Food For Thought - Mexican Roots - David Solorzano
Penca
Chef David Solorzano for Fat Tucson
We all know downtown Tucson harbors a myriad of restaurants with a variety of different cuisines, anything and everything that your heart and stomach desires on any given day. But today I am focusing my lens on Penca. Being of Mexican heritage myself, I have to give kudos to Chef David Solorzano for bringing the menu back to life with his personal touch and showing our community what the flavors of upscale Central Mexican cuisine are. It was my pleasure meeting him and finding common ground on our connection to our roots and getting to talk about the changes he’s done while being Executive Chef at Penca. Here’s how our conversation went:
Tell me a little bit about yourself
“I moved to Tucson back in ‘05 from the valley. Before that I went to high school in Patagonia and before that I bounced around between Nogales Sonora, Central Mexico, and I lived in Alaska for a bit when I was very young. My focus in high school was going to be to go to art school, but once I went to my uncle's restaurant in Green Valley, it was the first time that I had food make me feel a certain way and that’s what changed my perspective from going to art school to going to culinary school at Scottsdale Culinary.”
Where did you work before Penca? What was your career like in Tucson?
“Right before here I worked at the casino for a year. Chef Clark asked me to go over and help him out with one of the outlets for a year. Before that I was the chef at Lodge on the Desert. Before that with the chef de cuisine at Hacienda del Sol. Right before that I did a stint at a Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails. And before that I had a food truck for about 1 year/ year and half called Animal Farm. Lastly, I was one of the lead cooks at Miraval.”
Is there anything special or anything that you learned along the way in your career that led you where you are now?
“To not think that I know at all. There's always multiple ways of doing one thing. Always just absorb as much as you can. Be humble. I hate egos in the kitchen. That stereotype with chefs exists and I don’t want to be in that category.”
What made you come over to Penca?
“I was consulting for Patricia at the time, the owner. So when I was at the Casino, towards my first year end mark I didn't really quite see anywhere else that I could possibly go in Tucson. I kind of overlooked Penca, and plus Penca wasn’t really looking for a chef. I felt like I worked in the better places in town, so I was actually gonna move out of Tucson. I felt like my career just was at the end of it here, so I was going to move to Guadalajara. But then some things fell through over there, so I just decided to halt that and stay here and give it a shot. I didn't really have anywhere else that I was going to go to. I was probably just gonna stay at the casino for a bit longer. But since I was consulting for Patricia, she asked me if I would be interested to come on board and be the chef here. And just traveling down in Mexico the majority of this year I felt a real connection with my roots. So I just took it as a challenge to come here. This is gonna sound a little cocky, but I thought it was a little bit more challenging than it actually was just cause I hadn't worked in Mexican restaurant before. Most of my background is Italian and French and Spanish, some Japanese, new American, and fine dining, so coming here, I thought it was gonna be a little more of a challenge but I felt that a lot of it came fairly simple to me and I felt like something that I was chasing in my heart, in my career I was able to discover it here. I always wanted to have a connection with all the other cuisines that I was making and when I started working here and I started traveling down to Mexico more is the first time that I found that connection that I was striving for my whole career and that ownership of other cuisine that I'm making.”
How have you made adjustments to the menu here? When you came in, what did you do? What did you change?
“When I first got here there were definitely staples that I believe had to stay on the menu. Like the pozole blanco had to stay on the menu. The table salsa that we have is pretty amazing so I didn't even touch that. And the nopales I know we’re one of the few people that have them in town so I wanted to keep that. The ceviche I altered, but a lot of people really love it. Everything else I scratched. Before it used to be Mexico City cuisine, now it’s Central Mexico cuisine. I didn't want to pigeonhole myself to just one city. I really wanted the whole center, especially since the cuisine varies so much down there. I have a lot more vegetables on the menu, there is a lot more seasoning going on now and there's a little bit more heat on the menu as well.”
Why should people care about Penca?
“Because I feel like Mexican food in general is as good or better than a lot of other food. A lot of the other cuisines have had the respect of the majority of people for a long time, but Mexican food doesn't get that because it's usually seen as something inexpensive and not upscale enough where it definitely is. I know that I'm probably a little bias, but I do just feel like Mexican food and Indonesian food, I believe are the best cuisines in the world. And I believe they are the two only ones that don't get that much respect or recognition. Penca specifically is focused on central Mexico cuisine, compared to a lot of people that just make Sonoran food and is the type of food that not a lot of people know and are not familiar with. We have ingredients that not a lot of people have. Like Chilhuacle Chile for example, I believe we're the only ones in Tucson that has those chiles, maybe Arizona as well, just because they only grow in this very specific region of Mexico. So I feel like Penca is important in that regard because we're showing or trying to show people what real Mexican food is and can be.”
What kind of dining experience can your customers expect to have here?
“The overall feel and dining experience at Penca is convivial and warm. I want it to feel like Patricia's mother's house or my grandmother's house and that feeling that we had growing up and eating at their homes. I want people to experience that coming here. From the dim lighting at night and the music that we play it's a little bit more older world Mexico.”
Who are your mentors?
“My uncle is definitely a big part of why I'm doing this. His name is Juan and has a restaurant in Green Valley. Mentor wise I would say Bruce Yim from Hacienda would probably be it. He's the first one that actually gave me my first sous chef position and the one that promoted me to chef de cuisine at Hacienda and he's the one that gave me the freedom to be able to play with food and to discover my own style rather than just falling under his category all the time. He was insanely supportive about that. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. “
What do you do to better yourself as a chef?
“I study a lot. I try to travel as much as possible. I don't like it when people just name drop and then just say things that they saw on a show it's just an easy cop out. So I like to talk to the locals. It's very important for me to source those people out and those chefs out. Like the lady that I get my chiles from down in Oaxaca, she’s in a slightly smaller market at the edge of town. It's really important for me not to just go to whoever's at the top of the moment and then just talk about them. I always like to have a whole scope of it. Nothing wrong with those people at the top, they got there for a reason and I'm not discrediting them, but I feel like when people do that, then they start discrediting other people that probably should be the limelight a little more than they are and they don't get that chance to because they're in the shadows of these other great chefs.”
Is there anything else you’d like anyone reading this to know?
“Just to invite people here and hopefully they fall in love with Mexico the way that I did.”
Chef David prepared his “Pulpo” - braised and grilled octopus, habanero salsa, avocado, radish, herb de conejo black beans, pea tendrils, and Spanish chorizo. His inspiration for this dish was his love for octopus and his play on flavors with the inclusion of Oaxacan vibes. The pictures below depict his step by step process to making this dish and the final product. I personally recommend you trying this dish the next time you visit Penca. If finer dining is your thing and you are willing to venture out and try new things and new concepts, and by that I mean experiencing Mexican food for what it really is other than tacos and burritos, you will appreciate the rich flavors of every ingredient bursting in every bite and the pure authentic flavor of upscale Mexican cuisine at Penca.
Don’t miss out on “Noches de Penca” dinner series happening on September 23rd. Enjoy a 5 course meal for $60 prepared by Chef David Solorzano. Reservations required. Menu below. For more information go to www.pencarestaurante.com
