Bailey's Culinary Wanderlust
Southern Cali chef serving up tasting menus inspired by life's adventures and local flavors out of Las Puertas
If you ever wanted to see the innermost workings of a chef's brain, pull back the curtain and peek into the world of pop-up dinners. Standard menus are full of the classics that bring dinners back time and time again. However, pop-up dinners allow the chef's creativity to run wild and explore dishes that can dazzle the mind and showcase the soul. This is the main driving force behind chef Bailey Guevara and the team at Hidden Table.
Running specialized tasting menus out of Las Puertas (385 Rhode Island St), Guevara’s use of local ingredients and purveyors are the building blocks for his menus that showcase cultures and dishes from all over the world. Having complete creative freedom with no attachments to a standard menu has allowed the team to feature plates ranging from Asian street food to regional Mexican cuisine. As Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates, sometimes you get caviar, sometimes you get Mexican street corn.”, or something like that; it’s been a while since I’ve seen that movie. The point is to enjoy the excitement of something new and unexpected.
Each dish is accompanied by a story, a small taste of memories. Bay scallops with a charred onion aguachile poured tableside, inspired by a month-long trip to Thailand with his wife. Or a playful braised brisket taco served alongside a mini Mexicoke reminiscent of his childhood in southern California. Guevara shares his story with each bite.
Closing out his most recent menu, which featured wild game from North America, Guevara talks about Hidden Table, his experiences leading up to this point in his career, what drives him, and the joys of building tasting menus.
What got you into cooking?
B: “I started as a dishwasher and server for a couple restaurants in high school when I was 15, to help my mother with rent money and buy a Playstation. On one of my first catering jobs, I ditched school for almost 2 weeks to work a gig at Coachella. We were cooking hot dogs and nachos, but it was my first time working a line. We started at 6 am every day and finished up around 2 am with short breaks to catch some shows. It was over 100°f and we were working over three massive grills on full blast. It was the hardest I had ever pushed for anything, but also the most fun I ever had. I think that was when I truly fell in love with the teamwork, the pain, the hustle, and the unbelievable good times that only this industry can bring.”
“Senior year I switched to independent study so I could work full time, and continued ever since. When I started working at my first high-end restaurant I had to start again as a dishwasher, every time I went in they wouldn't give me a job. So, I went back every week, until one day they needed a dishwasher. I spent every last dollar I had on a nice chef's knife (that I still use) and went in hours early every day off the clock to help with prep. Over two years I worked up to prep cook, oyster shucking, garde manger, grill, and finally sauté. I learned everything I could, and took it with me everywhere.”
What is the inspiration behind Hidden Table?
B: “The original idea for Hidden Table was just to do one dinner without holding anything back, to be as creative and fearless as I could be. It has become harder than ever for restaurants to succeed, with rising rents, food cost, labor cost, etc… Because of that cost it has gotten harder to put out the food that we dream of as chefs. With Hidden Table being a pop-up we don't have to bear as much of the rising costs and it allows us to put months of work and thought into a single night. Our inspiration has stayed the same, cooking without restriction, never holding back, and putting our soul out there for every menu. We try to tell a story with each menu and each dish.”
Is there a dish you have made that best represents yourself?
B: “I think the dish I see as most true to what I want out of being a chef, is the venison and molé dish from our summer menu. As a kid growing up in California, going deer hunting with my family every year was something that I always looked forward to and loved. The smell of the sage brush the deer would hide in, and the taste of venison chili bubbling over a campfire, and chocolates from grandma for dessert. I tried to capture that experience by using smoked fruits and chilis, chocolate, and then resting fresh sage in the molé just before serving. Tasting that dish brought me back to those days I cherish so greatly.”
“The challenge of perfectly cooked venison, month-long fermented cherries, and 3 day process of making mole brought me back to those early days of cooking 100+ hours a week, learning all these techniques that made this recipe possible. It felt like I put every part of myself onto those plates that night.”
Do you have a favorite theme you have done so far? Or one you would like to do in the future that excites you?
B: “My favorites so far have been the dinners inspired by Southeast Asian and Mexican cuisines. Living in Los Angeles and surrounding areas of southern California, Mexican food was most of my diet. Things like lengua tacos, pozole, carnitas, tamales, and sopes. Mexican food will forever be my favorite thing to eat. In 2021 I went on a month long trip to Thailand with my wife that forever changed how I think about flavor and technique. The way they categorize each ingredient into sweet, sour, spicy, salty, savory, and bitter. Dishes like som tam, khao soi, and gai yang, quickly became favorites. I could just cook either Thai or Mexican food for the rest of my life and be wildly content.”
What would be your advice for someone wanting to start pop-ups or get into the industry?
B: “For anyone thinking about this industry, I'll tell you what my cousin (and amazing chef) Trevor May told me. "This job can be hard as hell, don't do it, unless you feel you absolutely have to." and I would add that only when you learn to love the worst of it will you fully appreciate the best of it.”
Seeing someone's journey and soul in dish form is truly an experience that sets itself apart from the standard grabbing a bite to eat. If you are interested in learning more about previous menus or how to reserve a seat for an upcoming event you can visit their website at www.hiddentablebuffalo.com. Guevara suggests signing up on their mailing list (which you can find on their website) for up to date information, future menu drops, and first chance at reserved seating. You can also follow their story on Instagram @hiddentable716