany, whom we had partnered with to do a Pop-up dinner back in August and first met with a warm embrace and kiss at New Amsterdam Market in July, has been in our thoughts. She's one of the many businesses that were quietly run over by Hurricane Sandy. If you are in the NYC area, stop by her stand at the Columbus Circle Holiday Market and pick up some tasty treats. Or iif you'd like an easier way to lend her some help, buy some of these candies we're making and donating all the proceeds to her. We'll write about how much we raised and donated to her in the coming months and appreciate anything you can do for our friend.

Our Intern: Catherine Piccoli

2012-12-18T19:24:22Z

We wanted to introduce you to our first intern. After the first few weeks of running Lonestar Taco at New Amsterdam Market we quickly realized that while our pool of volunteer tortilla makers were doing an excellent job of filling a gap in our staffing, we didn't want to make a habit of relying on unpaid staffing. One of the things we depart from with a lot of restaurants in NYC is that we see value in what our interns bring to the table, not just what we can bring to them.

]]> When we set out to find the right person and posted our first job posting on Good Food Jobs, we received a hefty armload of highly interesting and engaging folks. We sat down with Catherine and had a delightful conversation about food politics, philosophy, and cooking. Catherine has a background in retail sales with little experience in the kitchen and is more qualified than either of us in the history of gastronomy and food. A writer by trade with an interest in learning more about starting a food business, she seemed the perfect fit.

Catherine has been our star employee this year and deserves more than her name on a plaque! Catherine really gets it and says that when we call her up or text to say we need her this week that it's a highlight of her week. We hope it is as rewarding for her in getting an opportunity to break down a pig on her own without some chef ranting and breathing down her neck and get a little deeper understanding of the meditations that are found in kitchen work. She's becoming an excellent tortilla maker to boot. Thanks Catherine!

What happened to the tacos and when are they coming back?

2012-12-18T19:17:21Z

Photo courtesy of Margie of LarkandJapes.com

We sold our last tacos for this season at New Amsterdam Market on November 18th. I remember that morning because the tide lapped the underside of the piers off of South St. louder and higher than they'd ever been before. Sandy struck the next day. We returned to the market two weeks ago selling tamales and packaged products and lot of people were surprised. 'Why did you stop selling tacos!?"

We've always planned to be more than just a taco stand; what a lot of people didn't realize is that New Amsterdam Market has been our proof of concept.. It's allowed us to figure out whether our ideas and preconceptions based on educated guesses would hold up under market conditions in NYC. To our delight, they have, and to a large extent we've exceeded our expectations and learned a great deal more than what we had set out to find.

But why turn off the griddle and turn on the stove for tamales instead of tacos? Well, that last Sunday was a fairly cold day and our hodgepodge of equipment that comprises our makeshift outdoor restaurant was really put to the test and found wanting. It just didn't keep hot enough. We had one of the most difficult days of service and were a bit glad it was slower than usual because of the cold. Yet another thing to add to the checklist for outdoor markets: 'Is the equipment tested in the weather conditions you are heading into?' Sadly, it was not. And we didn't want to outlay more expense on equipment this late in the year, so we had decided to stop being at the market altogether in December.

]]> But we had a really fantastic day, highlighted by a nice chat and visit with one of our favorite culinary mentors, Alice Waters. But it wasn't her glow or the privilege of having a celebrity chef come by to taste our food that changed our minds, but rather it was my relationship to her philosophy of food and my past experience in her kitchen that got us thinking about how we could adapt and continue for a few more weeks.

Food brings people together and establishes a centerpiece for conversation. From there we can leverage it as a political force. In being something we are inevitably connected to, we all have a stake in how we eat, what we eat and where it comes from, and Alice has led this country in a revolution of food knowledge. Her actions have led to such movements as the Edible School Yard, inspiring our first lady Michelle Obama to step up and lead her own initiatives, putting health and food in one of the biggest spotlights it has ever been in our lifetime. So, it's a humble delight to have her come by our stand, fittingly on our 'last market day', to taste our food and enjoy our ideas. She shared stories about similar businesses she's encountered on the west coast that canhelp us think about how we can contextualize our own place in the culinary world.

