Valley native opens eatery

Terry Bradshaw, Donald Trump and rock band Sugar Ray share common ground, whether they know it or not.

Each has eaten a meal made by the hands and cookware of Weslaco chef David Bazan.

Bazan, a graduate of the American Culinary Institute of New York, has returned to the Rio Grande Valley and brings a unique take on cuisine in the form of a new eatery - Taste restaurant.

The connoisseur has reunited with childhood friend Richard Sauceda to open Taste.

"This is a dream come true; it's kind of surreal," said Bazan. "It's something I've always wanted. I love cooking."

The chef said his love for cooking was born of necessity at an early age.

"I got started when I was 12," he said. "My mom went back to school, so I had to start cooking for my brothers. I never wanted to stop."

Bazan got his foot in the door 18 years ago with a job at the Cimarron Country Club. He decided it was time to venture out on his own two years later.

"I wanted to go to culinary school," he said. "I saved some money and took a couple of trips to the east coast."

The Valley native's first trip was to the New England Culinary School, where he was immediately impressed. But the experience, he said, was incomparable to what he found at the American Culinary Institute.

"It (the smell) reminded me of Sahadi when I was a kid," Bazan said. "It was penetrating throughout the school. All I saw were students just like me dressed in chef coats walking around. I didn't want to leave. With the help of my parents and financial aid, I was able to go. I'm now a firm believer in ‘anything is possible.'"

Bazan worked at more than three national restaurants after college, including Vong of New York, The Ritz-Carlton of California and Club Med Florida.

The chef got his first experience in the local restaurant business when he helped open the Republic of The Rio Grande in McAllen.

"I developed the menu," Bazan said. "I ordered the food and developed the recipes. It's been almost 10 years."

Bazan and Sauceda said the key ingredient to Taste's success will be collaboration.

"This restaurant has been a long time in the making," Sauceda said. "David and I have been talking about this since we were kids. We have traveled throughout Europe together and we're both food fanatics."

Sauceda, a graduate of the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston, said he, like Bazan, has the training to run a successful start-up.

"The school I went to prepares you," he said. "They train you from washing pots and mopping the floors in the kitchen to prep cook positions, kitchen manager and head chef. When you graduate you're ready to manage a restaurant or open your own."

Sauceda also has experience in kitchen and takes a hands-on approach to managing Taste, he said.

"I've been cooking since I was 8 years old," he said. "I was asking Santa Claus for a spatula and sauté pans and not toys. I just love food."

Sauceda said Taste will offer local residents a more personal dining experience than area chain restaurants.

"What makes us special is that I am trained in the kitchen and the menu is developed by myself and the chef," he said "All the recipes are ours. It's the stuff that we've been cooking at home all our lives. It's the stuff I make for my kids."

The Taste owners plan to throw a grand opening party within the next three weeks, but said the restaurant will continue to operate as usual until the final touches are completed.

The finished restaurant will include a patio, bar area and a beer and wine menu formulated by Bazan.

"We really want to educate the area about food and get the people to try new things," said Sauceda. "Our concept with the name Taste is that, instead of chips and salsa, we bring out a little plate with a taste of something different on it, something the average person might not order. Ninety-nine percent of the time they'll try it and like it."

The menu at Taste ranges from lamb burgers with sweet potato fries to stuffed peppers and seafood bisques.
Sauceda said only the freshest ingredients would be used at his restaurant.

"I get up every morning at 6 o'clock and get all the greens, lettuce and vegetables fresh," he said. "We're constantly changing. We change our dinner menu every couple of weeks. We use whatever is fresh and whatever is in season."