Karla Hoyos Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond, coming to you from Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City. I'm the founder and editor of Cherry Bombe magazine.
For today's show, we're airing my conversation with Chef Karla Hoyos, the founder of Tacotomia in Miami, and a longtime volunteer with World Central Kitchen, the food relief organization. We recorded this interview a few weeks ago, so we do not discuss the recent and tragic loss of seven of Karla's friends and fellow World Central Kitchen Aid workers in Gaza. Karla herself was in the region last year with World Central Kitchen. Over the past several years, she's worked as part of the organization's disaster response teams in Bangladesh, Poland, Puerto, Rico, Haiti, Spain, and beyond. Karla has been a hero of mine for a long time, and the team and I are honored to feature her on Radio Cherry Bombe. Stay tuned to learn about her roots in Mexico, how she became involved with World Central Kitchen, the imposter syndrome she had working at the fine dining Bazaar Restaurant in Miami, and what her new business Tacotomia is all about. She's been working to get her business off the ground for a long time. If you are in Miami or visiting anytime soon, I'd love for you to visit Tacotomia and support Chef Karla. Also, World Central Kitchen has launched a GoFundMe to support the families of the workers who were killed. You can learn more at WCK.org.
Now, let's check in with Karla. Karla Hoyos, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Karla Hoyos:
Thank you. So happy to be here.
Kerry Diamond:
You've got a new baby of sorts, Tacotomia. Tell me what Tacotomia is all about.
Karla Hoyos:
I have a career in fine dining and always as a new chef, I always thought that I want to do fine dining restaurants. I want to do Michelin star restaurants, and I did. When I started working with World Central Kitchen, I got to go to all of these disaster places and I had to cook for a lot of people. Kind of clicked me the fact that the power that well-made food, comfort food does to people.
So my first thing was, I learned cooking growing up in my grandmother's farm because I used to spend all my holidays there, and the food that I loved, the impact that it had on me and what I feel after I eat this food, I want to share this. I want to create something. First of all, that it's an homage to my grandmother and my roots and who really I am. I felt the responsibility to bring real Mexican food to Miami. There's amazing Mexican places, there's amazing representation of Mexican food, but there's very few Mexican restaurants owned by native Mexicans.
Kerry Diamond:
And you are from Veracruz. Tell us a little bit about the farm.
Karla Hoyos:
It's amazing. My grandmother will go to the farm. It's a little town and, you name it, 5:00 A.M., vacas lecheras, maybe in English is like when you milk the cows, then she sells the cheese to a cheese maker, or we would keep some and make cheese with her. You want cinnamon? She has cinnamon trees. Go cut some cinnamon. You want achiote or stuff? Go cut it, process it. You want corn? Okay, let's nixtamalize. But those are the things that I did not appreciate when I was younger that I thought I was like, oh, okay. And now I'm like, wow. Now I'm looking to do all of that. And now it's like I want to learn again how to do it. I wish I was being more grateful of everything that was in front of me. And also I think it has created in me this respect for product and the people that grow it.
But it's not only about cooking, it's where is your food coming from? How are the farmers being treated? Is your product local? I mean, we would love to go all local, but you do what you can. And also Tacotomia for me is, how can I make an impact in the culinary world? Little by little. How can I hire women mostly? And I don't pick them, but they come to me, so it's good. Most of them immigrants, they're not chefs, they're not cook. I teach them how to do something, how to be in the kitchen, and they're amazing.
Kerry Diamond:
Now, is this something you decided that you would hire people who didn't necessarily have experience and teach them?
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah. For this, yeah. I think there's a lot of amazing people because not only women that come into this country, and not a lot of people want to give them an opportunity. Either, you know, and I get it, everyone starts from the bottom and you are a dishwasher, which is the most respected job industry, at least for me. But I think some people, when they come from another country, I mean, they were a lawyer on their countries, and I think it is good to give them opportunity to, do you want to learn this? That's the three questions I ask. Are you a good person? Do you want to learn? Can I trust you? Perfect.
Kerry Diamond:
Those are three good questions for life.