And for me, I got to reminisce about that time I introduced her at a Share Our Strength Conference of Leaders and how I was then was invited to spend a few months interning at Chez Panisse. All before I dove into several years working under Chef Keller's watchful and stern eye as part of the opening team of Bouchon Bakery NYC.

It reminded us that we have a responsibility not just to our investors, regulars, and fans but we have a responsibility to the folks that run New Amsterdam Market and our family of vendors. More than anything, we've built friendships that reward us. We thought about how maybe our absence from the market would allow a quiet and cold to settle in. Their success is our success. One of the most rewarding things you learn in starting your own business, contrary to popular belief, that it isn't a battle of 'market capitalism' where competitors are in a constant frenzy to crush their competition, rather we talk to one another and learn from our mistakes and successes and ultimately we all benefit from one another's' successes more so than our failures.

So we adapted. We reflected on our business plan and right in plain sight was the answer. What a better time to launch our retail products than now? In two weeks we designed our first iteration of packaging for several products that had been sketched out, sourced ingredients and packaging, and set out back to New Amsterdam Market to test. The first weekend was pretty good. Sure, without the dramatic stage of a griddle and hand made tortillas and tacos being made before their eyes we lacked the long lines we were used to, but we also lacked the sheer weight of operational costs associated with producing a perishable inventory or products that require an additional two people to turn into our delicious tacos.

These new products gave us a moment to chat with other vendors. To walk around and re-connect with why New Amsterdam Market needs to grow and find a sustainable home. It needs us, it needs everyone. It's a living breathing thing, like us, like our business. We look forward to the coming year with our eyes wide open, our goals set, and our dreams alighting.

We thank all of you for continually supporting us by coming down to the market, by 'tweeting' about us, in sharing us on facebook or in conversation with your friends, and we are humbled by our champions and friends for their continued faith and support . We look forward to the day when we can invite you all into our own physical space.

Citizens

2012-12-18T19:02:02Z

Photo by Peter Hobbs

My Mom had a friend named Sandy when I was a kid growing up. I remember a warmth and friendliness and cake. Shag carpets were involved in visiting her home and I vaguely remember a shaggy dog too. But the Sandy of 2012 was anything like those clouded memories. This Sandy sticks around, and she wasn't very nice and she ruined all the shag carpets.

A lot of folks think it was 'very noble', 'a terrific thing', 'heroes work', etc. with what we did in the days that followed hurricane Sandy. It wasn't. Believe us. What we did was just being a citizen. We're all supposed to be more committed to this thing called democracy than many of us seem to be. We all have our fits and starts, it's hard to stay tuned or plugged into it all. It hurts. There are many questions, all of them hard, and it is a risky thing to get involved. A lot of people tell you to mind your own business, to stick to your own path and take care of number one. You might be ridiculed. You might be ignored. You may fail. All of this is true. But if you don't try, who will?

]]> I think it was 1998. I was at a crossroads at my life. I'd graduated college, the first male in my direct family line to do so. It didn't seem like a big thing. I still hadn't a clue what I wanted to do. I was 24. I drove to the Army/Air Force recruiter. It wasn't the first time. I'd aced the ASVAP a few weeks prior and had my choice of officer careers. Or so the recruiters led me to believe. I've since heard that they often dangle these fantasies of opportunity in front of you that are wont to appear once you sign up. I have no personal experience with that. I decided against it.

Defending my country seemed a misplaced idea, rather supporting my country seemed like a better fit. I'd had a few friends that had been through a few Americorps programs and they all seemed really excited about their futures and the work they did, so I set out for the offices of City Year San Antonio. Those were whirlwind years and much too much happened to talk about here, but I think it's important to understand the place that our actions as a company come from.

City Year has a very specific culture. They celebrate diversity. They focus on 'can do attitudes' and have founding stories. They create leaders and hone leadership qualities. They planted a seed in my brain that makes helping others a knee jerk response, it's not extraordinary, its ordinary. It's what a citizen does.

