LOS ANGELES — There are many places where you might expect to find Danny Trejo. On screen, in one of the 300 or so movies the 72-year-old actor has appeared in over his long career, including three “From Dusk Till Dawn” films. In commercials — his 2015 Marcia Brady imitation during the Super Bowl was unforgettable. You might not expect to see Trejo working the line in a kitchen, even if it is his own restaurant.
On a recent morning, Trejo moved around the 400-square-foot kitchen of Trejo’s Cantina in Hollywood, the actor’s second taqueria — the original year-old location is on La Brea Avenue — deftly working the stoves with his executive chef, John-Carlos Kuramoto. Finding Kuramoto, a veteran of Campanile, Michael’s in Santa Monica and Osteria Mozza even though he’s only 29, working the line is less unlikely.
Trejo is hardly wearing chef’s whites. He’s dressed all in black, a large crucifix around his neck like a relic, his long hair under a Trejo’s Tacos baseball cap. His face, deeply etched around the handlebar mustache, is an off-road map. But the trademark scowl is noticeably absent, replaced by laughter, a running commentary with Kuramoto and the fact that he keeps pausing to eat tacos. And not just any tacos: the roasted cauliflower tacos that have become one of the most popular items on the restaurant’s menu.
“This is how you take a bite of a vegan taco,” says Trejo. “You bite it harder.”