Interview with Coastal New England Rising Star Chef Jake Rojas of Tallulah on Thames – Newport, RI

Sean Kenniff: Where are you from?
Jake Rojas: I grew up in downtown El Paso—Raiders jacket, chuck tailors, starched pants and all. 

SK: How did you get your professional start?
JR: As a line cook at Café Central, the coolest fine-dining spot in El Paso, Texas. Before, I was a dropout that just got out of jail [at 16]. You’re either a drug dealer or a gangbanger in El Paso. I tried to go back to school through a dropout recovery program. I had to take a vocational course, so I took culinary basics of classic French cooking. I used to get stoned before lunch and got to come back and eat. It all just took off—I got a scholarship to Art Institute of Dallas culinary program.

SK: Do you have a mentor?
JR: Sean Nugent, [chef instructor at the Riverside High School Culinary Arts School], Chef Michael Scott, and Chef Rick Boyer [27 Ocean Blue in Boca Raton, Four Seasons in West Palm Beach].

SK: Does the seasonal nature of the business on the New England coast affect you in Newport?
JR: I changed the menu about 140 times last season. And I have an entirely new team in the kitchen this season.

SK: How is the chef community here?
JR: I’ve never worked in a city where the chefs are so tight. Matt Jennings gave me a list of all these providers as soon as I arrived. 

SK: What’s your five year plan?
JR: Tallulah is high brow, I want to do low brow, too. Build on the Tallulah Tacos concept—fast casual, traditional. Nobody is doing traditional Mexican food in a fast casual way here. But I love this, Tallulah on Thames, the multi-courses, the tweezers. 

SK: Tell us more about the taco concept?
JR: The tacos have a cult following of people who know what straightforward delicious food is. We sell 300 to 500 a day sometimes, it really took off. Tacos keep this place alive. Simple food is always better.