So as citizens we did what we could. As a mobile vendor we knew it was easy for us to set up and cook food, plus we had a lot of inventory left from the slow weekend. We mentioned it to Robert LaValva and within a few days we were down at the seaport feeding folks whose livelihoods had been torn asunder. Many of the folks had been working for seven days straight, throwing away their homes and businesses, ruined by the overflowing banks of the river. You can still go down there today, it's been almost two months and the majority of buildings and businesses remain shuttered.

Aaron Cohen saw our tweet and then loads of re-tweets about us serving up hot food and asked if we'd be interested in raising money from his Twitter followers in Boston. We agreed, and within four hours of launching the fundraiser we'd raised enough to do it another day. And as we've written about before, thanks to Allison Robicelli's fingers being on the pulse of South Brooklyn, we were able to find a place and head out within a few days. The devastation down there was soundless. Many walked the streets aimlessly - perhaps hungry, perhaps just to keep themselves warm. Our friends helped us dish out as much food as we could and we headed back to our cosy unbattered homes on higher ground. It wasn't enough. It couldn't possibly be enough. The scale was just tipped too far over.

A few days after the storm I remembered I hadn't heard anything about La NewYorkina, Fany Gerson's business, so I emailed her. She was still abroad on a long-ago planned trip and she had no idea what awaited her back home. She knew there had been a storm, but she hadn't a clue what the impact would be on her livelihood. When I saw her at the market a few weeks ago I asked about the damage. Her eyes were tired and momentarily filled with hopelessness. She hadn't even had a second to account for it all - she saw that all her inventory was garbage, her production machines were ruined, and estimated losses in the $60,000 range and possibly more. If you haven't met her or had any of her sweets you should, she is sweeter than any of her sweets and warmer than any of her hot chocolate.

We attended a holiday "cookie swap" and I used a recipe of hers from her book 'My Sweet Mexico' in tribute to her. I made a variation of my favorite 'Besitos' and people seemed to enjoy them. A few days later we launched our online store, and it got me thinking, you know, this is so easy that we could do a little something for Fany too. We posted my 'Besitos Picantes' on the store and have started selling a few in trickles and waves. Our starfish story, we hope. Some other chefs have taken note and hopefully a larger effort is forming to help her out. If you are interested in lending her a hand, you can purchase them online and we'll write her a check at the end of the month from the proceeds of the sales which we'll continue into the new year.

Because the impacts of Sandy aren't over for her as they aren't for many others - but as citizens we can help each other come together and support those in need, in whatever way we can.

Our Food + the Internets

2012-12-18T18:55:40Z

It's been a long and hard road to find a space. We're still not at the end of that road and we needed to adapt our market stand to accommodate a change in season and the upcoming holidays, so we took some time over Thanksgiving to develop our product line which we've always had in mind since the beginning. We thought it could be a way to keep the cash flow going and allow us to continue to experiment with our menu and retail ideas while the outdoor market season goes dormant. We realized it was also the perfect opportunity to launch our online store.

So, after we had finally warmed up from returning from our return to the market with our products, we started researching how to make it happen. We reached out to a few friends with experience, weighed their thoughts, ordered shipping supplies, set up a ridiculous number of online accounts and launched the site last week.

http://shop.lonestartaconyc.com

Most of our orders to date have been friends and family, but we hope to grow the product line and presence from the fledgling state to a much more sophisticated offering and audience over the coming months. We'd appreciate your support in sharing the store with your friends. We have a lot of gift offerings for the holiday season from our Flour Tortilla Kit, where we sourced a custom made rolling pin from Maine, to our Pickled Gift Set of our jalepeños and red onions.

We hope our offerings will help fill the void of our taco absence over the cold winter months. Look out for our upcoming Taco Kits and our Salsas launching in the next few weeks. Or just hop on to lend a helping hand to our dear friend and colleague Fany Gerson.

New Amsterdam Market's Winter Solstice, Last Market of the Season

2012-12-18T18:48:45Z

New Amsterdam Market

Sunday, December 23rd 11-4 pm

We hope you can make it to the last market of 2012. We have lots of stuff to share with you and that you can share with your friends and family. We returned to the market at the beginning of December with hot tamales, flour tortilla kits, pickled red onion and pickled jalepeños and frozen ½ dozens of tamales for folks to take home for Christmas or other holiday celebrations.

