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Two years ago, in his first interview with BenitoLink about his El Guapo Kitchen food truck, Chef Alejandro Ceja talked about changing his menu four times, trying to understand the local tastes in food, dropping dishes like his bao buns and ingredients like black garlic after being told that items like those were “too exotic.”
Today, smoked pork belly buns and al pastor laced with black garlic are back on the menu, and Ceja is pushing the boundaries even further with items like his El Grasshopper Taco, served with smashed avocado, corn pico and cilantro lime aioli.
Perhaps San Benito County is catching up with Ceja’s tastes…
“My menus came from what I was taught in my travels,” Ceja said. “I learned from different cultures with different flavors. But there was a difference between what people wanted and what I offered. So I had to step back, bite my tongue, and cater towards my customers.”
Relying on more approachable foods, like his extraordinary el pastor, chicken or carne asada tacos, or his salsa fries made with three kinds of cheese, salsa verde and carne asada, Ceja steadily built the trust of his customers.
“It was kind of a food culture shock to me,” he said. “People were just familiar with the local taquerias. It was super interesting to me—I felt, ‘My food is really good, why is nobody trying it?’ But I started getting recommendations right and left, and business started booming.”
With the increased support from growing ranks of regular customers, Ceja felt he could start reintroducing some of the more exotic elements of his culinary palette.
“As more people try my food,” he said, “they see I am not just a regular food truck. I don’t specialize in just one item. It’s a two-edged sword, so I must teach my customers that my truck offers restaurant-style quality food, not just traditional tacos.”
Another factor that helped was the growing acceptance of food trucks in the local scene. The cities of Hollister and San Juan Bautista now welcome them, and customers seek out their favorites at food truck-heavy events like the Farmers Market. It is also a plus that the food truck owners have always been supportive of each other.
“It is a community,” Ceja said. “We are in communication with each other, like, ‘There’s an event coming up—do you want to join?’ Or if I suddenly need something like napkins, we help each other out. And it is pretty fun trading food with each other. There’s no egos.”
Ceja said he relied on that sense of community when he first started and sought advice and assistance from several food truck owners.
“Cafe Con Leche helped me out a lot and got my truck up and running,” he said. “Others have helped me when I had issues with my equipment. I love it when people extend a hand to help. And I am happy that I can finally pay it back when people reach out to me.”
While acknowledging that food trucks have taken a bite out of brick-and-mortar restaurant sales, Ceja said that there should be room for everyone in a town the size of Hollister.
“You could have a coffee shop right next to a Starbucks,” he said. “It depends on the quality of service—if your food is good, people come to you. And if restaurants are upset with us, they might start thinking outside the box and work to get the customers they want.”
Ceja is successful enough now to easily take on some of the larger venues, which he says can be chaotic and stressful, occasionally making him want to reevaluate his life choices. However, once he is on-site, all of his anxieties disappear.
“I love what I do,” he said. “I love meeting the customers and watching them eat my food. And they smile, or when they come back and give us a compliment, that’s what I love—that they are enjoying my food and maybe trying something new.”
Select items from the El Guapo Kitchen Menu:
Blackened Salmon Rice Bowl: Blackened salmon is served with sushi sticky rice, sauteed seasonal vegetables, cucumber salad and kale, highlighted with a kimchi-gochujang sauce. “I love gochujang,” Ceja said. “Think of it as a being like a spicy chamoy, and it goes super well with the kimchi sauce. It is perfectly balanced and one of our healthier items.” Ceja will happily substitute any of his proteins for the salmon: I switched the salmon for chicken, and garlic butter shrimp is another option. It can also be prepared as a strictly vegetarian dish by swapping more produce. The kimchi might sound a little daunting on the menu, but Ceja has held the flavoring down to just the essence, providing a nice sour and tangy taste to the sauce without overwhelming the dish. It particularly compliments the grilled vegetables and even makes the kale palatable. This makes for a very well-rounded—and filling—lunch and will make your doctor proud of you.
Beer-battered Fish Tacos – Battered wild cod, served with shredded cabbage and carrots, is topped with cilantro lime aioli and pico de gallo. “The fish tacos were an experiment I did last summer,” Ceja said. “They are super simple, but they have become super popular.” The dish comes with Tortilla Factory flour tortillas, but Ceja also stocks gluten-free corn tortillas. “I do get many people who want gluten-free,” Ceja said. “They really appreciate that we have them.” The batter is nicely light and crispy and is complemented by the fresh veggies. The fish has a fresh, sweet flavor and the aioli gives just the right touch of citrus and binds everything together. This was one of my favorites, an elegantly perfect finger food.
Smoked Pork Belly Bun – Ceja introduced these puffy buns at the Hollister Farmers Market last year. “This is a Taiwanese-Korean-style bun, like a little sandwich,” Ceja said. The pork belly is done French-style, so it is cooked for 14 hours and then smoked for two hours.” The bun is topped with kale and cucumber slaw and drizzled with Ceja’s kimchi-gochujang sauce, which cuts through the fat and gives the whole thing an Asian barbecue twist. They make for an enjoyable snack while wandering the Farmers’ Market.
Spam Musubi Bowl – “This reminds me of when I was in college,” Ceja said. “I used to make it in the dorm and sell it for five bucks to make a little quick money.” The sliced spam comes with sticky rice and a sunny-side-up egg and is topped with “spam sauce” and sriracha. I am not sure if I have had spam since my time in the Boy Scouts decades ago, but I guarantee that whatever way we prepared it back then—and I am pretty sure we just fried the hell out of it and doused it with ketchup—it was nothing compared to Ceja’s dish. The two sauces that Ceja uses to elevate the canned pork make it a filling and satisfying dish.
Al Pastor Negro Tacos – Similar style to the Yucatan style, this was one of the items Ceja tried offering when he first opened his truck. “This is very different than the traditional red pastor,” he said. “The difference is that we take the chilies we use for the pastor rojo, and we over-roast them without burning them. We end up with a maillard effect, which brings out the sugar in the chilies.” There is also some residual sweetness from the pork marinated in pineapple juice, giving the meat a citrusy edge. I have enjoyed Ceja’s red al pastor, rich with achiote, cinnamon, chilies, and garlic, and I loved this version, with a deeper, huskier taste balanced by the sweetness of the chilies. It is a hard call between the fish tacos and the al pastor negro tacos, but I think this is my must-try this time around.
El Grasshopper Tacos – “I brought this out as a joke for Halloween,” Ceja said, “and it kind of picked up. It got out of control, so I took it off the menu for a while, but now they are back.” About seven toasted grasshoppers come with each taco, and they are served with smashed avocado, roasted corn pico and cilantro-lime aioli. “I had one customer order four of them,” Ceja said. “He was on this third one, and he noticed one of the legs sticking up. He came over and said, ‘I wasn’t expecting real grasshoppers, but I love them. Can I order some more?’ It’s a fun dish for me to make.” How do they taste? Kind readers, gracious readers, I leave that bold adventure to you.
El Guapo Kitchen is at the Hollister Farmers’ Market every Wednesday. Scheduled events are also posted to Instagram and Facebook. Ceja can be reached by email at elguapokitchen@gmail.com or by phone at 831-524-1142.
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping to expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and give our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
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