Vegans To Carnivores, Danny Trejo's New Cookbook Has You Covered

You probably know Danny Trejo from his roles in "Desperado" and the "Spy Kids" franchise, but you might not know that the actor owns multiple restaurants, and is building a cookbook empire. As Food & Wine reports, Trejo opened his first restaurant, Trejo's Tacos, in Los Angeles back in 2016. It has since gone on to expand into a local LA institution with multiple locations, weathering the pandemic through strong fan support and more than a little commitment from the actor himself. He also went on to tackle another beloved Los Angeles food the next year, opening a donut shop in Hollywood that offers unique flavors like margarita or Fruity Pebbles, alongside glazed classics.

Any true star chef is going to follow up success like that by releasing a cookbook, even if they have a movie career to fall back on. "Trejo's Tacos" was released in 2020, just as the pandemic was straining his restaurant business, and quickly won over home cooks with its simple, accessible recipes. Trejo told Forbes that he was happy to see his cookbook find an audience during such a difficult time, with fans telling him that they were going through every recipe in the book during lockdown. He also clearly values the power that food has to bring people together, using his restaurants to provide food for Los Angeles residents who were in need during COVID. Now his latest cookbook looks to carry on the themes of good, simple food and community.

Danny Trejo's latest cookbook from Penguin Random House is named after the Hollywood location of his taco empire, Trejo's Cantina. It's a book steeped in themes of welcoming, community, and the joy that food can bring to groups of people. Featuring a wide range of recipes from vegan tamales to Tijuana-style birria, it embraces an openness to vegan and vegetarian eating, while still providing plenty of bites that meat-eaters will love. Trejo's commitment to inclusion extends to the drinks, with a variety of non-alcoholic beverages like tamarind fizz finding their place alongside twists on classic cocktails.

"Trejo's Cantina" also goes beyond recipes to include stories about the actor's upbringing and life in Los Angeles. It's no surprise that Trejo would mix the personal into his cookbook, telling Eater that great food has always been a part of his experience with both family and community in LA. His passion for food has always been clear from his restaurants, which Trejo revealed in an interview with Mashed Anthony Bourdain famously described as "just really good." Soon you'll be able to share in Trejo's passion for food yourself, as "Trejo's Cantina" is set for release on April 18 of this year. It looks like it will be the next best thing to eating with the man himself.