Why no tacos? Tacos aren't the only thing we want to bring to NYC. Tamales are something a San Antonio native like me expects to eat this time of year. It's a traditional foodstuff in Mexican-American families in my home state and it brings back fond memories of heading down to the local tortilleria with my Grammy Grams and picking up two dozen of the piping hot delights and heading back to her kitchen to devour them. I never understood back then how much they would imprint my brain with a sense of season and cultural grounding, but that is exactly what they do for me - they link me back to home.

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Lonestar Taco, for both of us, has always been about that link to Texas, an origin story. As a Texan, I can't deny my background, but there is a great deal of misunderstanding around the myth and sense of what it is to be a Texan. Many famous Texans, particularly of the political bend, have shaped the consciousness of New Yorkers to focus on the more negative and ignorant ways of my fair state.

We want to bring to light some of the cultural aspects that we love and adore, from the warmth, the genuine hospitality and graciousness of many Texans to the love in sharing what we have grown up with. The quality and character of our food and products will speak for themselves and begin to quell the fear that Texas is a vast state devoid of intellect or intellectual curiosity. It is anything but that. The hope is that some day Tex-Mex won't be such a dirty word with connotations of gringified cheese sauce poured over watery tortillas, shrouded in puddles of lard-filled beans and overcooked rice. There is a place for that, but need it be the only thing that comes to mind?

Vegan flour tortillas

2012-12-12T00:42:34Z

We know lot sof folks out there can't eat dairy, hell, one of our founders shouldn't but he does anyways. If you've happened upon our mix or found our recipe and wanted to try it out without all that butter and milk, here's what you can do.

http://www.lonestartaconyc.com/2012/02/a-first-birthday-party-and-our-flour-tortilla-recipe.php

Set:

Milk=Water

Butter = Sunflower Oil

(Or your other favorite oil. Olive Oil works well too.)

+Original Sunflower Oil amount and Roll with it

If you work the dough a bit longer, you'll find you end up with a similar texture. I won't say these are as supple and light as the dairy ones, because they aren't, but they'll work in a pinch.

Rolling and cooking the perfect flour tortilla

2012-12-11T23:39:24Z

Update: 2/13/2013 We've created a 2 minute video (bottom of page as well) to help you practice the flour tortilla rolling techniques described below.

How to Hand Roll and Cook Flour Tortillas from Lonestar Taco on Vimeo. Perhaps you've read our recipe or maybe you picked up a bag of our mix from our online store or over at the market. You are already miles ahead of others, you have the best quality ingredients and the right ratios to boot.

But, now what? How do you get your first tortillas to look just right. Not only does rolling the perfect tortilla, like anything, take practice it takes a little technique as well. Let's pretend you have the dough already made.

Your dough needs to be well rested. If you are using our mix or recipe, 15 minutes on the counter covered should be good enough.
Get your best heavy bottomed pan or skillet ready on medium high heat.
The dough should also be pliable and room temperature. Cold dough will only slow you down (think long lines at our stand in the winter).
Your balls should be round (get your mind out of the gutter).
Pick up the dough piece and cup your hands together thumbs facing up where when you look into the nook of your hand you'll see a heart shape formed in in the shadows against the base.
Gently rub the bottom edge of your hand together, a vibrating heart,pressing together lightly on the dough and you'll have a nice ball in your hands after a short time.
When you form the portioned dough into balls, you want to end up with a smooth ball. It doesn't have to be a perfect sphere it can be a little misshapen but creases and folds on the edges will make a misshapen tortilla fast.
Place the dough ball on a floured flat surface, a clean non-textured cutting board works well, and press into a disk with your palm.
Dust the top with some bench flour.
Now take your beautiful birch tortilla rolling pin made by our friends in Maine (or that wine bottle on your counter because you're cheap [read resourceful] ), & place the center of the pin on the center of the disk and press firmly into the dough and roll towards yourself or away from you, choose what is comfortable for you.
Turn the dough 180 degrees and repeat.
Dust with flour if it sticks or if the surface feels too tacky.
As the tortilla goes from disk to roundish shape you may need to use a varied technique to form it into a clean circle. With the rolling pin still flat, use the tip, rather than the center of the pin to fan out any imperfections.
A great texture tortilla comes from about a 1/16 of an inch, no ruler required, you should be able to see your hand a bit through the opaque and smooth dough.
Quickly move the tortilla to the pre-heated pan.
Let it sit for about 40-60 seconds. Depending on your pan and heat, this may vary. It should form lovely little or large bubbles. Flip when they are about a 1/4 inch high or just after they appear.
Then wait for the other side to puff up a bit. The top side will brown a little more and you can either flip again for a few seconds or remove from heat and place under a kitchen towel or that fancy tortilla warmer your mom bought you ten years ago.

