Each story has a different time, a different perspective pending on who the person is telling the story and how the people reading it view it. This blog, to many is about a birthday party for a sweet young lady and a taco truck from an excellent family that is tied back to our community at Saint Nicholas.
Yes, there is a photo bomb from my oldest son Alexander. He was spinning around in his wheelchair and I didn't catch that he was in the picture until later. The set up is for JR Tacos. Raul Meza helps work at our church in Northridge, CA. He also runs a great taco truck and does parties at people's houses. This is not the first time this year that I've had the opportunity to eat his great food. They do it all. They show up with the food, cook it onsite, have the paper products for you to use and it is a great little set up. Contact information will be at the bottom of this blog in case you are ready to use him for a shin dig or party that you have going on soon.
To me, much of this story starts with that amazing father swimming with the birthday girl. George Eleftheriades and I met many years ago at summer camp in Greece. We were at Ionian Village together in the summer of 1994. We were inseparable out there. We shared a bunk, would sneak out of the cabin at night and go to the beach. We were able to sneak beer back to the camp and stay up too late while suffering the headache consequences the next morning. George and I took every adventure even hiding in other people's hotel rooms and running around the hotel when we were told we had to go to sleep. It was a great time in both of our lives. Sadly, summer ended, and so did our time at Ionian Village. George went back to Brooklyn, I came back to Los Angeles. It is hard when you are that young, awkward age to have a friend, grow so close and then it is like you will never see them again.
THESE PRETZELS ARE MAKING ME THIRSTY! If you don't get the reference, just ignore and keep on reading, I feel bad that you don't, we're about to go back to your regularly scheduled programming...George and I just understood each other. We were the same age, well, we still are, we had fun and similar struggles, challenges and shared a similar cultural background. We decided that we would keep in touch. Prior to the days of blogs and Facebook, we wrote letters and mailed them back and forth. We would very regularly for years write letters. I was lucky enough to go to NYC the next year, we got to hang out, it was great. We continued to write letters, got on the phone a few times, but as I said, there was no Facebook or Twitter or chat stuff that there is now, we lost touch. I will say that years later I tried finding him on Facebook, Google all those search engines. I really looked to see if I could find him when I was in New York so much. I would think back to the great friend and guy that he is. I'm fortunate to have many wonderful connections and people that have been in and are in my life, but I always do want more and hate losing one of the greats.
Now that you know some of the back story, you are probably wondering how I ended up at George's daughter's first birthday party 20 years later. About a month ago as I was at church enjoying the Divine Liturgy. A family walked in and began speaking to Dara, Mikey, Melissa and saying hi to the kids. I glanced over and continued to ignore people, like I do. As they kept talking, I looked back over and began staring at this guy. It became an uncomfortable glare. Dara and Melissa asked me what was wrong, but I was rendered speechless. He than walked around over to where I was holding his beautiful daughter and asked me my name. Before I could answer he was trapped in a bear hug that had to have been uncomfortable to anyone who was watching. His wife, Belinda, Dara and Melissa were all quite confused. After all this time, he had moved to Los Angeles and is living less than 10 miles from me. What a great thing to have each other back in our lives. It is great that after all these years, it is like no time has gone by, we have similar interests and will get to raise our children together.
That story is much of what I will remember of this party, but I know you Taco Enthusiasts want to know all about the adventure of the tacos and the party, I must give the people what they want!
What a great turnout of people excited to celebrate one year of life for such a sweet girl! A few beers, some great people and tacos really made this hot afternoon great. It was nice meeting so many people that shared the love for a great young lady with a wonderful family.
There is my sweet goddaughter Charlotte who made it to the party. The question is, is Sophie State sleeping on the job, or is it just creative timing on this Tacoteer's part? I will let you be the judge of what is going on here. As you can see, many of us are watching to make sure that Charlotte is in good hands. Was she dehydrated? Can't be, there was a ton of water going around to make sure everyone stayed good on this hot summer day. We don't know what the excuse for this is, but if you see her, feel free to ask her what was going on here.
Look at the sweet birthday girl and her mommy! They are trying to beat the heat and are getting ready to eat some amazing tacos. How can you not want tacos for a party? I mean, even at one year old Anastasia knows that tacos are the best thing for a party. How do you not know? Why are you not having a taco truck at your party? Maybe these ratings can help motivate you to do the right thing.
RATINGS:
BEANS: 3, refried beans, they can be pretty amazing, but these are pretty average, but I think exactly what you would expect for a party and a truck like this.
RICE: 3, good old Mexican Style rice. The Juggernaut ate the heck out of the rice. It was well flavored, not too salty, but brought some goodness to the meal.
SALSA VERDE: 2, this was the saddest part of the taco experience for me. It really was so mainstream that it did not excite me. It is probably good for the party scene, but I felt that it lacked the depth and flavor that is needed for a great salsa verde. Maybe some more cumin and citrus would have brought a smile to my face.
SALSA ROJO: 3, pretty standard goodness right here. I like it much spicier, but like I said, party salsa, the masses must eat it. It is good stuff, you will like it, layered flavors, nice smokiness.
POLLO: 4, that is amazing to me for a truck to get above a three. This was really tender, really flavorful, nice color to it, but not over seasoned. Cooked all the way through, but so darn juicy. Just enough chili powder and a hint of garlic really made this a surprise treat on a hot day.
ASADA: 3, exactly what you would, should expect. They did a nice job, it is textbook truck asada here my friends. You know what you are getting.
PASTOR: 4, would this get a 4 off a truck if I'm food trucking? No. Would it get it if in a restaurant? No. But for what this is, it was great. Nice hints of clove, aciote cooked to tender perfection. The texture was great on this one. I was surprising pleased. I will warn you that it was a little greasy, but that just made it better for all of us who enjoyed it!
Great spread here, yeah I got two pastors and two asadas to start! Well worth it. They let you go through the line, add some lime, cilantro, onions radish and salsa. Makes it a nice little choose your own adventure.
Here's a picture of a young Tacoteer in his natural habitat. He is carefully examining the tortilla and has a mixture of rice and pollo ready to be placed in before he skillfully attacks that taco. If you don't know who that is, it is my youngest son, Jason the Juggernaut. He is great and adventurous in eating as long as his big sister doesn't talk him out of it, which she commonly does! He went through a couple of tortillas, a little chicken, but a ton of rice!
What a great day and what a great adventure. It was wonderful getting to spend time with Anastasia and everyone excited to celebrate her birthday! Proud of this sweet one year old. Thank you to everyone for reading, telling people, re-tweeting, re-posting and indulging me as I go back in time with stories of childhood friendships that transform into the amazing relationships that they are today. I do encourage everyone to eat more tacos, you are missing out if you are not eating them regularly already! To find JR Tacos:
PHONE: (818) 730-9417
EMAIL: rmezatacos@gmail.com
Today's gratuitous photo is a photo of George and I from years ago at Ionian Village. I'll let you guess who is who, the only hint is that I did not have my beard with me then! Thanks for reading.
STAY EXCELLENT!!!
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