Karla Hoyos:
You're good, then you have an opportunity here. Everyone can learn. I mean, you cannot teach skill, and I mean, I'm not running a Michelin star restaurant. I mean, I respect that, and I know you cannot just put somebody in a restaurant when you need skill, when you need technique. That you learn with time.
Kerry Diamond:
But you've done that. I ate that food that you made, you were at Bazaar here in Miami, and I mean, talk about over-the-top luxury. If I remember correctly, I think there was something served in a shoe.
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah, and I love it.
Kerry Diamond:
Was it like a glass Cinderella slipper or something?
Karla Hoyos:
And I love it. One of my future projects that is on construction is a restaurant. I'm doing a little bit of more of me and everything with my techniques that I've learned, because I also cannot let that just be like, okay. I also love that part of the industry. But I also think that Tacotomia, slowly but surely, I want to make that impact. I want to make sure that it's not only about selling the food, it's about what is the food coming from? How much can I buy locally? I have this farmer in Homestead, she's a Mexican lady that grows with all of her family of color, and she's like, "Okay, I'll cut two things of cilantro for you. Let me go to the farm and cut them right now. What time are you coming?" I'll get there and she's like, "Okay, your tomatillos, they're still cutting them. They're harvesting them. Can you wait?" And I'm like, "Of course I can wait." And I think that's the beauty of it. That's what Tacotomia is about.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us what's on the menu.
Karla Hoyos:
We have the totopos, which are the chips, but we make them with blue corn. We nixtamalize our corn, we also buy it from local farmers in Mexico. Only 20% of the corn in Mexico is heirloom, 80% is transgenic. Even in the country, the transgenic corn is the one that is widely used because it's cheaper, because it's easier to grow. So there's these generations of families that have grown corn for generations that they don't have demand. They're not selling their corn because it's more expensive, it's harder to grow.
So there's this person that works with these farmers and they export the corn. So that's the corn that we buy. We have tacos, your regular street tacos, and we do something that is called machete. You can find these at the very inside of that very traditional markets in Mexico. It's an oval, long shaped tortilla. That tortilla you cannot make by machine because there's not a big enough cutter to do it. So you have to make it by hand. You have to have a special press, and we have it. So we make the machete, and then we have Oaxaca cheese inside, that it's a Mexican cheese, and then you pick your topping. So if you like the pastor taco, we'll put everything inside with the meat, the salsa, we make all the salsas in house. It's simple, but it's very good.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk a little bit about World Central Kitchen, because that is just incredible work that you've been doing. How did your relationship with that organization come about?
Karla Hoyos:
So at the time, I was working in Indiana for Bon Appetit. I was a corporate chef.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell folks, because there are two Bon Appetit's, as some of you know.
Karla Hoyos:
Well, Bon Appetit is an on-site restaurant company that offers full management, full service restaurant management to corporations, universities, and museums.
Kerry Diamond:
So think like corporate cafeterias folks. Nothing to do with Bon Appetit magazine, no.
Karla Hoyos:
But the thing with Bon Appetit, it's kind of like the high end of corporate cafeterias, where 30% of what you buy has to be no more than 50 miles from where you're serving it.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, interesting. They did the cafeterias at Yahoo-
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah, and at Google.
Kerry Diamond:
... when I worked there, and the food was really great.
Karla Hoyos:
They would make us make mustard from scratch, mayo from scratch. You're cooking for thousands of people a day, but you have to make everything from scratch. You'll get a corporate call and they're like, "Why are you buying mayo? Why are you not making it?" I'll be like, "Oh my gosh." They're very heavy. They wouldn't let us use air-fried seafood, for example.
So I learned a lot about sustainability and the importance of it with them, as well as mass production. With systems and structures, but it was a corporation, so everything had to be to the point to the T. So the CEO of Bon Appetit is very good friends with Chef Jose. When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, chef Jose called Fidel Baccio and he was like, "Send me your best three people. I need to build a kitchen that can go from zero to thousands in hours."
So that's when I come in. I got the call. I had an organization in Indiana that's called Amigos. I was helping immigrant people with information because I think... That's another subject. One of the main things with immigrants is that they're afraid because they don't know what the rights are, and that's where the system takes advantage of them.