Gerritsen Beach

2012-11-05T22:48:22Z

Needless to say, a lot has happened since we kicked off the fundraiser. It's been a busy few days but in our eyes worth every single minute. It was a race to get everything lined up - as soon as we committed to the fundraiser, I threw together a form on Formstack and set up payments through Stripe to collect the donations (and it was pretty easy to do both - yay the power of technology!). Aaron worked on writing up the blog post and we traded language back and forth.

On Friday, we had to shop for supplies ahead of knowing whether or not the fundraiser was going to be successful because of the tight timeline. As we saw the donations pouring in through email notifications, we knew the support was out there and we pressed on. The other challenge was finding a location and connecting with someone in the community to alert them to the fact that we were coming. Wayne knew that Allison Robicelli has been organizing volunteers and supplies so he connected with her, and she told us that Gerritsen Beach was in dire need of hot food - they have no electricity and their homes were flooded out. All day Saturday was focused on prep, and we were lucky that our friend Stepha generously took the whole day to help us. We also coordinated a group of volunteers to help us serve food - the biggest hurdle was finding gas for the volunteer car to come down with us!

Yesterday we headed to Gerritsen Beach. As we drove through Brooklyn, we noticed areas that were completely "normal" and it seemed like nothing had happened. Then we realized that the unusual Sunday morning traffic was caused by blocks-long lines of cars waiting for gas. At a certain point, we crossed a line - the traffic lights were out, cars were parked at funny angles, there were tree branches everywhere. And then we saw the piles of possessions out on the curb. Entire lives had been stacked out on the street, ruined by cold, dirty seawater. We could hear the hum of the generators. Some people were walking about almost aimlessly, like they were still in total shock about what had happened. Others looked purposeful, with a grim set to their jaws and a pair of dishwashing gloves on, ready for more scrubbing and cleaning and discarding.

Wayne jumped out of the car and walked up to one of the firefighters and told him we were the "taco people". Gary, the firefighter, gave Wayne a bear hug and told us that they had reserved a spot for us across from the fire department building. So we rapidly unloaded our vehicles and set up our stations. Our volunteers were so quick and helpful that we were up and running ahead of schedule. We decided that it made the most sense to serve rice, two kinds of beans, and a variety of our tacos off the regular menu - but in much larger amounts. Apparently word got around that the rice was really good, so it was gone in less than two hours! We continued to make our tacos like we always do, with fresh tortillas, and people seemed very curious about that.

We chatted briefly with some of the residents and they had some heartbreaking stories to tell. One woman still had water in her basement and was looking for help to get the water out. A dad was concerned about the temperature dropping, but all he had was a tarp and some blankets to keep his kids warm. Others were stranded because their vehicles were completely ruined by the water. An older lady just kept saying "I've lost everything." Even in the face of all of this, the community decided to hold the annual Halloween parade to give the kids a moment of normalcy. The volunteer firefighters asked us to give out some candy as the kids walked by. Some adults were dressed up and marched down the street playing xylophones and drums. I couldn't get over how mournful it sounded even though it was supposed to sound joyful. For me it was probably the most emotional moment of the day.

