Palo Santos invited me to host an after show with 3 bands being Baddo, Armadillo. and Kamikaze (you can find em on Instagram) for his 5th year anniversary pop up market featuring different vendors/organizations. I won't lie I almost said "no" to his request until I really thought about it. I thought how this could help me come out of my hiatus (it kinda did lol) and it led me to work with my friend Elijah once again to come out shoot some video, some video interviews that is! Here is the main video that you can also watch on YouTube and the folks I was able to speak to @nopalitos.us, @diegosfoodtruck)_,@tofu_squares_bench and @nervecoffee
I was able to complete 4 out the 7 planned interviews on my list!
I still have my eye on those other 3
Be sure to change the quality to 1080p HD :) in the settings, Enjoy!
These are also the full interviews transcribed starting with Nerve Coffee
Speaking to Joshua Lopez one of the founders of Nerve Coffee I ask
Starting off the shop in Brownsville to now having a second location in Mcallen? With the amount of time you’ve been operating, how has the expansion been?
"It's been different! The market between the Brownsville and Mcallen locations are completely different. It's also how we are located. In Brownsville we are by the expressway so its a quick in and out traffic. In Mcallen it's more of a intentional spot. You come in, chill, hang out with friends and then you jet. It's nice to have both for sure."
How was the concept/the idea behind Nerve Coffee brewed? What was the push to make this happen? "It kinda started during the pandemic. We worked in the mall before, me and my wife. During covid it kinda shut down and we didn't have an income come in. We were wondering like 'what are we going to do?.' I had some money saved up and a few of our friends allowed us to open up at a church. Started at a church for pop ups. We did that for 6 months. After those 6 months we finally found a building to jump into which is what we have in Brownsville. The name 'Nerve' came from all the nerves that came through the pandemic. When we hung out with our friends during the pandemic which we weren't supposed to and we would always say 'un cafecito pa los nervios.'"
I’m not a coffee drinker, but if you had a drink recommendation that would change me. What would it be? "Y'know coffee in general is a weird acquired taste. When you first come into it because the world is more into sweets, the sugars y'know pushing that. I think the most easiest drink to drink is a latte. You can have it either hot or cold. You can add any of our house mixers that we make in house. You can add our cream top if you want it a bit sweeter. Our most popular drink would have to be our iced dulce de leche latte."
Any final comments? "It's been a nice 6 months, seeing the same faces coming in and out. I think there's still more room to grow in Mcallen to expand our reach."
Speaking to Genesis Moreno the owner of Nopalitos in Mcallen. I have a question that’s on my mind, but what is the poem on the website? It’s the first thing you see. Does that correlate to Nopalitos? If so, how? "Man, its beautiful. Roman, Roman a dear friend of ours wrote it. We really based off the photo Brandon took. Our friend Brandon over at labyrinth. An amazing analog photographer. We went around the neighborhood. We love how historic downtown looks. When I showed it to Roman, I just loved how it resonated with me. I asked him to look at the photo and to write something that speaks loudly to you through the eyes of Nopalitos. For us being a wine shop that champions local projects, how do you feel you fit into this business. After I read it I don't know how to explain it, I just felt moved. Every time I read it, I just spoke loudly to me. After awhile we sat on it and I asked Roman if he was comfortable with us using it and posting it on our website. I felt like it really represents the shop and the community. He agreed. I'm glad that you resonated with that as well."
https://nopalito.us/ <---- To see the poem
With Nopalitos, what is it that you wish to provide to the community? "I think like inspiration, creative inspiration. I really feel that we do a really great job in just supporting peoples visions. When someone walks in with an idea, it inspires me to want to help. If anything, if there's one takeaway when you visit as a creative. We are here for you, to help you and bring that vision into a reality. Also including other creatives into the project to help support that. The more people that are involved the further things go. That's kinda what the entire basis of the shop is built on, to rediscover and change the landscapes around us.
Besides obvs drinking our beverage what would you say we should take away from it? When we buy a wine, a drink, a botanical. I ask because you always share and go into details on what is provided which is appreciated. "I think the main takeaway is to come in with a fresh perspective of vineyard first. Looking at the land and how we're treating the land. Wine is an agricultural product. For us to see wine that way. The way a tomato and a carrot are picked. There's thousands of producers out there that treat their land with such value, with such respect. These are just fermented grapes at the end of the day. For us, discovering the world of wine as one discovers the world of food."
With your experiences with drinks and food. Is there something about yourself that reflects onto nopalitos? "Absolutely, the wildness of the program reflects how I like to communicate. Sometimes I do find it difficult to put things into words, I like to put things into psychical form and present it to people. Have that speak the volumes of the words that I want to communicate. Our wine program speaks loudly on how passionate I am bringing these producers to light and sharing the amazing things they're doing in the country they're doing it.
