Last Friday Miguel told me that a video crew would be shooting at Papalote for a Cooking Channel show. He texted:
"Beaner, cooking channel is coming to film MONDAY OCT 20th and WEDNESDAY 22nd.. From 9-5 both days. Pa que estes ayi."
So I made plans to be at the restaurant both days to see what was going on and to try to get as many jars of salsa in the shots as possible. We're still trying to promote the shipping business, and having the salsa appear on screen always increases the amount of orders when the episodes come out.
My son had a presentation at school Monday morning at 8:30am which I couldn't miss, since the whole family participated in the making of a video for the presentation, and I couldn't wait to see what his classmates would do and how they would react when they saw the killer video we produced. At around 9:00 Miguel texted me asking what time I was going to be there. I told him I was planning on getting to the restaurant at around 11:30, and he said that was cool, but to try no later than that.
I got to the restaurant at 11:29am. There was a video crew filming down the back alley. Miguel came out of the restaurant and told me that everyone was pretty cool. Especially Aaron. "Aaron?" I asked. "Yes, Aaron Sánchez," he replied. AARON SÁNCHEZ, YOU GUYS!! So the first thing I think is, well, I guess this is not like that cheesy show Cooking Channel had shot a year or two ago, with some corny overly-hyped host. This is Aaron Sánchez, doing a show on Papalote. Well, hot dang!
I went into the restaurant and right away I met one of the producers, Nai. "Thanks for shaving for us!" was the first thing she said. Then I met Molly the producer and Kris, the make up person, who proceeded to powder my vast forehead. I'm joking with people as the sound guy makes his way past me, and there's two or three photographers setting up, and a grip. And members of our team trying to do their job as well as they can amongst the clutter the shoot has created all over the place.
And then Aaron came in. I was in the middle of our tiny dining room when he came up with a big grin on his Aaron Sánchez face. He has his Aaron Sánchez face on because he IS Aaron Sánchez. I love how celebrity faces look extra special in real life. You catch different angles that register in your head as that person you've seen on TV. But there's a depth that your brain tries to deal with as it tries to reconcile a familiar two-dimensional image that you know so well with the three-dimensional face that is now right in front of you. That alone triggered an emotional response in me.
Aaron comes in, walks up to me and shakes my hand. And I start tearing up.
I told him that when I was younger I wanted to create the ultimate band. And I had this band in mind, and I knew what I wanted it to sound like. Latin, rock, cumbia, salsa, all rolled up in one peppered with all kinds of percussion. Different rhythms, different influences. Bilingual. Funny. Dynamic.
[[[ You can skip this bracketed part if you want to bypass this tangent. Several years ago, a year or two before we opened Papalote...it must have been sometime around 1997, I was playing in a serious band, with dreams and ambitions, but not THE band. THE band was the band I always dreamt I would form some day later on. There was this one gig we did at the now defunct Cocodrie in North Beach. The booker asked us if we would close the show because there was a band from Los Angeles that would appreciate it if we would let them go before us. Since most of our friends were there, all ten of them, we denied their request and promptly hit the stage and played pretty much the same songs we had been playing for years upon years with a forced cover thrown in the set here and there. Well, I didn't want to be a complete dick, so as soon as we were done I took my drums off the stage, with the cymbals, snare and drums still on the stands and cleared the drum riser in less than five minutes. I even help the drummer and the percussionist from the band bring their stuff up.
With my drums virtually still set up, but off to the left side of the stage, I went to grab a beer and relax a little after having played a set and taken the drums off the stage so quickly. The band from Los Angeles was set up and ready to go in less than ten minutes. They did a quick sound check and proceeded to get off the stage. What they did next was amazing. Each one of the eight or so band members grabbed a drum or some sort of percussion...Brazilian stuff, for the most part, and left the building through the front door. I thought maybe they had decided not to use those instruments after all, and that they were putting the instruments back in the van after deciding to play a shorter set because it was so late. Almost 11pm. On a weeknight, too. I remember it was a weeknight, mainly because my band never got booked on weekends.
Suddently, after a few minutes, I heard a samba beat outside the building getting louder and louder. Was it a car driving by? Where was that coming from? And it got louder. And louder. And then they came in, the whole band had this great samba pulse going, and they had about 30 or 40 people who followed them in. And suddenly the place was packed. As they jumped on stage and transitioned from their percussion instrument to their respective actual instruments, but without losing the pulse, they started chanting "YA LLEGÓ, YA LLEGÓ, O-ZO-MA-TLI! YA LLEGÓ, YA LLEGÓ, O-ZO-MA-TLI!" and they went into their first song
¿Cómo ves? Check out this video of the band from around that time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TtFaRtvR6g
I just couldn't believe my eyes and my ears! The band I had envisioned all along not only existed, but they were now playing live right in front of me! I saw them play one or two songs and I just couldn't believe how well they were rendering my idea and executing the plan perfectly. So I remembered my drums were set up off to the side and I went and played along to the next couple of songs. Of course you couldn't hear me because I wasn't miced. And you couldn't see me, because I was off the stage and to the side, behind a whole mess of equipment. But I was jamming. I was extremely happy because the ideal band existed. And, sure, I was a little bit bummed because I was not in it. But happy because my ideal band had materialized before my eyes. I will never forget that feeling. ]]]
After telling Aaron about my desire to create the ultimate band I asked him if he had heard of Ozomatli, and Aaron said yes. Well, when I saw Ozomatli for the first time, I went on to share with him, the main emotion of many that I felt, was a sense of relief. Relief because I no longer had to go out and put together the ultimate band, because somebody else had done it, and now the world had it to enjoy. It was like a mission, or a burden, that I had imposed on myself, and then someone else went ahead and did it. I was just happy for the world that it, OZOMATLI, existed.