In the few hours we were there, it seemed like some help was coming in from various sources - individual, concerned citizens dropping off clothing and food donations, a FEMA truck and personnel from Ohio, a Red Cross vehicle with MRE's - but I do get the sense that residents in Gerritsen Beach feel a bit abandoned. As of today they still have no power and it didn't seem like there was any overall plan by the government for moving forward. But individuals within the community were organizing aid, they weren't waiting around. One man mentioned that he had arranged a thousand dollar donation from a pizzeria in Williamsburg for buying cleaning supplies.

The response was enormous - we constantly heard how appreciative people were and that it was a nice break from pasta and cold food. (We do feel a bit bad that we hadn't brought any coffee - that was the first thing that someone asked for as we were setting up!) Wayne and I estimate that we fed around 250 people in a little over four hours. Although this was just one meal, and that can feel pretty insignificant in all of this, we're hopeful that we gave people a respite. We believe in the power of food bringing people together, and I hope that in some small measure we were able to contribute to that.

We're still figuring out our next steps - we did raise more money than we expected and have enough to go out another day. But we're such a small operation right now (me and Wayne with some help from Catherine Piccoli and Carlos Paulino) that it's a challenge to produce the food while still keeping our prior business commitments. In addition, gas is still in short supply here in Brooklyn so just getting around to pick up supplies is, well, interesting. We'll keep you updated over the next few days about what we're going to do, and we greatly appreciate everyone's support.

And of course we wanted to thank the following people for making the past week possible:

and all of our donors!

Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser

2012-11-02T14:35:06Z

UPDATE FROM AARON, 3:45 PM:

Thank you! We have more than doubled our goal to send Lonestar Taco out to give away free tacos, so they will definitely be going out Sunday, and pending logistics, they may go for a second day, too. The balance of the donations will be donated to funds providing immediate relief in NYC, and if you'd still like to support this effort, please consider donating to one of the pages below. Thank you again for supporting this!

After the past few days of being stuck inside listening to the radio, Wayne and I felt that we needed to do something. We decided that the best thing we could do is use our skills and help feed people, so yesterday we set up in front of New Amsterdam Market's offices. The seaport is devastated - I could see the water mark on the buildings and in some places it was above my head. Businesses and homes have been destroyed, people were very focused on cleaning up but they seemed exhausted and dazed. We were glad that we were able to give a bit of a respite from the horrible situation by providing some hot food. Aaron from @eatboston heard about us going out yesterday and asked how he could help support this. We decided raising money to go out again was the best option. See his note to the Boston food community below.

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I was relieved on Monday when Boston was relatively unscathed by Hurricane Sandy, but that relief was tempered Monday evening when reports started coming out of the destruction in New York City. Things are going to be hard there for weeks and months. I've been heartened by stories of people stepping up and helping their neighbors and strangers, offering something as simple as a plug to charge a cell phone. On Thursday morning, I saw that some friends of friends, Lonestar Taco from NYC were headed out to make tacos for people in lower Manhattan, an area especially hard hit by Sandy. They've got a stall at the New Amsterdam Market and wanted to help in their neighborhood. It seemed extremely generous of them, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Later in the afternoon, I wondered if the Boston food community could do something to help Lone Star feed more people. A few hours later, I was talking to Tracie from Lonestar on the phone and asking if they'd be willing to go out again if Boston could pay for it. And here we are, so Boston food lovers, it is time to step up. (Actually, you don't have to be from Boston or love food, your generosity is appreciated still.)

It will cost Lonestar about $525 to set up for the day and give out free tacos again. That's what we're going to raise.
If we don't get to $525, the money will be donated to the Red Cross.
If we get more than $525, the money will be donated to the Red Cross (or Lonestar will go out another day).

Right now, the plan is for Lonestar to go out on Sunday, but a few things need to fall into place for that to work (like us raising the money).

That's it. Let's get some people fed. Kick in a couple bucks, and let's do this together.
- Aaron @eatboston

Clear Eyes, Full Bellies, Can't Lose

2012-09-26T15:00:00Z

This summer was a whirlwind for us. In a good way. Bootstrapping a business with hard work, blood sweat and tears, and minimal capital, as many have said before and we'll say again, is not for those faint of heart. You will be pushed to your limits and find yourself reaching beyond those.

