Ratatouille pie from Quebracho
Ratatouille pie from Quebracho
You remember how I called this the Year of the Empanada? Still feeling it. One of the rising stars of this meat-and-pastry emergence is Belen Rodriguez of Quebracho. She's been selling her charcuterie, empanadas, and meat pies at pop-ups and farmers markets while juggling time and kitchens, as she still works her day job as a Spanish language liaison for HCMC.
Well good news, she's found a solid home. Quebracho goodies will now be produced out of the St. Genevieve kitchen, giving her a more permanent space from which to work her magic. While this isn't the announcement of a whole new space, "This is really the first step towards our goal of having our own storefront," Belen told me. "We want to be smart and grow organically with our customers, learning what they want and figuring out a way to keep bringing new things to them. And Steven Brown is the nicest man I've ever met." Yep.
What this move means is that Quebracho can expand their menu offerings, provide a reliable space for picking up orders, and start catering! "Our catering license was just approved, so we're booking events for spring, summer, and fall." Can you imagine those beautiful pies and charcuterie at your next function? The one above is a ratatouille pie with with dehydrated tomatoes, roasted eggplant and zucchini, and basil all tucked neatly inside.
Catering will happen three ways: Take-away catering (in which you can pick up pre-ordered sandwiches, platters and such at STG), cocktail-style catering (where they come to you and set up the food, like an empanada bar), and finally, private chef dinners, for the smaller intimate events where you want a personalized menu and staff to help you serve the food.
Chicken galantine sandwich
Chicken galantine sandwich
As she gets comfortable in the space, look for more menu items to roll out, like this chicken galantine sandwich, with marinated vegetable antipasto, lemon aioli, and daikon radish sprouts. "I'm excited to be in a kitchen with other people again," said Belen who really fell in love with the art of charcuterie in the kitchen at Bachelor Farmer. "It's really good to be around creative influences and learn from each other, I've missed that."
Belen Rodriguez
Belen Rodriguez
You'll still be able to see Belen around town in other spots, she'll be popping up at Lowry Hill Meats regularly, and will remain at the Linden Hills Farmers Market. But now you'll also be able to pick up orders on Th-Su at STG, with a 48 hour notice. As things settle in, she'll work on expanding the hours. "Who knows, we might be able to crate empanada boxes for local grocery stores, now that we have the right kind of space we can explore those things." This year is only getting better.
