James Delarosa’s grandmother often shared stories of his grandfather harvesting avocados and limes in Mexico. Meat was a rare treat for the Mexican farmers to have, in which case they’d sear it over an open fire, she said.

The stories of Delarosa’s past have informed the new menu at the Fresco & Fryed food truck, which established a new home at Bend’s Open Space Event Studios last week.

Owners Delarosa and Kathryn Lippert are still hammering out the final details, such as a printed menu and a point-of-sale system. In the meantime, menu items are displayed on a dry-erase board and payment is accepted via Venmo or cash. But the Latin soul food is as inspired as ever.

The cultural influences dictating the menu are difficult to pinpoint but fall under a Latin umbrella, using mostly Latin ingredients with Indian techniques, in addition to Mexican, Cuban and Peruvian flavors, Delarosa and Lippert said.

First impressions

I first visited Fresco & Fryed in November 2022. It was parked at Otto’s Landing in Redmond, and I ordered the Cohiba bowl with slow-roasted mojo pork shoulder, aioli and bright pink pickled shallots. It was topped with a fried plantain that rose skyward and made such an impression that it easily rose to the top of my list of favorite restaurants.

I included it in “Three exceptional eateries that opened in Central Oregon 2022” after dining at 91 Central Oregon restaurants and food trucks that year. I hadn’t seen any other chef effortlessly weave together flavor and presentation quite like Delarosa.

Creative fusion of flavors

For Delarosa, cooking isn’t just flavor and technique. It’s philosophical.

“We really try to emulate and represent the food and cultures that we’re cooking,” said Delarosa, who is Hispanic and Indian. “We use a ton of Latin ingredients, but we use Indian cooking techniques — a lot of spices, a lot of fire, a lot of char.”

Fresco & Fryed is still serving up local favorites, like the Cohiba bowl ($18) and the Rude Boi chicken sandwich ($20), a hand-dredged crunchy chicken sandwich on a toasted brioche bun, but its new wing and taco plates are stunningly creative.

One of the new taco plates, the black ash asada, is inspired by Delarosa’s grandfather.

Tender tri-tip sits atop handmade tortillas, artfully sprinkled with edible flowers. The meat has a prominent, smoky flavor, achieved by a process that involves roasting onion and garlic peels to ash and rubbing the asada in it, Delaraosa said.

Another new menu item is the Ajanta purple wings ($18), named after the painted Ajanta caves along the silk trade route in India.

The chicken wings were unlike any wing I’d tasted before. The wings were delightfully crisp, dressed in a beet and ginger raita, an Indian-style yogurt sauce that was magenta in color. The flavors were expertly paired, and it left me wanting more.

Additional new menu items include the Cuban-style carnitas tacos called Mojonitas ($15), which Delarosa described as “vivacious, bright and zingy.” The purple wings are joined by Cuban Mojo wings and Cholo wings, a Mexican-style barbecue hot wing ($15 each).

Hours of operation are different from most area food trucks. The truck is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Friday, as Delarosa and Lippert have set working hours to care for their family of six, a luxury made possible by parking outside Open Space Event Studios.

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Details

What: Fresco & Fryed food truck

Location: Open Space Event Studios, 220 NE Lafayette Ave., Bend

Contact: 702-266-3527, @frescoandfryed on Instagram and facebook.com/frescoandfryed

Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Friday

Price Range: $14-$20 per dish