The year in its entirety has been a rollercoaster of a ride. We've almost signed on to leases a few times, and at first they all seemed right. Then as we delved into the realities of the relationships, location and costs, the downside of each situation presented itself.

We reached a point in June when we thought to ourselves, shit, this may never happen. Luckily, we have a phenomenal friend and peer network that has mentored and supported us from the beginning. If you are new to entrepreneurship or are thinking of it for your future, you cannot do this without your friends, family, peer and mentor support. You'll meet folks everyday. Many will help you beyond belief. Some will make what seem like small suggestions that will open up opportunity when all hope was lost.

Our good friend Peter Endriss of Runner & Stone was just such a person. He reached out to us when he heard that New Amsterdam Market was thinking of expanding their food vendor offerings but wanted to focus on folks that were serious and passionate about feature local produce and purveyors. We're serious about those things, so we figured, as my Chef friend James Vellano always says, 'Why not?". That was the last week of June. Our first market day was July 1st.

One would think that we haven't had a moment to look back or reflect. We haven't written much to let you think we do. But we are always looking back, which helps us look forward with clear eyes, a level head and a open mind. Folks are always making suggestions and we're listening.

Doing the market once a week has been the high point in our week, every week. It is truly a delight to serve all you wonderful folks and it's an exciting place to do so. It has also been a great way to test new ideas, build up our staff, put on a show, and put real numbers to our planning of the past year.

We're rooting for Robert LaValva and the folks at New Amsterdam Market and hope through all of our combined efforts we can help secure a permanent space for a European style market to be permanently housed in Lower Manhattan. We hope to be a part of future fundraising opportunities as we grow and become long-term supporters of their work.

Mixel by David Jacobs

A first Pop-up: Lonestar Taco & Collaboration with Fany Gerson & La Newyorkina

A little over forty souls and supporters were around before Labor Day and came by to enjoy our first foray into casual fine Tex-Mex. And by Tex-Mex, I mean a Texan and a Mexican making food. A lot of folks around here cringe at that phrase Tex-Mex. What does it mean? It often brings to mind HUGE piles of dry refried beans and yellow cheese filled enchiladas.

Ed Levine of Serious Eats stopped by our stand at New Amsterdam Market one morning and he gave us a lil' jab about our name and Tex-Mex. He said he wasn't sure that our name was good enough for what we did and that Tex-Mex might have too many bad connotations, or at least that is what I took from what he said. He seemed to enjoy the tacos though.

When we met Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina through looking at a potential location, we knew we wanted to somehow work with her and feature her delicious treats. When we found out that our booths were next to each other at New Amsterdam Market, we said 'let's do this!'. So we came up with the idea of a six course meal where we could intersperse our savory courses with her sweets. It'd give us a chance to stretch our creativity a bit with a different mode of service.

When we sat down to create the menu for the pop up, we wanted to blend seasonal fare, featuring some of our local favorite farmers and producers, with our own take on traditional conceptions of Tex Mex. We also wanted to balance my experience with contemporary cooking techniques and some traditional ways of mexican cooking.

We asked Fany to open the meal with an agua fresca, her pick. She made a delightfully refreshing one from Chia seeds, lime juice, water and a little sugar. We also wanted to feature some of the other fine vendors from New Amsterdam Market, so for our first course, we used fresh fluke from Gabe the Fish Babe out of Rhode Island. We sliced it thin and drizzled it with fresh lime juice and a chili oil made from chile de arbol dried chilis.

We recently heard about Gudelio Garcia's Kickstarter campaign via our friend and supporter Erica Dorn of Accion USA, so we knew we'd be checking in with him about the vegetables. For our second course, it being August, we knew that tomatoes and peppers would be abundant this time of year so we bought up all we could from Gudelio. We made a clarified gazpacho, drizzled with a bit of basil oil, a few micro basil leaves from Two Guys from Woodbridge (Union Square Greenmarket regulars) and a few slices of Pimiento chilis and baby bells in suspension for crunch and color.

