When Texas-born chef Rocky Coronado moved to Detroit in 2017, they brought something new to our food scene with Rocky鈥檚 Road Brew 鈥 a Southwest Detroit coffee truck with vegan tacos 鈥 and, later, , another food truck and now soon-to-be brick-and-mortar.
The Nepantla menu features vegan Mexican food that focuses on Coronado鈥檚 Indigenous roots, earning them recognition as an emerging chef semifinalist at the 2024 James Beard Awards. In June, we spoke with the chef-owner about their plans to open their first brick-and-mortar sometime in 2025 at .
Congratulations on the James Beard recognition. Did it take you by surprise?
It totally did. I didn鈥檛 know I was even in consideration for it! A couple of chefs from around town tagged me in some posts, and I thought their accounts had been hacked and if I clicked on the link, my account would get hacked, too. I clicked on it, and it was for real.
The idea of vegan Mexican food is quite unique. What inspired this idea?
I started as a coffee truck in Austin, Texas, but I moved [to Detroit] with a partner and I no longer had a taco lady bring me tacos in the morning [to sell at my truck]. So I decided to do [my own] vegan tacos to hand out with coffee. I went vegan because I had high blood pressure and I was having heart problems. I saw a difference [in my health], so once I knew better, I had to do better.
Does this help you reconnect with your roots?
I was in the process of decolonization. Before the Spaniards brought over pigs and cows [to the American continents], a lot of vegetables were being eaten [by the Indigenous peoples], and I looked towards that and wanted to be healthier.
I鈥檓 also Buddhist 鈥 right livelihood [the principle of earning a living ethically] is one of the [religion鈥檚] eightfold paths.
Has the U.S. built up a wrong idea of what 鈥渢raditional鈥 Mexican food is?
Exactly! Being from Texas, I grew up on Tex-Mex, and there鈥檚 lots of cheese. 鈥 Every dish ends up tasting like the same thing. 鈥 In Mexico, it鈥檚 not like that.
How have things changed for you and Detroit鈥檚 food scene since you moved here?
I鈥檝e been more 鈥渋n the scene,鈥 and I鈥檝e been getting to know more food people. It鈥檚 incredible, and I鈥檓 impressed. The Mexican food could be more inventive, 鈥 but I guess if it鈥檚 not broken, then don鈥檛 fix it. A lot of the places serve the same stuff, just a little differently, and that鈥檚 good for me because we are trying to do really different things.
What will you do differently at your brick-and-mortar restaurant?
There are going to be totally different menu items. 鈥 I bought a building [in Southwest Detroit] and a lot next to it, which used to be a parking lot, but I don鈥檛 want to see a bunch of cars out here. So I bought a bunch of soil, and now I have a nice grassy area where I鈥檒l be putting in greenhouses [and growing] a lot of products from Mexico that I can鈥檛 get [in Detroit].
What else should we know?
I鈥檓 six years sober, so I want to create a safe space for sober adults at night. We will have vegan mocktails and elixirs. When I first had the idea in 2018, I was telling my brother and he said, 鈥淲ait, you鈥檙e not going to have meat or alcohol?鈥 Over the years, I鈥檝e been hearing lots of people are wanting that, so I鈥檓 not as scared as I was in 2018 and I鈥檓 actually really confident that it鈥檒l be something that people are into.
This story originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of 黑料网 Detroit magazine. To read more, pick up a copy of 黑料网 Detroit at a local retail outlet. Our will be available on Oct. 7.
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