So I was running that organization, so they called me. They're like, "Karla, you've always been involved in, you always want to be helping, so would you be interested?" I was like, "Yeah."
Kerry Diamond:
No hesitation.
Karla Hoyos:
No hesitation. Then they told me, get a satellite radio, a lot of cash and personal products. I was like, okay. At this point, I did not really know who Jose was. Flew to Puerto Rico. It's like a movie. All the flights canceled, people sleeping on the airport. That's the first time that I was like, what the, did I get myself into?
So I was in Puerto Rico, I was supposed to be there for a week. When I got there, they were making around 8,000 meals a day. First weekend we were up to 75,000 meals a day. I set up the sandwich line. I set up the hot kitchen, and I helped organize the paella, the paella kitchen. So when I was leaving, we used to have a meeting with Chef Jose every night because there was only one hotel open, and I said, "Bye." I was like, "Hey, chef, I have to go." He turned to me, he's like, "What?" "Yeah, I have this job in Indiana." He's like, "We're about to feed an entire island. We're going to make such a big impact, and you're a key to this. Do you really want to go and feed people in Indiana?" I was like, "I don't want to go, but I have a responsibility."
He's like, "Grab my iPad, email Fidel Baccio and tell great things about you. The email's going to come from me." I was like, "I do not know Fidel Baccio. He lives in, I think San Francisco and I'm in Indiana. He's the CEO of the company that runs more than 600 kitchens around the country." He's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll pay you whatever you need, I'll make it happen, but I just need you, and he cannot do this to me." So I was like, "Okay." I wrote the email.
Kerry Diamond:
So you wrote the email as if it were from Jose himself?
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah. He was like, "Grab my"... I was like, "Okay."
Kerry Diamond:
What'd you say about yourself?
Karla Hoyos:
No, nothing. I was like, "Karla is helping us."
Kerry Diamond:
"Karla Hoyos is the most amazing person to ever walk the planet."
Karla Hoyos:
I was like, "Karla is helping us a lot. We really need the help." I was like, "Could we please?" And of course.
Kerry Diamond:
How long did you stay for?
Karla Hoyos:
Four months. Yeah, after that, they were talking to me about Bazaar, Bazaar, and I was like, no. Fine dining-
Kerry Diamond:
Bazaar in Miami?
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah, Bazaar in Miami.
Kerry Diamond:
Now, at the time, you're still fully, your whole life, your aunt is in Indianapolis.
Karla Hoyos:
My whole family is Indianapolis, I've been living there for five years. People from Thinkful Group at the time, now is Jose Andres group. They start calling me and they're like, "Hey, send us your resume." I'm like, no. Not because I didn't want to work with them, I was just... I had a very good life in Indiana. Very good midwestern life. Corporate job, I used travel everywhere, I got off work, 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Pilates every day, I live in front of a lake. Everything was safe, it was just good. But good at 20 is not good.
Kerry Diamond:
Had you done fine dining yet? You'd been the culinary school?
Karla Hoyos:
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I worked at a three Michelin star restaurant in Spain. I say I grew up in the culinary with one of my mentors is Martín Berasategui. I did an internship with him, and then I worked with him for a year. I was in Recondo, which is a one Michelin star in Spain as well. I went to Italy, to Fiesole, it was a two Michelin star. That was pretty much always-
Kerry Diamond:
So you had your chops.
Karla Hoyos:
My career.
Kerry Diamond:
So the idea of going to Bazaar didn't scare you from a culinary perspective?
Karla Hoyos:
No, it didn't. It did scare me. I don't know if it's the imposter syndrome, or what it is. When I finally sent him my resume, because Jose called me and he was like, "What's going on?" I'm like, "Okay." This was February. It was two months after. So I sent my resume and they flew me two days after to Miami for two days, and I promise you, the first time that I stepped foot into Bazaar, I was like, how do they think that I can do this? I can't do this.