Photo Courtesy of Clay Williams

As we've learned from many of our chef friends and mentors, a lot of time it's the little things that people really love. One of the things I love from Texas is the standard and ubiquitous nacho. Sure, it was created in a hotel in Mexico for gringos, but with the right ingredients and proportions, it is just lovely. Every guest received three nachos - a sharp Millport Dairy (another Union Square Greenmarket regular) cheddar with pickled jalapeños, a lamb fajita, and an heirloom tomato.

We followed the nachos with a palette-opening garden salad of delicate sorrel, bull's blood beet greens, and shaved baby summer squash. We tossed that with Fany's spicy candied pepitas and dressed it with our house vinaigrette, a blend of cilantro, greek yogurt, garlic and lime juice.

For the entrees we wanted a good balance of tradition, technique and plays on old standbys. So we came up with three options: a chile relleno that would make a filling and playful option for vegetarians, 'something with lamb', and a special rendering of the simple lemon roasted chicken that we had on our honeymoon in Mexico nearly six years ago.

With the relleno, we wanted to marry a fairly traditional presentation with some non-traditional technique and ingredients to elevate the flavors. Our friend Ricardo Prado, an up and coming young chef, stepped up to create a tasty emulsified filling from dried anchos, grilled nopales and Millport Dairy's sharp cheddar that we love so much.

We knew we wanted a whole beast element to the meal, not because it's "in" or whatnot but because it makes sense from an economic perspective. And we wanted to leave pork off the menu to open it up for folks who can't eat pork. So, we called up a farmer collaborative in Vermont and placed an order for a whole lamb. It arrived two days before the event and it looked like this.

We served it two ways on the entree - seared medium rare loin and tenderloin and braised shoulder - and it was the lamb on the nacho in the earlier course. Everything else would be used for our weekly taco stand at New Amsterdam Market as 'Six Point Righteous Ale Beer Braised Lamb'.

Nick Westervelt, of Clawhammer Farm, raises some of the tastiest Cornish Cross birds we know, and while they usually served up as our Chipotlé Chicken or whose eggs fill our breakfast tacos, we wanted to create a dish that would delight those used to the humdrum leg, thigh and breast. Most people forget that chicken is one of the most often 'whole beasts' prepared. And when our chicken roulade, filled with Wild Gourmet Food's foraged chanterelle, yellowfoot chanterelle and lobster mushrooms, hit the table, some of our guests were a bit miffed at our vague description of 'Roasted Chicken'. We promise, we'll do better to highlight the specialness of the preparation next time.

Photo Courtesy of Clay Williams

Fany Gerson found moments throughout the meal to surprise folks with "Alegria", a puffed Amaranth and chocolate candy; a lovely cactus pear sorbet; dulce de leche cake; and a parting brightly wrapped marzipan candy.

In sum, we think we nailed the service and food at the popup. We saw a lot of clean plates and all the folks I spoke with post-dinner seemed well sated. For us, it was an opportunity to prove to ourselves, doubters and our friends, that we can do it and will do it. Of course, many were friends, and one often wonders if they are maybe holding back on honest criticism or laying it on a bit thick with the nice reviews. One of our friends and supporters suggested we open a fine dining version of Lonestar; well, maybe, but not yet.

And of course the popup would not have been possible without the experience and dedication of some of the finest folks I've worked with, as we assembled a team mostly from folks I'd had a hand in hiring and training at other restaurants. In the kitchen on Garde Manger was Ruth Cimarolli of Maison Privé, on Saucier was Xavier James of Fedora, and Carlito Paulino (our New Amsterdam Market grill man) was back in his old steward position keeping us up on clean plates and cookware. Our front of the house was led by Angie Randazzo and Jean Adamoski of Bouchon Bakery and Tracie Lee of Lonestar Taco.

Thanks to striking a bartering deal with Clay Williams, our neighbor, friend and a damn good photographer, of photos for food, we have some delightful images to share from that evening.

Clients - Lonestar Taco - Images by clay williams