In the span of , it isn鈥檛 an outstanding moment. The man on camera has armfuls of convenience-store finds: a cup of ramen from a Michelin-starred restaurant, soft-steamed buns with both sweet and savory fillings, fish cakes and tofu wallets pulled from a cooler full of brine.
He鈥檚 methodically tasting each one, in a mukbang-cum-product-haul. He鈥檚 cooking a barbecue pork bento box to very specific instructions in one of the store鈥檚 bay of microwaves.
In 4K detail, watch him walk into the generic storefront in broad daylight. Look at the ecstasy on his face slurping the Michelin-starred broth. A woman, passing briefly in the background, who barely glances at him filming his meal on her way home from shopping. Through the video, you feel like you are participating in daily life on another continent.
Back in 蜜柚直播, Rafael de la Cuesta watched the video on YouTube. He has never been to Japan, but the video brought Japan to him.
Here鈥檚 the part that changed Rafael鈥檚 life. It鈥檚 a sandwich vacuum-sealed in plastic, not unlike convenience store sandwiches here. When the man in the video peels the cover open, he reveals an egg salad sandwich between two slices of soft, not-too-sweet white bread. In awe, he touches the bread to show its texture. A cute lump 鈥 a halved soft-boiled egg 鈥 peeks out between the slices and the uniformly creamy spread.
It鈥檚 a Japanese sando 鈥 and Rafael is going to bring it to 蜜柚直播.
, his food truck, is opening today at the intersection of Broadway and Euclid Avenue, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Its menu features Japanese sandwiches that are both painstakingly traditional 鈥 egg salad made with Kewpie mayo, pork katsu with dijon 鈥 and inventive, like the carne asada sando that reflects Rafael鈥檚 own culinary heritage. Vegan options include a mouthwatering eggplant katsu.
The pork katsu sando is made with custom-ordered milk bread and homemade katsu sauce. It costs $13.
鈥淲hen I started coming up with the food truck, it was hard to find [milk] bread. Milk bread is the main bread in Japan 鈥 white, airy fluffy bread. It鈥檚 similar to ours but a little sweet. I鈥檇 compare it to brioche, but brioche is even sweeter.
鈥淲ithout that, you can鈥檛 really do the Japanese sandwiches at all,鈥 he said.
Japanese sandwiches are aesthetically pleasing, and the bread鈥檚 uniformity is a huge part of the image. Whatever the filling, it鈥檚 stacked neatly in between those hypnotizingly pale bookends.
Sourcing this ingredient was his greatest challenge 鈥 he imported his pans to make the traditional dimensions of the loaf, and is collaborating with both to make the bread and a cottage-certified home baker to make its vegan variation.
Rafael first tried the Japanese sando at Konbi, a slim restaurant in Echo Park, Los Angeles, whose name is pulled from the Japanese word for 鈥渃onvenience store鈥 and features a menu inspired by the foods you can find at one. called it the best new restaurant of 2019.
The fruit and cream sando is made with vegan whipped cream and costs $7.
After being inspired by the travelog, Rafael figured this was his best chance at trying the sando. Once he did, he became determined to bring it home to 蜜柚直播.
While Rafael grew up a foodie, helping his nana and mom cook in the family home, he didn鈥檛 expect to go into the restaurant biz. A few years back, he was incarcerated for over a year. After doing time, his options for employment were limited: working in construction (his day job is building pools) or cooking.
Fatboy Sandos is more than a gourmet sandwich truck, or an act of devotion to the Japanese style 鈥 it鈥檚 Rafael鈥檚 commitment to himself, and his own expression.
Fatboy Sandos
Location: the southeast corner of
Price: Sandos cost between $7-$14. Small bites are $6 each.
For more information, check out their .