My only goal this weekend with them is for them to not realize how bad I am, and I don't want to make a fool of myself. I can't do this. It's a kitchen with 100 cooks, 90% male, 30 servers, all of them male, and I come from corporate. I've been in corporate by then for five years. It was very overwhelming. I did a lot of interviews, and then I did a testing, and I was so nervous. I remember at a point, I stepped out of the hotel and I was like, I just don't want to make a fool of myself. I'm not good enough.
Kerry Diamond:
What did they see in you that you did not see in yourself?
Karla Hoyos:
I don't know. I don't know. I always say this now, half of the things in my life that I do, I'm super scared. Half of my life, I'm scared. Because I'm always doing something new that I might look like, oh, yeah. In the inside, I'm super scared all the time, and this was one of those.
Kerry Diamond:
I see you and I just see someone who's so brave. I don't see the scared side of you.
Karla Hoyos:
When I have to go somewhere and I get on the plane, I'm like, okay, just get through it. Just get through it. Emotions are visitors.
Kerry Diamond:
The emotions are visitors who leave eventually.
Karla Hoyos:
Who leave eventually. This is not going to stay forever. I tell this to myself all the time. Emotions are visitors. Just go with it. Don't even think about it. So I did the tasting, they liked it. You know, maybe I think sometimes I'm too hard on myself, and I think that's normal for a lot of women and for a lot of people in the industry. But I did it, and it was good.
Kerry Diamond:
And you did it well. That was a big restaurant, and when I was there, it was packed.
Karla Hoyos:
It was very good. Everything that I had to do on the admin side, on the team side, it was good. I'm proud of the work was done there. I was there for four years, and then it was time for me to stop talking about doing something and actually doing it.
Kerry Diamond:
But let's add that during those four years, you were still working for World Central Kitchen.
Karla Hoyos:
That was one of the things that I talked to Jose. So I was like, I'll do Bazaar. I'll help organize with the admin and everything in Bazaar, but I want to do World Central Kitchen. And at the time, World Central Kitchen was not even, they didn't have any employees. So he was like, no, we don't have any employees. We just did Puerto Rico, and we got all of this attention, so we cannot hire right now. It started like World Central Kitchen went from almost 0 to boom in a year or less. So the big operations they would send me, I trained a lot of the chefs. Well, there's not many, but a couple of the chefs that are like, I hired them that are still in World Central Kitchen, or I trained them.
So it was like, "Not yet, Karla, please, we need help in Bazaar. We need help in Bazaar." But I will still go, you name it. Bahamas, Spain, I did the whole Spain operation after COVID, Haiti, in Florida here as well, and that was good. I could still go and do the help, the work. It was a little bit of a shock coming from a disaster zone to Bazaar.
Kerry Diamond:
I can't even imagine. We'll talk about how you dealt with that a little bit, but you did put your own dreams on hold because even as you were working on Tacotomia, you were still being dispatched. Can you tell us some of the other places you went to recently?
Karla Hoyos:
Recently, I was in Israel. That was my last one.
Kerry Diamond:
I was a little nervous when you were there because some of the footage that you shared, you were pretty close to where the missiles were landing.
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah. Before that I was in Turkey. Before that, I was in Bangladesh. Before that, I was in Ukraine and Poland. I guess after being in Ukraine and Poland, when they told me about Israel, Gaza, Egypt, I was like, you know what? It's okay. I've been in a war already. You learn to have thick skin. You still get affected, but therapy helps. Please go to therapy, everyone. I recommend it.
Kerry Diamond:
You have not led a normal life for the past few years. You have been on the front lines, and you have seen things that most people will never see. You read about in newspaper, see it on CNN or something. How have you dealt with that both on the ground and when you return?
Karla Hoyos:
It has taken a lot of therapy and a lot of inner work as well, because there's this thing, once you're there, it's like somebody puts you in a bubble. There's nothing. The only thing that you get your mindset on, at least for me, how many meals I can make, how can I make them faster, how can I make more in less time, how can I help more? And I get onto this obsession of how can I build this kitchen yesterday. Not tomorrow, not later, yesterday. Because when a disaster happened, people are hungry yesterday.
