Are y’all hungry? I am. That’s because I’ve been stalking this month’s Featured Foodie on Instagram while writing this post, and y’all, I’m straight up drooling. If you’re not already familiar with The Castejóns (pronounced cast-uh-hones… I still have PTSD from when I mispronounced it the first time I met them), they’re a married couple–Rachel and Alfonso– who put on Spanish pop-ups around town. Their food is deeeelicious (seriously, try the paella if you haven’t already), and they’re super fun and sweet people IRL. So without further ado, let’s meet The Castejóns!
What inspired y’all to start your pop-ups & how do you determine the recipes / menus you prepare?
We started doing pop-ups because we knew we eventually wanted to own a restaurant, but we wanted to gauge the interest in Spanish food and get some experience running our own business before we jumped head-first in to a brick and mortar restaurant. There was also a strong pull to begin working for ourselves and control our own destiny in the culinary world. Our menus are decided according to what looks good when we do our weekly shopping, what we’ve been inspired by when we have meals with other people, and our culinary travels.
What are some of the best and worst things about working together and being married?
The best thing about working together (and for ourselves) is that we have the flexibility to change and adjust schedules according to our family life and what works best for both of us. When Alfonso was working in established restaurants around town there were a few rough years, mostly due to the fact that he was never home and I never saw him. Right before we decided to make the jump to (at the time, part-time) pop-ups he was working about 30 minutes away for around 55-60 hrs/week for someone else’s dream- it was a nightmare. He was always irritable because he had no life and I was irritable because I had no husband. Nothing a little therapy and a job change can’t fix! While he learned a lot from some of the places that he has worked, restaurant life isn’t always family-oriented. Now even if we are putting in an excessive amount of hours (which happens A LOT) we can do it together, so it doesn’t feel like we loose out on family time.
The worst thing about being married and working together is the excessive amount of hours we are together and talking about work- haha. It’s a double edged sword- there are a lot of time where we have to make a point to say, “We are not going to talk about anything that has to do with the business for the next however long.” We are each extremely invested in different aspects of what we do, so sometimes it’s hard to separate work and regular life because it all seems so wrapped up together. I imagine it like when new parents go on a date for the first time and have to make themselves talk about something other than the baby!
When you’re not cooking / working, what are some of your favorite spots to hang out?
I love Leon’s Oyster Shop and when we’re feeling a little “spendy” we’ll go there from time to time. But, honestly we hang out a lot at home or try to go away (even short distances) to get a different view of the world. We are also no strangers to our cheap neighborhood Mexican joint- combo #6 and a Dos Equis draft please!
What’s the coolest thing you’ve experienced in your foodie career?
Most definitely when people tell us they love what they just ate from us. Yes, external validation is “bad” and we’re supposed to know we’re all wonderful without anyone telling us and blah blah blah, but I like compliments, haha. Also when we see people who follow us around from brewery to brewery- we love that they know us and are interested in what we do. We love sharing Spanish food with people and showing them how different it is than what they may have thought.
What’s something that no one knows about working in a kitchen / in a pop-up environment like what you guys do?
Some people might figure, but what was shocking to me when we first got rolling is that the hours that we are actually open and serving food is such a small amount of time compared to the planning, prepping, and oh-my-god the loading and unloading before and after EVERY service.
What’s something that you’re really craving right now?
Right this second I could really go for a giant tex-mex salad with grilled anything on top and a side of truffle fries, you know, the basics haha. But, in general, a not-too-sweet cocktail and a tropical beach.
