The face behind the counter was the same but everything else a little different when Raglan’s mobile Latin American eatery returned to town last week.
For one thing Juan Gomez – pictured serving one of his younger customers at the weekend – is now in a new location with more foot traffic, outside The Herbal Dispensary. For another the business is now called not Juantanamera but Raglan Cruisers, in a nod to the enterprising Venezuelan’s sideline business making skateboard decks.
And for yet another, he now has a dinky new bright yellow caravan.
The fare’s different too: one of the gleaming new machines at either side of the counter is for making churros, a deep-fried donut-style treat, and the other churns out chocolate dipping sauce to complement the churros’ sugar coating.
As the wording on his caravan indicates, Juan also intends offering acai which is a berry from the Amazon – a superfood full of antioxidants and “all good stuff” that will come in a fruit bowl, he says.
“Everything is new from scratch,” Juan told the Chronicle proudly in his strong Spanish accent, adding he’d spent a year – and about $15,000 – on this latest venture.
Edith Symes
