Market Forces: Taqueria Autentica

This week, Patch spoke with Michael Natiello, owner of Taqueria Autentica, of Bloomfield, N.J. The taco stand made its debut at the Summit Farmer’s Market last Sunday. The smell of grilling meat and sight of warming tortillas drew lines of customers eager to try food from the new addition. The stand is located at the center of the market lot near Maple Street.

Would you describe your business?

We make authentic Mexican food, mainly consisting of tacos, tostadas and quesadillas. I’ve lived in Essex County for seven years, and there’s always been people complaining that they can’t get authentic Mexican food anywhere. I lived in California for six years in the ‘80s, and I traveled to Mexico extensively, and I ate a lot of tacos from Mexican taco stands and California taco trucks. I wanted to bring that experience to the East Coast.

We sell tacos consisting of prime beef, chicken, wild-caught ocean fish, plaintains, or pork. We use warm corn tortillas; garnishes of salsa verde, pico de gallo, or chopped onions, and in some cases crema Mexicana. We use produce sourced from farmers at the market whenever possible. All food is prepared on-site, and we comply with food handling guidelines at all times.   

It’s just me and my wife, and we have two other people helping us. We wanted to have a restaurant, but now isn’t the time to do it because banks aren’t lending. This is our first year. We also do the Montclair market. Last week was our first week in Summit, and we’re doing it again this weekend. We also do catering.

While we are not a textbook Farmers Market-type vending operation, the idea is that by providing something that is not found anywhere in Summit or its vicinity, new customers will actually be drawn to the Farmers Market, which would benefit everyone.

What’s your background? How did you get into this business?

I’m a lawyer–a commercial litigator—and I work in Hackensack and New York City. My wife is a public defender. This is a hobby–we always wanted to do something like this.

Mexican food is my favorite kind of food. Tex-Mex has its place, but t’s kind of offensive to me that a lot of Tex-Mex restaurants don’t serve authentic Mexican food. I wanted to have an homage to Mexican food.

How did you learn to make tacos?

I just ate a bunch. Mexican food I just always enjoyed. I have a couple of cookbooks. I took some cooking lessons when I visited Costa Rica. But by eating them, basically.

In Montclair, some of the people that work for the farmers come to our stand, and they’re clearly Mexican, and they say ‘these are good.’ And I have rich people in Montclair who are from Mexico, and they say they’re good too. That is the best compliment we can have.

This is your first year—how’s it going so far?

I think that our position is unique in that the week-to-week costs are very high for the business, but the response has been very positive. The people are overwhelmed by it almost. They say things like ‘we haven’t had Mexican food like this since we lived in Mexico.’ We’ve been very well received.

We have full-time jobs and we’re evaluating the feasibility of doing it every Sunday in 2010. I really feel embraced by the people in Summit. But I see my wife working her fingers to the bone.  

What’s the hardest part of what you do?

Getting customers their tacos in a timely manner. There are always lines at our stands. Part of that is that you’re not just handing a jar of honey over and taking cash, you’re making food.   

What’s the best part of what you do?

I can tell you that as a lawyer, even when you hit a home run for a client, they rarely say ‘thank you’ and pat you on the back. People come up to me all the time on this job and say, ‘this food is so good,’ and ‘thank you.’ Doing something with my hands that people appreciate—that’s it.