Tony Diaz #npradio

Tony Diaz spotlights the upcoming event “Encuentro: The Native American Roots of Texas Mexican Food.” Several food scholars explore the culinary scene with chefs and writers, and sometimes, both! Victoria Elizondo is chef owner of Cochinita Co. in Houston where she insists that fresh and preferably local ingredients are key to her vibrant and flavorful Mexican food. At her restaurant in the Greater East End, Cochinita co., she usually has sever al dishes featuring the ancient food that is native to Texas for thousands of years: nopalitos. When she was 12, Elizondo left her native Nuevo Leon, south of the Texas Mexican border, with her mother to move to the United States, where she became a DACA recipient. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she got her first job at 16 as a restaurant hostess. During her career she has worked at top Houston restaurants like State of Grace, Pax Americana and Xochi. In 2016 she started her own business venture, Cochinita Co., initially a food truck concept that pivoted to a p