-Sometimes I'm working and I'm like, "Damn." That piece right there, it's so good, and I'll just make a taco real quick and I put everything on it, the salsa, and I'm just like, "Oh, man, I'm home." Like, this is -- this is it. ♪♪ ♪♪ My name's Miguel Escobedo, a.k.
a. D.J. Mister E. I own Al Pastor Papi.
Start with a taco al pastor. Just get one. Go on the corner, knock yourself out, and then get back in line so you can get the tacos. ..
.which is the same taco, but we've melted some cheese on that bad boy. Burritos. I'll do a torta. You know.
I love tortas. And that's it. That's it. You know, that's a lot. It's actually a lot to have on a truck.
Anna, bam, bam, bam. Anna! All right, girl, you're all set. -Thank you. -Thank you.
The pastor is a food that was brought from Lebanon to Mexico. And we turned it into pork because that's what we do.
Since I was little, I ate tacos al pastor growing up in Mexico City, and it's just my favorite food. It's delicious. But it's also a show.
You know, there's a show to it. I always think of it now, like almost like Mexican Benihana, you know, because there's a guy and he's working with a knife, and you're entertained. Nothing can compare to it. So that's what Al Pastor Papi is.
It's me trying to bring Mexico City to San Francisco.
So the adobo beef, we do the pineapple as the base for us, mainly to add height. We're trying to make a trompo, which is a top. And so you want to achieve that exact shape when you make the trompo. And so you have to be picky about the size -- what's next, you know, and the layering starts with the cutting. In the Bay Area, it's almost never crumbled.
What makes Al Pastor Papi's al pastor different than any al pastor in San Francisco is that it's real al pastor, you know, and it's a real trompo that's been marinated for a couple of days, built and made that day for you.
The beauty of it is that it's the recipe that I got from Mexico City. It's super dope. It's the sexiest food, man. To see the color, And then once we start firing it up, it's just an amazing feeling.
It's got so much history and tradition beyond our borders, you know? So I was born and raised in Mexico City. My dad -- just a great cook.
He's the master of the salsas, and I don't mean dancing. My dad was involved with my uncle's restaurant before we came here, at the restaurant.
.. And the first job was busing tables at...
I fell in love with San Francisco the first time I saw it, the first time I was here. So when I was 14 years old, I told myself, I want to live in San Francisco, have a restaurant in San Francisco, and deejay in San Francisco. That is my goal in life. And when I was 25, I started deejaying in San Francisco. When I was 26, I owned a restaurant in San Francisco, and when I was 27, I lived in San Francisco You got to watch what you put out in the universe because it might happen.
The opportunity arose with my brother had seen a spot. What came out was Papalote, which was Mexican food. But then I kind of 20 years later, I was like, I should just, you know, coast and autopilot.
I'm good, but I'm missing something. And at that point, my brother kind of wanted to take the whole thing this way, and I wanted to kind of do it more this way.
We parted ways. Ending my 20-year run at Papalote and starting something from scratch was the stupidest thing I've ever done. And then the best thing that I had to do. Now my inspiration and my motivation are Al Pastor Papi. So everything in the menu revolved around this.
If I'm silent, it's because I'm overwhelmed with how we're doing great. So we're going to do the main event of our menu, which is the tacos al pastor.
The way that you should try to cut the trompo -- parallel to the meat in one straight line down.
Onions, cilantro, and then all the al pastor has a piña. So that's it.
That's the basis of it. This is what it all revolves around. I owe it to myself to really learn as much as I can just personally about my favorite food. I looked for al pastor, courses at the Instituto Gastronomía, Mexico, and they had a one-day intensive on al pastor. And I was giddy, man.
The thing that was amazing about it is not only that I learned how, but the thing that I love that I learned is why. And I never asked that question. I was just looking for how, and why is because it's a preservative -- heavy on the vinegar, heavy on the salt.
Here's some of the marinade now. And we're going to make another batch.
Just a very little salt. OK, very little, look. -[ Laughs ] -That's it -- very little. These two have probably been marinating since..
. This one, the most, like three days. This one, probably two days. It reassured me of -- of where I'm going and who I was. This is it.
This is the real deal. And I'm not going to do anything to it. I'm going to give you Mexico City al pastor. I booked another flight to Mexico City. To me, the street game is almost more important than the school game.
And so I got both. I went back there. I met the guys at Los...
Taqueria. They were happy to take me in and teach me what they do. So I shadowed them for a couple of days and I saw the guy build the trompo. And so I learned the street game and I saw the guys and I saw why they cut it the way they cut it.
