Today we’d like to introduce you to Adriana Soto-Vazquez.
Adriana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Rellenas officially popped up as a food vendor at a local farmers market in September of 2019, but the idea of becoming an official business began two years prior. I started a plant-based diet and surprisingly, it came with such ease. My mother, Graciela who has been cooking familial dishes since she was seven years old, made the vegan transition seamless. She began veganizing dishes popular in Mexican cuisine, such as barbacoa tacos. By using hibiscus flowers marinated in traditional spices she was able to create a “meat” substitute and I just thought it was genius. Watching her experiment sparked a joy for cooking in me and we began recreating our family recipes.
When people start transitioning into a plant-based or vegan lifestyle, it can be hard to attend family cookouts and gatherings, because no one is super focused on changing the family recipe for “The Vegan.” People may feel like they must disconnect from their favorite childhood feasts, but that’s not the case. I think just like in nature, food starts to evolve and that is how I like to describe our dishes at Rellenas. Our food is just a product of the clash between tradition and “evolution”.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
One obstacle right now is letting go of teaching. I have served the Dallas community as an educator for six years now and I am extremely passionate about bringing life and equity into our schools. Managing the time between these two passions is a bit difficult, but I believe that with time I will be able to integrate both with much ease, the other obstacle, as is for many small businesses right now is COVID-19. Some of the ramifications of this virus prevent us from selling our tasty ready-to-eat plates to our customers. Our farmers market brings in a crowd, which is not aligned with the CDC and leadership recommendations of social distancing. Therefore, our access to our customers has been affected. Finances have also been affected, but we are doing our best to stay afloat.
Rellenas LLC – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We specialize in Mexican cuisine. Specifically, dishes that come from Durango, Mexico which is where my family and I are from. Durango is well known for their chili stews, fresh fruits and magueyes. The produce and vegetation in the region have greatly influenced the dishes we recreate. We are super proud of our chilaquiles, which are topped with a comforting sweet and spicy chili paste. That chili paste has been passed down by generations of cooks in our family. Our empanadas are also some heavy hitters. They are crispy fried pockets stuffed with seasoned veggies and vegan chorizo. For the most part, it is hard not to drool over them. Our salsas are super sought after; people always come back and ask for more. It’s funny, because our customers always say, “I’m from Texas. I can handle all the spice!”
One thing that may set us apart from others is that we try to bring dishes that aren’t mainstream. We stay away from serving tacos and nachos because they are very common. We want to show our customers that there is more to Mexican food.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I do not want to tie success solely to numbers, because we all know that being financially stable is important in business. We all want to be able to make a comfortable living doing what we love. Although, my greatest goal is for Rellenas to be a valued part of the community as a team who seeks to bring healthy, delicious and evolving traditional dishes that bring us all together.
Contact Info:
- Email: rellenasllc@gmail.com
- Instagram: _rellenas_
Image Credit:
Photographer- Adriana Soto-Vazquez (me)
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