{"id":471925,"date":"2026-10-20T20:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T20:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/471925\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T20:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T20:20:10","slug":"the-chef-prep-qa-with-regino-rojas-of-revolver-and-purepecha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/471925\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chef Prep Q&A with Regino Rojas of Revolver and Purepecha"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRegino Rojas of Revoler Taco Lounge and the tasting room, Purepecha.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Jordan Maddox<\/p>\n

Chef Regino \u201cGino\u201d Rojas has had an outsized influence on the story of tacos in Dallas. Originally from Michoac\u00e1n, Mexico, the chef introduced the city to a new style of the cuisine. While taco stands are aplenty (and we love them), Rojas upgraded the local staple with an inventive menu and a tasting room<\/a>. Pur\u00e9pecha, named after an indigenous group from Mexico, is a reservations-only spot in Deep Ellum designed so that guests feel like they\u2019re eating in his home kitchen. <\/p>\n

See part of this Q&A on Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n

He also has the more casual cantina Revolver<\/a> next door. In both places, his mix of styles and cultures is simple yet inspiring. Wonton-wrapped cabrito, for instance, employs the delicate Chinese staple as a \u201cvehicle,\u201d as he once called it. A long octopus tentacle sticks out of a tortilla, which his mom and aunt make, in the crowd-favorite octopus al pastor. <\/p>\n

Rojas\u2019 mom and aunt work with him. His father, Arturo Rojas, ran a shop in the back of the restaurant where he engraved guns with intricate, hand-etched scrollwork \u2014\u00a0a great story<\/a> <\/a>told by Jos\u00e9 Ralat for Vice. <\/p>\n

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THANK YOU!<\/p>\n

You’re all set.<\/p>\n

CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

We recently caught up with the six-time (!) James Beard semifinalist (seriously, James, get it done) to ask him a few burning questions from, what he calls, \u201cthe bad-ass neighborhood of Deep Ellum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s our chat:<\/p>\n

Dallas Observer: What\u2019s your favorite guilty pleasure meal?
Rojas: Well, there\u2019s a dish that my mom make for me since I was a little kid. It\u2019s a gordita apachurrado, which is a classic toasted gordita. And then it\u2019s hand-crushed and then there\u2019s chili de arbol applied, which is a very rich sauce. And I\u2019ve been eating those dishes since I was a little kid. In Mexico, you don\u2019t get food in school. Your mother will have to take your lunch. So, my mother would take little prepared dishes for me. So, all my friends were like, \u201cWhat is your mother bringing today? What is your mother bringing?\u201d So, all those dishes, especially that one. Sometimes I cry when I eat it.<\/p>\n

DO: What are some of your favorite restaurants in Dallas?
Rojas: I can count them, probably with three fingers. One of the best dishes here in Dallas \u2014 my favorite one is the duck hearts at Mot Hai Ba. It\u2019s the best fucking dish in Dallas. They don\u2019t have many a day for obvious reasons, but it\u2019s delicious. Every time I go, I demand a double portion. And the foie gras at Paris 7th in Fort Worth. [Chef Peja Kristic at Mot Hai Ba suggested we talk to chef Rojas; here\u2019s that chat<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

\"KidneysKidney dish at Steirerick in Vienna. <\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Regino Rojas<\/p>\n

DO: What\u2019s the best meal you\u2019ve ever had?
Rojas: That\u2019s hard. I will tell you the dish that has wowed me this year, and the best in probably 20 years. It was kidneys at a place in Vienna called Steirerick. It completely blew my mind. How can somebody do so much with so little? That was the essence of fine dining. Some delicious kidney that is still red in the middle. How? I don\u2019t know; I didn\u2019t even want to ask. I wanted to sit down, shut the fuck up and eat it because it was subliminal.<\/p>\n

DO: What\u2019s a food trend you\u2019re tired of?
Rojas: There are so many. Aguachile is one of them. Everything is an aguachile now. They seem to almost get rid of the word \u201cceviche.\u201c<\/p>\n

DO: What\u2019s the worst thing that\u2019s ever happened in your kitchen?
Rojas: There are many, but \u2026 we were cleaning right here, washing the floors. And I was in the front and all of a sudden I just heard this noise, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Fuck, somebody fall.\u2019 And, I saw her on the floor; my aunt called, and I was like, \u2018Aunt, don\u2019t move, please don\u2019t move.\u2018 And she goes, \u2018I\u2019m OK.\u2019 And she stands up; the knot was like this fucking big.<\/p>\n

And I was like, \u2018Oh no, Tia.\u2019 And then we sit her down and made sure all her senses were fine. This happened around 5 p.m. and we make sure she was fine and everything. Fifteen to 20 minutes passed by, she was fine. No blood or anything. I was like, \u201cOK, let\u2019s go to the doctor. I want to take you to the hospital. I want to make sure you\u2019re fine.\u2019 She looked at me like, \u2018No, mijo, we have a service tonight.\u2018 [Gino slaps the table in pride.]<\/p>\n

She refuses to go because she wanted to serve the people. Of course, I took her right away after, and she was fine. <\/p>\n

DO: Who should we talk to next?
Rojas: Chef Mark Hitri from Paris 7th in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

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