{"id":26810,"date":"2021-10-21T17:00:15","date_gmt":"2021-10-22T00:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000022770"},"modified":"2021-10-25T11:40:49","modified_gmt":"2021-10-25T18:40:49","slug":"sidestreats-with-venues-shuttered-this-long-beach-musician-took-to-making-taste-buds-dance-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/sidestreats-with-venues-shuttered-this-long-beach-musician-took-to-making-taste-buds-dance-instead","title":{"rendered":"Side StrEATS: With venues shuttered, this Long Beach musician took to making taste buds dance instead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Side strEATS: With venues shuttered, this Long Beach musician took to making taste buds dance\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ye9Ovfgpjq8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/espanol\/2021\/10\/22\/con-fiestas-en-pausa-este-musico-de-long-beach-se-dedico-a-hacer-bailar-los-sabores\"><em>Lea esta historia en espa\u00f1ol<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sitting at the dining table inside his family\u2019s North Long Beach home, surrounded by the smell of empanadas frying in a pan nearby, Juan Antonio \u201cTony\u201d Tafoya looks a little tired, his eyelids heavy. He had been out until the early morning hours, playing a concert with his band, which performs traditional Mexican banda music in nightclubs and at parties around Los Angeles and Orange County.<\/p>\n<p>Playing music used to be Tafoya\u2019s main gig. But starting in early 2020, with events large and small prohibited to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, Tafoya was out of a job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went from playing six, seven days a week to none,\u201d Tafoya said in Spanish. \u201cIt was very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Short on funds, the professional trumpet player began looking for other ways to support his family of five\u2014himself, his wife, Rossy, and their three children. That\u2019s when Mariscos El Compa Ivan, their family business delivering freshly made Mexican seafood, was born.<\/p>\n<p>The kitchen wasn&#8217;t entirely new terrain for the 39-year-old, who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000054450\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000054450\" style=\"width: 1110px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10000054450 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/21155206\/10115-Tony-5-1110x726.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1110\" height=\"726\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000054450\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aguachile at Mariscos El Compa Ivan in Long Beach Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Just after moving to the U.S. from Guanajuato, Mexico, the then-bachelor came up with a spicy concoction of boiled shrimp, chile de arbol, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes that he would cook for himself and his friends. After his wedding to Rossy, the recipe quickly found fans among his new family, friends and neighbors.<\/p>\n<p>So when the pandemic started and the music suddenly stopped, a friend asked: Why didn\u2019t he make some of his famous shrimp to sell? They\u2019d be his first clients, he told him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had made it before, at home, but only for the family,\u201d Tafoya said. \u201cI never thought that one day I would sell it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Tafoya and his wife, an expert scorer of grocery deals, didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy that point, I didn\u2019t have much money left, because I wasn\u2019t working enough,\u201d he said. So they took the last $100 he had saved and went to a local supermarket to buy as many shrimp as they could, along with a few other ingredients. Then, they made their first order of camarones estilo Ivan, his signature dish, now named after the couple\u2019s youngest son, 3-year-old Ivan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe started doing that and people started to like it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then we made a different dish and another.\u201d People kept asking for their favorite seafood dishes: empanadas, ceviche, aguachile. \u201cWe said we\u2019ve never made them, but we\u2019d try.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Together with his sister-in-law, Elva, Tafoya and his wife began experimenting with different sauces and recipes, some pulled from YouTube and modified to fit their own tastes in a trial and error process, others sourced from family members.<\/p>\n<p>One significant contribution, the recipe for cheese and shrimp empanadas, came from his mother-in-law, who immigrated to the U.S. from the Mexican state of Sinaloa.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Tafoya\u2019s landlocked, mountainous home state of Guanajuato, Sinaloa stretches along 386 miles of Pacific coastline, teeming with blue marlins, tuna and mahi mahi. The Sinaloan port city of Mazatl\u00e1n\u2014a popular destination with Carnival cruise passengers departing from Long Beach\u2014is especially known for the variety and quality of its local seafood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe whole state of Sinaloa is a seafood state,\u201d Tafoya said. His wife\u2019s family hails from the state capital, Culiac\u00e1n, he added. \u201cOf course they like seafood!