Chef Roland Robles first came to prominence with FiveTenBurger, a food truck that cooked up delicious burgers throughout the Bay Area garnering amazing notices from such publications as Oakland Magazine and San Francisco Chronicle. Last year, he opened Handlebar, a brick-and-mortar with partner, Jennifer Seidman who also owns the area’s Acme Bar & Company. Handlebar is a neighborhood restaurant and bar where Robles explores fare outside the bun. However, he still serves up the best burger – in my humble opinion – in the Bay Area. Hands down. 
- How long have you been cooking? Since I was a boy, 35-40 years.
- What is your favorite food to eat? I adore Chinese, especially the Americanized delivery style but any really.
- What do you always have in your fridge at home? Herbs and eggs.
- What do you cook at home? Extravagant ten-course dinners and tacos.
- What marked characteristic do you find unappealing in your customer? Entitlement.
- What marked characteristic do you love in your diners? Patience.
- Tupperware, Rubbermaid, or Pyrex? Pyrex
- Beer, wine or cocktail? Beer and a shot. I’m a cook.
- Your favorite cookbook author? That’s tough… (Marcella) Hazan, (Julia) Child, my mom, (Kylie) Kwong
- Your favorite kitchen tool? My run of the mill Japanese deba.
- Your favorite ingredient? Salt.
- Least favorite thing to do in a kitchen? Wash dishes.
- Favorite types of cuisine to cook? Chinese, TexMex, Italian.
- Chef you most admire? For television: Mario Batali, Jacques Pepin.
- Food you dislike the most? Poorly made anything.
- How many tattoos? A lot.
- And if so, how many are of food? One. A sacred jalapeño.
A “No-Recipe” recipe from Chef Roland Robles:
I often make these chicken tacos:
- Diced boneless chicken breast
- Onion, garlic, jalapeño, turmeric, salt, sugar, garlic granules, onion flake, chili flake
- Chopped fresh cilantro
Mix all these ingredients and a little oil. Let rest. Heat a cast iron way up, dump the mix in and sear it almost all the way through for great color and turn over to finish. Put it in a bowl, mix in chopped cilantro. Serve with raw onion, chilies and hot tortillas.
— Go Eat. —
this was a fun interview! I especially liked the tupperware, rubbermaid, or pyrex question ahah. I’m kind of a pyrex snob, myself. 🙂
Thank you! If you ever get to Oakland, go see Roland. Great guy and really an unsung chef and cook in the Bay Area.
brilliant! Love it all–the photo, the interview, the recipe. I think even I can make that!