Rock Star Taco Shack, 'a food truck that lost its tires,' opens in New Town at St. Charles

×

Expand

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

When he wasn’t playing his bass guitar, fun-loving Wil Pelly worked behind the scenes, in restaurant kitchens, “where most long-haired guys ended up.” Now 45 and an accomplished chef (with considerably less hair), he still plays in a band (Kingpin), but is also rocking the local taco scene (along with bandmate Matt Arana) out of a space that’s smaller than the stages they perform on. 

How did the idea for Rock Star Tacos come about? Our band was on break at the Chase Park Plaza eight months ago. Whiskey was involved, and tequila. We thought that a small, taco-based business just might work in New Town. It was the ten-by-ten foot space that drove the concept, instead of it being the other way around. We called it a food truck that lost its tires. The idea makes sense when you consider that the amphitheater has events almost every weekend— kid’s nights, free movie nights, free concerts, dance nights, trivia nights, themed events—captive audiences and it’s all right out our back door.

But why New Town at St. Charles? New Town continues to grow—there are 3,000 homes now, they’re in like phase 5 of 10—and Charlestown is growing up behind us. The bigger, themed events draw customers from all over the area. Our overhead is so low, we don’t have to worry about surviving on everyday business like other places do.

Why tacos? Tacos started out as strictly Mexican, but are no longer any limits, no need to feel like you have to be authentic. The taco has become a vehicle to simply get food into your face, just like pizza. There was already a pizza and sandwich joint here, a snow cone place, an ice cream shop, and SugarBaby Cakes, a dessert shop. So hellloo, tacos! At the bottom of our menu, under Desserts, I was tempted to say “just go next door.”

What are Rock Star’s hours? Six nights for dinner, initially, open for all amphitheater events when there are events, maybe do breakfast tacos on Sunday, then close on Monday, just like the pool, so we can have one day to recover.

When did you first start cooking? My mom was born and raised in Santiago, Cuba, so I’m very familiar with that cuisine. In the '70s there was a huge Cuban population in St. Louis. Every fall, groups of families would gather on Saturdays and make tamales, assembly-line style. That’s where it all started for me. In two or three weeks, we‘d make enough to last all of us through the winter. The difference between a Cuban tamale and a Mexican tamale is the addition of creamed corn in the masa, so they’re sweeter.

What was your first kitchen job? It was at the Flamingo Café  in the CWE, where El Burro Loco is now, working behind the scenes dishwashing or cooking. It was there that I discovered the similarities between a kitchen crew and a band, several different people constantly working in unison or the thing doesn’t come together. Plus, both groups generally liked alcohol, debauchery, and having fun.

What floats your boat? Music and creating dishes, and I’ve been doing both for a long time. They’re a lot alike. You desperately want to see your audience enjoying themselves—maybe discovering something new—and you make that happen. You create things that make other people happy, which in the end makes you happy.

Did your band tour outside of St. Louis? We went on world tours. A local talent agent booked our band, Neptune Crush, on Department of Defense tours over the holidays. We were in the Middle East for several months, which is where I really got interested in food, eating things foods and tasting spices I’d never heard of before. But when I got back to St. Louis, it was all music, until it wasn’t. Like a lot of local bands, we were almost famous.

How about a quick one-liner about a few of the places you worked?

Flamingo Café – The pot of gold for the kitchen crew was the 40-ouncers we cracked open at the end of a shift.

Sandrina’s – Booze…I remember serving chefs beer, liquor, and duck confit sliders until three a.m. Sandrina’s is where I met some the best chefs St. Louis. And I lived above the place, so at least getting home was easy.

P.T’s – I ran a barbecue pit outside. It’s where I learned to pick up money without using my hands. ‘Nuff said.

Sanctuaria – I went from prep cook to kitchen manager in six months. Matt Seiter and I made some waves there. I helped him with The Dive Bar of Cocktail Bars, a book he wrote based on Sanctuaria.

Diablitos –A visually striking, versatile place that was off-street and off the beaten path. Plus, we charged for chips and salsa—but it ncluded an entire salsa bar—which was controversial. 

Café Ventana – Beignets. We made thousands of them downstairs, which people could see us making through in a window—a ventana—in the floor.

Hendrick’s BBQ – It was on the Katy Trail—which we thought was an advantage— but off Main Street, which wasn’t. It held 500 people, another plus and a minus, and it was far away from our other places (Sanctuaria, Diablito’s, Café Ventana), which added to the challenges. Hendrick’s Two, which was supposed to open in the old Rusty’s in Edwardsville but never did, would have done me in.

Sugarfire Smoke House – I was slated to open downtown but it got delayed so much that I couldn’t wait any longer.