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s not just Sinaloan recipes that made their way up the Pacific coast from the agricultural state known as \u201cMexico\u2019s breadbasket\u201d to its U.S. counterpart, California.<\/p>\n<p>Every year, Tafoya\u2019s wife\u2019s family travels home to Sinaloa to visit her father\u2019s grave in honor of Dia de Los Muertos, the annual celebration dedicated to honoring the dead.<\/p>\n<p>The chiles de chiltepin they bring back from their trips have become a favorite among customers who like their seafood extra spicy\u2014the size and shape of cranberries, they rank at about 50,000 to 100,000 units on the Scoville scale. Still, they have to be rationed\u2014demand regularly outpaces supply of the fiery imports.<\/p>\n<p>The octopus and scallops used in Mariscos El Compa Ivan\u2019s seafood trays, too, come from Sinaloa, by way of a local food truck that imports and resells them.<\/p>\n<p>The presentation of their trays on social media\u2014colorful, perfectly lit and neatly arranged\u2014is the domain of Tafoya\u2019s sister in law, Elva Garc\u00eda. An enthusiastic amateur photographer, Garcia early on purchased a small light box to help their creations shine\u2014much to the dismay of her frugal sister, the business\u2019s unofficial accountant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s the money lady,\u201d Garcia said with a serious inflection. \u201cI had to prove to her that it was worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her strategy worked.<\/p>\n<p>Since she started an Instagram page for their business in July 2020, the volume of orders has grown exponentially. \u201cWe started getting orders from random people, which was really exciting,\u201d Garcia said. Customers place their orders via the business&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mariscoselcompaivan\/?hl=en\">Instagram page<\/a> or by phone.<\/p>\n<p>Where during the first few weeks, they would be preparing $300-$500 worth of orders each week, that number quadrupled when order volumes hit their peak a year later.<\/p>\n<p>Since, then, \u201cthings have slowed down a little bit,\u201d Garcia said. But that hasn\u2019t curbed their entrepreneurial spirit. \u201cOur menu is expanding and we\u2019re evolving,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re learning so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Part of that evolution is an upcoming move into a shared kitchen with professional appliances.<\/p>\n<p>Starting on Nov. 6, Mariscos El Compa Ivan will be renting a slot at Feel Good Salsa, a newly opened shared kitchen in the Hellmann Historic District, on the weekends. Garcia and her sister now do most of the cooking and they\u2019re even thinking about hiring new staff as Tafoya returns to the stage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re excited,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000054456\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000054456\" style=\"width: 1110px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-10000054456 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/21160023\/10115-Tony-1-1110x678.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1110\" height=\"678\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000054456\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A plate of the signature dish, camarones estilo Ivan, in Long Beach Friday October 15, 2021. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While he\u2019s back to playing music nearly every day and his wife has taken over the reins in the kitchen, Tafoya isn\u2019t ready to give up his love for cooking altogether.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusic runs in my blood,\u201d Tafoya, who grew up in a family of musicians and has been playing since he was 11 years old, said. But, \u201cI love the kitchen too.\u201d One day, he hopes to open a restaurant together with his wife and her family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA little restaurant, so people can come and eat, feel comfortable, with a little beer, maybe a michelada, and some shrimp. Having a good time,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the dream I have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct time the recipe for camarones estilo Ivan&#8217;s was first created.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Starting on Nov. 6, Mariscos El Compa Ivan will be renting a slot at Feel Good Salsa, a newly opened shared kitchen in the Hellmann Historic District, on the weekends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":71756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3,31939,31938,31929],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[19282],"class_list":["post-26810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-instagram","tag-mariscos","tag-mariscos-el-compa-ivan","tag-sidestreats","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26810"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=26810"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}