Over-the-Rhine’s Middle Eastern street food spot Forty Thieves is welcoming some new faces to its kitchen.
Owner/chef Daniel Wright, who also owns Cincy mainstays Senate, Abigail Street and Pontiac, announced on his Facebook page on Oct. 9 that he will be starting a residency program at the restaurant on Sundays in order to give aspiring chefs, cooks and bakers the opportunity to practice their craft “in the hope of breaking out.”
The first local chef to participate in the series will be Derrick Braziel, who runs a tacos al pastor pop-up called Pata Roja Taqueria. Braziel is well-known in the community for his role as co-founder and managing partner of Mortar, a business incubator which targets under-served communities to bring their entrepreneurial goals to fruition and to join in Cincinnati’s booming minority economy.
“(Derrick) has been spending a lot of time traveling to Mexico City, perfecting his craft and learning the secrets from some of the best taquerias in Mexico. To say his food is deliciously thoughtful might be an understatement,” said Wright in an email.
The Pata Roja pop-up will run from Nov. 10 to Dec. 1, offering tacos from 1-8 p.m. every Sunday.
According to the post, Wright says that all residents will receive 100-percent of their profits made from the pop up; the only thing Forty Thieves asks is that participants treat the kitchen as if it’s their own.
“A handful of people believed in us when we were getting started and didn’t have a pot to piss in, and we want to help a new generation get to where they’re going,” Wright says in the post.
Forty Thieves, 1538 Race St., Over-the-Rhine.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 12, 2019.