Kerry Diamond:
And you're part of the advanced team that gets there to figure out.
Karla Hoyos:
So that's what I do. I'm the first one in. So there's a thing called the strike team. So if it's a hurricane, they fly before the hurricane hits. They wait till it goes. But what they do is they start searching, is this well enough that we can build a kitchen or can we connect with local kitchens and do this through local vendors? Do they need the business? Are we better going to be buying food because they buy meals from local vendors to support the economy, and then they'll be fine? Or this is so bad that we need to escalate and build a kitchen. So when things are very bad and we need to escalate and build a kitchen yesterday, that's when I get the call. Turkey, I had 24 hours. You have 24 hours. It's pretty much, it starts with they give you two contacts.
You get a space. For me, it's like if it has ventilation and running water, I can make it happen. There's no bots with hosting. There's no limits. You need a reefer truck? There you got it. You got a reefer truck. What do you need? You need, we got it. When it comes to feeding people and making sure that they have food, as I said yesterday, there's no limit on the resources that we can use.
Poland, we build a kitchen in a warehouse that was capacity to do 150,000 meals a day. But it's 150,000 meals, to source the product we had to build electric panels because if not, you're talking about a 40,000 people town and you're trying to feed 150,000 from there every day. So it's a lot of moving pieces, but I love it. But then when they take you out of that bubble, for me, I had to learn how to not be so hard on myself and tell myself, Karla, you've done enough.
You've done what you can. And not feel guilty for coming back to my house to enjoy the things that I've worked for. It's a very big shock. I'm coming from Bangladesh where we're cooking with charcoal, and it's crazy. But then I come to my house in Miami and I have a TV, I have a fridge, I have food, I have AC, and I started to feel very guilty about this. Why do I have this? I don't need this. But I've also worked very hard to have my business. I also work very hard to have a house with food. It's a lot of work to tell myself, you've done enough.
Kerry Diamond:
You might not have an answer to this question, but why do you think it's that you were almost mad at yourself versus mad at everyone else, just living their lives unaware of what was going on? Or maybe you did, maybe you came back and you were mad at everybody.
Karla Hoyos:
I think not even that. Sometimes it's just, people are oblivious about what's going on, and I've also learned, not everyone has seen what I've seen. Not everyone is interested on seeing or being about what's going on or seeing, and it's okay. I used to get very upset when I used to come back and go to dinner with my friends and go to a restaurant where everyone's paying $150 per head, or they want to buy these expensive shit, I'll be like, why? Why do I need to be here listening to these conversations about what this person is wearing. But it's also okay. Because when you go out with your friends, that's what you talk about.
For me, I used to be very radical about it, and I used to just lock myself, but that's not also okay. So with a lot of therapy, I learned that I kind of have different, the World Central Kitchen, Karla, the friend Karla, the Tacotomía Karla. I mean, I'm still the same person, but I had to learn how to navigate that. It is hard, but still, not everyone is me that has seen all of these, and it's not fair for them that I get upset at that.
Kerry Diamond:
I know you have your hobbies.
Karla Hoyos:
I do. I do.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us about some of the hobbies.
Karla Hoyos:
I play the piano. I love to play the piano.
Kerry Diamond:
Billy Joel, classical, what's your jam?
Karla Hoyos:
I'm all classical, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mozart. I love that. That's my relax. When I'm stressed, I could be... It's crazy because I could be on a meeting with someone in my house, my assistant, and I get burned, and I'm like, okay, give me five minutes. So I go to my piano and I play the piano. I'm like, okay, we're good. Let's keep... And I love to play tennis. I play tennis and I play the piano, so that's my two things that are very relaxing, very relaxing. I just ran a marathon, but I don't like running. I did it for the love of World Central Kitchen, I run the New York City Marathon.
Kerry Diamond:
You ran the New York City Marathon?
Karla Hoyos:
On November 5th. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I'm so bummed I didn't see you. You probably ran right past me, and I didn't even know it.
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah, I didn't make a big deal out of it because I really thought I was not going to make it. So I was like-
Kerry Diamond:
You wouldn't finish the marathon?
