Behind the plate: Meet Adriana Ortega, chef and co-founder of Succulent Vegan Tacos
It's local and global all at once. The food court inside the Nashville Farmer’s Market Market House boasts the most vibrant array of eateries that deliciously highlight the diversity of our city.
At Succulent Vegan Tacos, Nashville’s first plant-based taqueria, Adriana Ortega and her husband Ronald Cerdas have added to that vibrancy.
In 2017, they first introduced their unique dishes through the market’s incubator program, Grow Local Kitchen.
Diners relished the authentic flavor profiles of the tacos, reflective of the regional cuisine of Mexico City, where Ortega was born and raised. When a permanent spot inside the Market House became available in mid-2020, they transitioned the taqueria to bricks-and-mortar.
Ortega talks about her heritage, the couple’s passion for cooking and their business journey.
Tell us about your culinary path
Mexico City, where I am from, is a world class food city. I grew up in a family that loves to cook, a love that I share. In my mind, I could imagine having my own little restaurant, a dream I held onto, even though my career had first turned to banking.
My father and grandmother have been vegetarians for a long time; I became vegetarian in 1993. My husband Ronald, though, made the big switch from being a meat-eater to vegan in 2015, so I followed his lead. We started experimenting with recipes like crazy.
When we went back to Mexico City for a visit, we spent a lot of time exploring the huge open markets and eating street food. Amazing! With all the vegetables, mushrooms, peppers, you could be vegan there simply by default. I remember Ronald asking me, “Where will we get this when we go back to Nashville?” And I told him, “We can make it!”
Everything we make is based on my memories of what I grew up eating, what I watched being cooked at home. Mexican food is perceived so differently here. I want people to know that the cuisine varies from region to region, just as it does in the United States. We don’t use cheese or sour cream, for instance, on our tacos. I am recreating, as authentic as possible, the flavors of Mexico City. That’s what I know.
What have been some of your greatest challenges?
We opened in October 2020, COVID times. Everything was delayed in our construction. Some of our products became much more difficult to get. And, the Market House, itself, felt so different. Some businesses had closed completely. There was no dining in.
But, our feeling was, OK—we are starting from ground zero. We will manage our expectations. We will ramp up gradually. We persevered! In a way, we benefitted from the pandemic—we were able to build in a slower, more intentional way to take care of our customers and run the business properly.
What is your advice to anyone wanting to start their own business?
You must have focus. You must have patience. Don’t jump right in and get yourself into terrible debt. As a banker, I understood the high risks involved in this. It is a difficult industry—you must learn how to make it sustainable. Ronald and I kept our jobs while we developed our business through Grow Local Kitchen. We are forever grateful for that program. Look for a business incubator and try out your concept first.
Do you have a favorite kitchen tool?
It’s a medium-sized chef’s knife that fits my hand.
What ingredient would you feel lost without?
Ingredients! There are so many different dried Mexican chilies that I use in my recipes.
What are some of the specials to look for?
Whatever is fresh and seasonal at the market inspires us. We always have our four essential tacos. On Taco Tuesday, we might feature vegan fish tacos, and on the weekends, brunch dishes like vegan migas, enchiladas or huevos rancheros.
And, Ronald, who does all of the baking, has a lot fun creating different conchas—these are traditional Mexican sweet breads. He will decorate them in non-traditional ways, whatever the trend is. He’s made pink ones for Barbie, rainbow-colored ones for Nashville Pride. For the Peach Jam Festival, he made fresh peach-vanilla soy whipped cream filled conchas that were incredible.
For first-timers at Succulent Vegan Tacos: what do you recommend?
I would order the traditional meal, which is an entree with sides of rice and beans. Those sides are very familiar dishes, very approachable. I’d get two tacos. Two are made with vegetables: Papas is potato and kale in roasted tomatillo salsa, and Tinga is chipotle carrots and black beans. The other two have meatier texture and taste. We use seitan in the Al Pastor and soy in the Asada. It depends on your preference, of course.
Why is eating plant-based so important?
Personally, I don’t want to harm any animals. Overall, though, it is better for the environment. We want to show you that you can enjoy any kind of vegan food without sacrificing flavor. That is our mission.
Succulent Vegan Tacos
Nashville Farmers Market/Market House
900 Rosa L Parks Blvd., Nashville
Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday. Closed Mondays.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Behind the plate: Meet Adriana Ortega, chef and co-founder of Succulent Vegan Tacos