I told Aaron that story because I've always wanted to have a show on TV, and I'm working hard toward that goal (yes, still). But now that I knew a little bit more about this show,
Taco Trip, from what the producers were telling me, and having been watching Aaron on TV for years now, the minute I shook his hand I got the exact same feeling as when I saw OZOMATLI for the first time. The ultimate Mexican-American Chef exists, he represents Latinos very well, he knows food like a true consummate chef should, and now he has this show that just makes sense, and that the world should be grateful for. Not only that, but now this realization was morphing and gaining a new dimension in my head, as I realized that this amazing show that fate had formed for Aaron, for us Latinos, and for the world, was shooting at my restaurant about to do a feature ON my restaurant. I also told him that had I run into him somewhere in the Mission for instance, just walking around, I would have told him I had a restaurant and I would have absolutely insisted that he came with me to my restaurant so he could try it. But that dream was exceeded by the reality of having Chef Aaron Sánchez, WITH a production crew, at my restaurant, doing a spot for his new show. By now the tears were flowing and I had to cover my face overcome with emotion.
Per the producers' request, I changed into a shirt that didn't have any commercial logos. Miguel and I both put on a t shirt with a design I had just come up with that Miguel had some friends print for us, but in SF Giants colors. This whole shoot happened right at the beginning of the World Series, San Francisco vs. Kansas City, that's why Miguel had printed the shirts in Giants colors, so I just went with it. It won't make much sense when it airs, because there won't be a reference to the World Series, BUT, we are
La Salsa de San Francisco, so it ends up being pretty cool, I guess.
I'm talking to Nai outside of the restaurant. She wants to see pictures of my kids. I find a video of Mateo learning a new Hip Hop move that Melvin Timtim is teaching him at a private lesson. It ends with a baby freeze. A chair freeze. Nai goes nuts! I'm a Hip Hop dancer! I love your kid. And she proceeds to bust a REAL freeze! Right there and then! On the sidewalk in front of Papalote!
We shot a couple of introductory shots and that was it for me. Then some friends of my brother's showed up to be interviewed. Turns out the producers had asked for us to invite friends to be interviewed for the show, but Miguel forgot to mention it. I sent Jodi (my wife) a picture of Aaron and me and she was bummed because she wished I would have told her so she could have met Aaron as well. But I explained to her the situation. And then Miguel's wife showed up, and she got to meet Aaron and hang out. A little awkward for me because now I wish I really had known.
After a half-hour or so they were done with the interviews and I was getting ready to go back to Papalote headquarters in Fairfield. Now, let me tell you about the friends Miguel invited to be part of the show. I happen to know Box Kev very well. Kev is not just a long-time friend who's hung out with my cousins Rafael and Fernando for ever, but he's now actually family, because he is Rafael's wife's cousin. So he is family. I was actually happy to see him and to share this experience with him. The other friend Miguel invited is a friend of his, and Kev's, Lucena, whom I've met a couple of times and have had some nice conversations with, but I don't really know her that well.
I had just ordered something to eat, but then Aaron says that he wants to go to Delfina down the street, and I hear Miguel say that he has to cut out because he has to take his son to practice. And now everyone is leaving, and I'm not sure what I'm doing. So I say bye to Miguel, and I go to my car to drive Kev to his car while Lucena goes down the street to go put some money in the meter, and Aaron jumps in the passenger seat and Kev is now in the back seat of the Papalotemobile. And so I start driving down the street to pick up Lucena, and I am now driving us all to Delfina.
We park near Delfina, right by Bi-Rite Market and we get out of the car and we notice that Delfina is closed, so now we're walking up and down 18th street looking for a place to chill for a little bit before Aaron has to go on location at Mission Dolores. As we're walking around I took the group to Bi-Rite Creamery so he could see it, since we were there, and then we crossed the street to go to Bi-Rite Market. And I'm telling Aaron about the store, and how they carry Papalote Salsas, and how proud I am that they carry our products. Now, Aaron lived in San Francisco for a while, but Bi-Rite didn't exist when he was here, or it wasn't as important and iconic as it is right now. I'm sure if he lived here now that would be his go to spot. Anyway...so we walk in, all the way to the back, and we're looking for the salsas, and we found them. Not only do they have a whole bunch of it, each variety two-faced, but there's a hand written shelf talker about how much the store likes the salsa. Aaron took a picture of it with his cell phone, and I'm feeling just so proud, and grateful. We trade a couple of jokes.