Karla Hoyos:
I'm not going to say anything about me running this, because I'm going to make a fool of myself.
Kerry Diamond:
I would've been out there with my Karla Hoyos sign embarrassing you.
Karla Hoyos:
I was like, okay, as soon as I'm done, maybe I'll tell people that I run it, because I don't know if I'm going to make it. I had just came back from Israel, I couldn't train, and I don't run.
Kerry Diamond:
My God, you ran the New York City Marathon with no training?
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, Karla.
Karla Hoyos:
People, don't do it. It's not smart.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you finish?
Karla Hoyos:
I did.
Kerry Diamond:
How much of it did you walk?
Karla Hoyos:
Maybe like half, but I did like four hours, four hours and a half. But when I ran, I ran fast. Okay. But yeah, I was doing a fundraising for World Central Kitchen, and we had this flag. We had to take a Ukraine flag signed by Zelensky. It was a lot of pressure, and I was like, I cannot fail this. I mean, if I feed people, if I go to countries and put kitchens, I have to be able to do this.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my God. You left out the part, carrying the flag signed by Zelensky. That's heavy. Were you with other people from World Central Kitchen?
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah. So there was a couple people from Ukraine, from our operation in Ukraine. There was Javier, who is my mentor/one of the board of directors of World Central Kitchen. There was another person from the ops team, World Central Kitchen. So now they're doing that. Now they're running the Boston Marathon that I'm not a part of. One was good for me. I have a lot of respect for people that run, but not my thing.
Kerry Diamond:
So have you had some time to focus on Tacotomia?
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah. March is a good time. I'm going to spend all March here. My sister is helping me, so my sister is moving to Miami and she's going to help me take care of Tacotomia. We built our commissary kitchen, and we're opening our second spot in Doral.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, congratulations.
Karla Hoyos:
In the next three weeks, we're just waiting for a couple permits. The thing is, if I'm in Miami, I'm not having a day off. If I'm in Miami, I'm working all day in Tacotomia, or that's it. And traveling for work, it's my days off.
Kerry Diamond:
What's your goal for Tacotomia?
Karla Hoyos:
My goal for Tacotomia is yeah, to have several locations. I want the managers of each location, them being women, people that really want to work it, and people that really want to grow. I want them to have a participation in each location. My goal is not to, oh my gosh, I want to make all them. No, my goal is, okay, there's this little spot. You're going to get a little percentage of the revenue, make it yours. Of course, somebody that has been working with me for a long time that I can trust and that they can. Then there's the second spot. Or I want also to make a statement about Mexican food. Mexican food does not have to be cheap, and I'm not saying cheap because I want to charge a lot of money. I say cheap because heirloom corn costs money, good ingredients cost money, and not the fact that you're selling tacos, you have to use bad product and make it cheap and make it just, whatever.
Kerry Diamond:
It's been devalued. Everybody's happy to spend money on French food. Why is that?
Karla Hoyos:
And I get it, but it's like I'm not the fast food chain Mexican that we know there's a lot, but I'm also not a fine dining, but I'm right in the middle. But the meat that you're going to get is very good meat. It's good. So I want to make a point on like, you can have good food, still use the right oil, the right corn, the right salsas that are not watered down. You can have very good product in a fast casual environment.
Kerry Diamond:
With a fine dining chef behind it.
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah, a little bit of everything. I do a little bit of everything, but yeah, I'm very excited for Tacotomia. It's been a big learning experience. Thankfully, has been accepted, very well accepted, and I was not expecting it, of course, because I was doubting myself, and I did not expect to be as busy as we were or as busy as we are, but it's a learning experience with everything. It has its pains. Growing has its pains.
Kerry Diamond:
For our listeners who are either based down here or going to visit Miami and want to come check it out, where can they find you?
Karla Hoyos:
Well, we're downtown.
Kerry Diamond:
It's part of a food hall, right?
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah. Part of a Julian Hermes food hall. And in the next three weeks, we'll be opening in Doral, Downtown Doral. We're going to be at the Formula One, as well.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's do a speed round. What beverage do you start your morning with?