Boundary – I opened that with Rex Hale, who is an encyclopedia of food. We both worked in Antigua and dreamed about getting our hands on some Antigua Black pineapples, the sweetest in the world, which unfortunately are not exported.

Firecracker Pizza –Another place that was so long-delayed, I couldn’t hold out. I created recipes they never used, including Detroit-style pizza.

The Libertine – When the exec chef [Matt Bessler] left, I was passed by in favor of another chef. That was my signal to bow out.

Nudo House –Qui Tran and his love and passion for food and St. Louis, is infectious. Nudo was the most organized and well-researched place I’ve ever worked, hands down. Qui’s proven that when you put food and people first, money and success follows.

So why did you jump off that bullet train? I wasn’t getting any older—I’m 45—and the opportunity for the taco shack was just too perfect. Qui told me that if I didn’t follow through, I would never forgive myself and that he would never forgive me. ‘You have to,’ he said, ‘but know you’ll always have a place here.’ That’s like having Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. 

You bounced around a lot…what did you say to potential employers who reminded you of that? No one ever brought it up. The people who hired me knew I was hard-working, dedicated, and loyal, and that I had legit reasons for leaving where and when I did.

Do you have a mentor? Marco Pierre White, supposedly the world’s first celebrity chef. His book, Devil in the Kitchen, changed my life. I’ve read it like 50 times. He was living everything I saw when I was a young chef. He was passionate. He was irreverent. Gordon Ramsay worked for him, and he once made Ramsay cry. He preached that the most important person in the kitchen is the dishwasher, because of what they see and hear. Marco was the first and youngest British chef to win three Michelin stars and when he retired, he gave them back. It’s an incredible story.

Did you enact any of his policies? I read where he’d have people vacuum the ceilings. When I was at Diablito’s, I did the same thing. I strapped two milk crates each to a guy’s feet and had him mop the ceiling. Instead of yelling at the guy for doing whatever he did wrong, I made him do something off the wall, literally, which was far more effective.

Do you have a mantra, any words you live by? ‘A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it’s not open.’ Or how about, ‘Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is the best.’ Thank you, Frank Zappa.

Why the name, Rock Star Tacos? ‘Rock Star’ has become an adjective for ‘next level’ anything and the menu options are endless, so we’ve got Opening Acts, Headliners, Side Acts, Backstage Drinks. At the end we even say, “Good night New Town… We love you all.”

Were you ever called a culinary rock star? I was once, actually, and my bandmember friend and people call my partner Matt the ‘mortgage rock star.’ So it’s not a stretch. It’s who we are.

Talk about Rock Star’s building. It’s a whopping 100-square-feet with one pick-up window and guitars hanging on the wall out back that customers can pick up and play. We have a back patio with picnic tables and hope to fill the adjacent community area with donated patio chairs and furniture. We’ll at least partially cover our patio as soon as we can.

What are your favorite items on the menu? The shredded Angus beef taco, ‘More Cowbell,’ braised with onions and poblanos, is killer. The other headliner is the Tito Puerco, with Cuban citrus and garlic pork. We slow-simmer it using homemade  mojo criollo as a marinade and as a finishing sauce. Most people have never tasted—or smelled—that combination of bitter orange, Mexican oregano, and garlic. And people are putting our sweet and hot watermelon salsa on everything, like it’s pico de gallo.

Is there a rock lobster taco? We thought about it, but we’d probably have to sell them at cost.

“Rock star dust” and “fancy sauce” are both noted on the menu. Rock star dust has sweet and hot, paprika, cumin, sugar, salt, onion, garlic, chipotle and ancho peppers, powdered citric acid, and MSG. I created it years ago to put on popcorn but it’s just as good on tortilla chips. I wanted to call it Ziggy Dust, but that would have caused some problems, then Angel, but I would have heard about that, too. We took fancy sauce from Stepbrothers. When you see John C. Reilly ask for it in the movie, you’ll see why it stuck. In the movie, it’s just ketchup and mayonnaise. Ours is avocado ranch sour cream. 

What’s on the drink menu? Canned Mexican beers, canned margs, and probably canned wine, along with carbonated sodas. 

Will there be delivery as well as pick-up? Free delivery via golf cart, if we can pull it off. New Town is one of few areas where that makes sense.

How important is catering to a place like Rock Star? Because of my Sugarfire connection and being in a band, our name circulated quickly at Riverport and it snowballed from there. Booking catering jobs, being open for weekend amphitheater gigs, and having a large rent-free patio are how you make money from teeny-tiny space. And in the right setting, this thing is easily replicable.

What’s next? The developers here have just begun building a New Town outside of Kansas City. It’s already on our radar.