And then I started Al Pastor Papi.
Yeah. So on a typical day, man, of Al Pastor Papi, I get up around 6:00. So today's Saturday. Right now, thank God I have this thing. It's a definite advantage to be able to move around, to go to the people and create opportunities, but most of the things that we're going to need for the day.
Then I go to the yard, pick up the truck, and load it in. I just want it to be almost burnt a little bit on the tips. That way, when they cut it, it's going to cut a lot easier than if it's like cold, raw, you know. So everything's good to go. We just prepped a little -- all for today, a little bit for tomorrow.
We're about to ride out to Speakeasy, which is luckily like three minutes away. Should have a good time today. Should be a good gig. And I'm still nervous.
I won't get my hopes up until I see the sound system.
If the guys with the sound come and everything works out, I'm deejaying. If not, D.J. Bluetooth. ♪♪ All right, so I'm making the torta.
The torta, we've pretty much assembled with the kind of like the shavings and scraps of this crumble, and we have them chilling over here, and then we get the cheese. The texture I want to go for on the bread is an In-N-Out burger. And the bread is soft but fine -- fine -- firmly grilled on the inside, like almost a crunch, and so...
On the bottom part, that's what I want to get. We let that chill for a while. Cheese has melted, the bottom's crispy, so we go ahead and throw that in there, and you can see that crispy kind of shield right there that you're going to get -- bite into. And it's got the pineapple that's seared. Throw some whole beans because we can.
And then... the Mexico City part, which is the onion, cilantro, and that gives it like the taco feel. We use our salsa verde, and that's going to give it just enough kick without making it spicy or taking away from that pastor.
Crema, because that's just a must-have in a torta. Got to have your crema. And then we got some jalapeños, and we just put a little bit of that, too. Those are the must-have components of a torta -- the crema, I think, and the aguacate. It's got to be there.
Boom. We're going to wrap it up right here. I'm going to tie it up nicely, almost as tight as a burrito, but not quite because you don't want to -- You wouldn't want to mess it up.
That's it. You can eat it.
You can rub it all over your body, whatever you want to do to it. That's how it goes. Hey, Kevin, my cousin. What's up, Primo? What are you, landing airplanes today?
-Yeah, man. -Nice! [ Laughs ] -[ Speaking indistinctly ] You should have. That shit would have been -- that would have been exciting. [ Laughs ] People stop me on the street sometimes, like, "Dude, you've been doing it for the community forever.
And we follow you. We support you. You inspire us. Dude, you beat Bobby Flay in the Mission with burritos." Like, Aáron Sánchez took a bite of a burrito I created.
And he's like, "You are the Mexican messiah.
You have set the Mission free." I was like, "Goddamn!" Do you know? But as proud as I am of beating Bobby Flay and getting these awards, I'm proud that I was able to provide.
.. 700 meals in May to feed people in need because of COVID in the Mission. And we got involved with World Central Kitchen. There were big fires this whole summer, and a lot of the farmworkers, what they do is they'll farm all the way up till November, and then they'll save that money until the next season, which is in February.
But this year, what didn't burn down got ruined. So they lost all their income. You know, and a lot of these folks are undocumented, so they don't get any federal help or anything.
So there are all these organizations trying to help out. It's a great feeling, you know, 'cause when you're in a bad situation and you don't know where your next meal is coming from, to see the big pink truck come up and shell out some tacos al pastor or burritos and horchata for free for you and your whole family.
It's nice to put a smile on people's faces, you know? There are people downstairs bringing me boxes of toilet paper that we called for so I can go tomorrow and drop them off. Basic needs, you know, that we take for granted. They don't have the resources right now. I feel like a restaurant owner and as a member of my community, it's -- it's my job -- it's all of our jobs to give back to the community.
♪♪ That's what I love about the truck I'm literally in the community. I'm driving through neighborhoods I never even went in ever, and now I work in Hunter's Point. I'm constantly in the Mission. I'm in North Beach, the truck's there, the truck's where I can be, you know, and so being grounded in the -- in the community, I can feel the community, you know. We're rolling down the street and feeding people and we're having a good time doing it.
I think when I open-- the first time I opened, just the fact that I did it, I felt like I made it, that I made it from a thought to a drawing to a concept, to "the truck's almost ready" to "the trompo is almost ready" to my first crumble. We survived the worst part of COVID.
We're still kicking ass. So we're making it, you know, and that's -- I made it, you know. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪.
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