Karla Hoyos:
Celery and parsley juice.
Kerry Diamond:
A much loved cookbook or a food book?
Karla Hoyos:
“Máximo Bistrot,” Eduardo Garcia's book. He's one of the chefs that I admire the most, and his book talks about his journey, how he was an immigrant in the US, he started as a dishwasher, and then he runs one of my favorite restaurants in Mexico City.
Kerry Diamond:
What's always in your fridge?
Karla Hoyos:
Berries, my juice, feta cheese.
Kerry Diamond:
Berries, juice, and feta cheese.
Karla Hoyos:
Feta cheese. I'm all about feta cheese.
Kerry Diamond:
What was your favorite snack as a kid?
Karla Hoyos:
My favorite snack is esquites. So in Mexico, esquite is the corn. The corn, but it's a soup. Here they do it dry, but traditionally it's a soup. Every evening around 5:00 PM there's this guy on a tricycle with a hot pot of the esquite and the corn, you can pick which one you want. They'll be like, "Elotes and esquites," and you're like, "Oh my gosh. Grab him before he goes." And then you go with my brother. "Okay, I got him, get my mom to get us money." So you buy the esquite with lime, cheese, oh my gosh, the best.
Kerry Diamond:
Yum.
Karla Hoyos:
Yeah, I love it.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, it sounds good. So it's basically elote in a soup, essentially?
Karla Hoyos:
It's a soup of elote. Yeah. But people here, I mean, I've never seen it actually how it is, because we actually serve on a cup with a lot of the juice, the broth, you eat it with a spoon and juice. Sometimes people put ramen in it. Nowadays, I love to put peanuts in there. They're very good with lime juice, a little bit of crema and cotija cheese.
Kerry Diamond:
Yum. Sounds great. Footwear of choice in the kitchen?
Karla Hoyos:
There's these tennis shoes that I like. There was a collab between Vans and Henley and Bennett. I love those because my ankles, I have weak ankles and they're a little bit higher.
Kerry Diamond:
I remember that Henley and Bennett collab with Vans.
Karla Hoyos:
Oh, I love them. I bought three of the same color. I was like, this is not going to last long, and I really like them.
Kerry Diamond:
That was a fun one. So you have weak ankles. We have found the one thing that's weak about you, Karla.
Karla Hoyos:
There's more. Yeah. I had an accident, so 10 years ago, so I have nine screws on my left ankle with-
Kerry Diamond:
But you can still play tennis.
Karla Hoyos:
Oh yeah, I-
Kerry Diamond:
And stand on your feet all day long.
Karla Hoyos:
I will always play tennis. That's something that I will not stop doing.
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite kitchen tool?
Karla Hoyos:
You always have to have an offset for everything.
Kerry Diamond:
An offset spatula.
Karla Hoyos:
It's so good. It's so helpful for everything you want. I always carry an offset spatula. Always.
Kerry Diamond:
And no one's allowed to touch yours?
Karla Hoyos:
No, of course. You can use it for so many things. Offset is just good.
Kerry Diamond:
All right. Last question, and I don't know what your answer's going to be, sometimes I can guess. If you were to be trapped on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be, and why?
Karla Hoyos:
I mean, Jose could be a good choice because he's resourceful and he makes it happen. Or, I'm not going to die for sure. Eduardo Garcia will be good. He cooks in farms, so he knows. I'm like, who's going to save us if I have to like... That's what I'm thinking about. But I think, yeah, them both. Either Jose. Yeah, but he's very resourceful.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, Karla, we love you. Thank you for your time.
Karla Hoyos:
Likewise. Thank you so much for inviting me. Such a pleasure. Such an honor.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Thank you to Karla for joining me, and for the tireless work she does on behalf of others. If you'd like to support the work of World Central Kitchen, head to WCK.org. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Thank you to Miami Podcast Studio, where my interview with Karla was recorded. Joseph Hazan is the studio engineer at Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Elizabeth Vogt. Our associate producer is Jenna Sadhu, and our content operations manager is Londyn Crenshaw. Thanks for listening, everybody. You are the Bombe.