Introducing Gloria Reyes an artist! First of all, I want to ask about your art work. What would be the correct art style of your work and how would you describe it? What does it allow you to express? "My work, mostly what I focus on is metal smithing and petite sculpture. I like to use small objects and make them wearable. Something that you can carry around with you like on the daily. Maybe it reminds you of something or y'know it changes the context of an object. I like to set stones I also like to make jewelry with toys, plastic pieces and different things like that. It is a compulsory thing, I have a compulsion to make so I need to be making with my hands all the time."
How does metal work help you express yourself? "I think there's something to be said about carrying an object. It is a form of sculpture, it's petite. We can make anything we want of that. Making mourning jewelry, wearing something where someone is represented in. It's also fashion, I never thought about it as fashion. Now when I make my work I think about how this is for my favorite rapper, my favorite drag queen, my favorite performer. I like to thing where my work is going to go."
In the video Glors shows and go over the process on one of her pieces from her booth.
Making fashion pieces, making pieces with artists in mind such as rappers and drag queens. How did you get here? What was your influence in the beginning?
"I always thought for awhile that I was going to be a portrait artist. I wanted to be a painter. There's really something cool about making work that can be run over by a car and it's gonna survive. One word I can use to describe my work would be 'heirloom' because its something you can give to someone and in a hundred years it can still be wearable."
When it comes to your metal work what's the part you enjoy the most? "My favorite thing is seeing people in the wild wearing with my work. Like if I'm at the coffee shop or if I'm at the bar and someone is wearing one of my pieces that's very exciting!"
For our final interview we have Diego Ramos, the owner of Diego's Food Truck
I remember y'all used to sell at the university market and I always like tasting and eating something new. Always looking forward to those markets, but it's been years since then. How has the journey been for you? "Y'know what? I wish I could send little inspirational messages through the universe back to Diego, Diego from back then that he's doing a super good job. To never stop creating ideas and do not stop thinking outside the box because that's what gotten us so far. Super proud started how we started, where we started. All the sweat, all the effort that lead us up to here. I'm super proud of that Diego. I'm glad you brought that up because I always think about that Diego. He was super courageous and willing to just go for it. No restraints!"
Speaking about how when Diego wasn't at the markets back in 2019 the feeling on how I had to settle for something different. Diego mentions "that's what happens when you taste Diego's. There's the normal then there's Diego version. It's always going to be weird, it's always going to be different and it's always going to be good. That's how we started and that's how we will continue to push our brand."
What is it that you wish to provide the community? Besides the food, is there a message to be said with your meals? "Yeah! Another cool thing about Diego's a lot of people come in and try something new. We get people who it's their first time trying bone marrow. We have a burger with heart, liver, kidney all mixed into the beef. It's our carnivore burger. A lot of people tell us 'I've never had organs' or 'I've never had a lobster rolls.' Everything we sell is A1.
Is there an importance of “farm to table”? "Yes, and it's not talked about enough. A lot um hmm we have a lot of meat and vegan plates. We hit a lot of those diets. The coolest thing about our beef. By supporting small farms, you kinda get to fight the meat industry in a way. We don't buy beef from the grocery store. You promote local beef products/consumption while still eating beef. Farm to table is not spoke enough, it's a way to look at beef. There is a stigma to eating beef, but by supporting small farms there is a change in the game. Small farms are changing the game so always support farm to table, anything."
Whenever I order from my experiences you always tend to explain the dish to me and show the ingredients. You always have something to say that leads me to ask, what it is about coming up with dishes that you enjoy the most? How much thought goes into these dishes? "Y'know 110% of it is passion driven. I don't have any recipes in my database. I've never taken a cooking class or gone to a culinary school. There was been the exception of the occasional cooking class abroad where they are teaching to do things. 100% of this is passion, passion, and love. As long as you know what your ingredients taste like and you're using solid, solid stuff, it'll always be good."
Is there anything about yourself personally that you can see reflect onto your dishes? "Dude, that is my favorite question. Everything that I serve has a story. Like the hibiscus-lemonade. The story behind that is from when I was a kid at every single mexican resturant I'd always ask for lemonde and hamiaca combined together never one of the other. Serving it at Diego's already mixed together so it's what I used to do, what I still do. It's a little bit of that in every dish. In both sides of my family, they are cattle people. So I feel a part of me is in every burger that I serve. It's a part of me, my family, my background and my roots. I'm super meant to do this. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I'm just over top ecstatic on what's to come in the future. I'm happy to be here."
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