We leave Bi-Rite and we finally find a spot to hang out. We're all laughing and trading jokes, and being real. Like, surreally real. Honest. Funny. Attentive. Respectful. Teasing. And then they called Aaron. So we leave the place and walk to Mission Dolores, and I'm feeling now like I'm in a weird version of the Wizard of OZ. I had no idea I would be meeting Aaron that day, let alone hanging out with him. And last time I spent any time with either Kev or Lucena without Miguel was, let's see...never.
Still, here we are, Aaron, Kevin, Lucena (our Dorothy) and me. Not walking down the yellow brick road, but making our way down Dolores toward the Mission. And we're off!
We got to the Mission and they set everything up only to have a tour bus come and park right in front of the church. So they can't shoot. And we decide to go wait the bus out to a café in the corner, so off the four of us go to chill at the café. Half an hour later they've called him back and he's done with the shoot.
Producer Nai comes to me and confesses that there isn't enough room in the cars for Aaron, if I would mind terribly driving him to the next location, which is the Painted Ladies by Alamo Square. Sure! Why not. Kev has work to do, but decides to tag along. Lucena is coming too. So we're off to the damned Painted Ladies. On the way there Aaron wants a snack and he wants me to pull over if I see a store...so I pull over on Divisadero at the first store we saw. Yes. You guessed it. Bi-Rite's second location. We have a big laugh, our group has an inside joke going now, we've bonded further, and now, as Aaron get's back in the car we're off to Alamo Square. Aaron and I trade a couple of jokes.
Kev, Lucena and I are just hanging out checking out the amazing view of the houses and the City, as Aaron tries to learn his lines and the various members of the crew joke with us. We're there for about an hour and then. "Victor, could you please take Aaron to Tacolicious?" At this point, you know...yeah, what the heck! We're now in the Papalotemobile once again, and now we're heading to the last location of the day. On the way there Aaron tells us a little bit more about a relative who's very dear to him. "You guys should talk to him!!" Aaron dials. No answer. He dials again. "Hello?" Yes, so I'm driving and now I'm pulling his relative's leg. Putting on an accent, saying this and that, the relative has had enough. He hangs up on me. We all crack up! But for a minute or two he was in there, in the car with us, being a part of this great day. And that was very special.
We get to Tacolicious and we find parking right across the street. Also across the street from Tacolicious is Rose Pistola, which, as luck would have it, is where Aaron worked when he lived here in San Francisco. We go in there and now we've officially become Aaron's entourage. He goes in there and says hello to the kitchen staff and he tells us a little bit about his experience there. But he has to go across the street and start shooting. As part of his entourage now we go in at Tacolicious and we're hanging out in the area that has been designated for the crew.
By this time I'm getting hungry. I'm realizing I missed a whole day at the office. This Monday is gone! And so we're watching Aaron behind the kitchen talking to the chef Telmo Faria as Telmo cooks who knows what. The restaurant is busy, the kitchen is busy, it's getting late. Jodi is now wondering if I'm going to be able to pick up the kids from my mom and dad's house. I think I'll be able to. It's about 7:30pm. Aaron takes a break once in a while and he comes and hangs out with us. And he's really hanging out with us. We like our little group that we formed this morning. We're still trading jokes. I'm going to miss Aaron. I ask Aaron for his phone number and he gives it to me. I text him my contact info. Someone taps him on the shoulder to ask him if he'll take a picture with her family. Then he's off to another table. Then he's out of sight. I'm talking to Kevin about Journey, what's our favorite Journey song? And then Lucena tells me she's friends with my friend Blanca Garza from Telemundo 48. We're just talking, and Aaron is suddenly back. We trade jokes. Now this other man wants a picture with him and his girlfriend.
Ok, we're done he says. Let's get out of here!
Final destination: his hotel. You guys, I'm kinda tired, but you must come in for a few moments so we can get something to eat or something.
Valet the Papalotemobile.
We sit at the lounge. No food for me. Just a Campari with orange juice and soda, with a twist.
-Victor, what are the three V's in a wine label?
-Man, I don't know.
-Yes you do! Yes you do! Just think about it!
After he told me I realize that I DID know, but I was too overwhelmed. This day has been too intense. I'm tired. But I don't want today to end. I know I'm going to forget it. And I don't want to.
-"Varietal. Vintage. Vintner."
Of course! I knew that! I should have played along. I should have tried. I'm tired.
My phone rings. It's Jodi.
It's 10:20pm
-Hi Jodi.
Aaron wants to talk to her. A minute or two and the conversation is over.
Turns out Aaron will NOT be here for Wednesday's shoot. Jodi won't be able to meet him.
A few more jokes. A few more words of wisdom. A few more moments with this group.
I finish my drink. We get up. We all hug. Our adventure is over.
What just happened?
I will never forget my Monday with Aaron. And Kev. And Lucena.
The day Chef Aaron Sánchez came to Papalote.
