Chef Juan Rodriguez spent many childhood hours cooking tortillas with his grandmother in Monterrey, Mexico.
“My grandma made it look so easy,” Rodriguez says.“We made a lot of corn tortillas, but the hardest thing she made us do was the flour tortillas. You’d try to do what she was doing, and you’d just F it up,” he laughs. “They’d be fat, they wouldn’t blow up or inflate like they normally do … the flour tortillas I’ll never get.”
Somehow, we doubt that. Rodriguez has grilled, seared, and simmered at an impressive array of North Texas restaurants, including eight years as Reata’s executive chef. He and his wife, Paige, now run the catering business/pop-up supper club Magdalena’s (named for his tortilla-ninja grandmother), and the couple has two little boys, ages 5 years and 9 months. They’re also opening an intimate new Spanish/Mexican restaurant in “early fall, maybe September” called La Coqueta, with small plates and paella as its signature dish.
But first, Rodriguez will be co-captaining Noche del Soul, the opening extravaganza for this year’s Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival. His conspirator is celebrity chef Tiffany Derry, a Texas native who has come a long way since her first job at IHOP at age 15. Now the restaurateur behind Roots Southern Table in Farmers Branch and Roots Chicken Shak in Plano, Derry’s soulful cuisine has garnered national acclaim. Her warm personality pairs well with the affable Rodriguez, a beloved Fort Worth chef with an easy way about him. “Just being around Tiffany Derry is fun,” he says. “We got on the phone a couple of weeks ago, and it’s like we’ve known each other forever…I think she’ll bring a really good vibe to the dinner.”
Taking place at the Fort Worth Club on March 30, the sit-down meal will feature three appetizers and four savory courses, plus wine, cocktails and a dessert by the venue’s pastry chef Rocio Urbina. Rodriguez and Derry will handle the rest, taking turns with each dish. While the full menu is still being nailed down, diners will start with persimmon carpaccio: an artistic swirl with pears, goat cheese, candied pecans, Texas olive oil, and tarragon. Rodriguez plans on making jamón serrano croquettes, a teaser of the tapas to be served at La Coqueta. And you can count on Derry serving her famous fried shrimp and grits — arancini-inspired balls of jalapeño-cheese grits and diced shrimp that are battered, fried, and to-die-for delicious.
But Noche del Soul will go beyond Mexican and Southern cuisine to bring in unconventional flavors from around the world, like tamarind short rib with yucca and hamachi crudo with yuzu lime, fennel pollen, and kiwi pico de gallo. “It’s really showcasing ingredients and sauces that not a lot of people use,” explains Rodriguez. “Come open-minded.”
He’s most excited about cooking his mole blanco with mushrooms. “Mole blanco is a traditional sauce you rarely see. It’s unexpected.” Hailing from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, mole blanco is made with lightly toasted nuts; Juan likes a combination of Marcona almonds, sesame seeds, Brazil nuts, and peanuts — plus a touch of white chocolate. “It will have some sweet notes to it, but the mushroom is going to be slightly spicy.” He plans to grill oyster mushrooms, chanterelles and lion’s mane mushrooms with sherry vinegar. “Trust me, the mushroom is going to be nice and steaky.” Toasted pine nuts and cotija cheese will top off the dish.
Yucatan cuisine will shine again in Rodriguez’s pork carnitas tacos, which he’ll serve with sikil pak — a “super traditional” Mayan sauce made with pepitas (pumpkin seeds). For the carnitas, however, he’s drawing on his personal background as a chef, which started so many years ago in his grandmother’s kitchen. “I’m doing like I’ve always learned to do, and that’s using Coca-Cola, a little bit of condensed milk, a little bit of cinnamon, and some OJ.” The succulent pork will be wrapped in homemade tortillas — but will they be flour or corn? “This go-round, I’m going to do corn,” laughs Rodriguez. Corn or flour, perfect or not — no doubt Grandma would be proud.
Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival takes place March 30 through April 2 at various venues. Tickets for Noche del Soul ($195) and other events ($55-$199) are available at fortworthfoodandwinefestival.com.
