A Go-To Source of Modern Asian Comfort Food
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If you love Texan food as much as you love Asian food, The Peached Tortilla is definitely a must-try for you! The Peached Tortilla created a dining experience in Austin that merges something familiar with something new: their Southern comfort food with an Asian flair.
Regardless if you come for dinner, cocktails, or a Sunday brunch, you’re sure to have ultimate food experiences and options that are all equally satisfying. Bring along your family and friends to share the awesome food with — while maintaining social distancing, of course!
Getting to Know Eric Silverstein
Eric Silverstein, the founder of The Peached Tortilla, is a former litigator who decided to pursue a different career path and fulfill his passion for food and business. Born in Tokyo, Eric was heavily influenced by Japanese, Chinese, and Malaysian cuisine. At age 10, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia — where he was introduced to traditional Southern cuisine.
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These divergent flavors and cuisines serve as the backdrop for The Peached Tortilla's menu. It was in 2012 that Eric was finally recognized for his business efforts. He was first recognized as one of the new “Stars of Street Food” by Restaurant Hospitality, and then was recently named as one of the Top 30 Up and Coming Chefs in America by Plate Magazine.
The Idea Behind
The Peached Tortilla was supposedly a fast-casual fusion taco restaurant. Eric was circulating a business plan back in 2009, and it was difficult to raise money post-recession. He ended up pivoting to a food truck business in 2010 as an Asian and Southern fusion taco truck and decided to grow the business from there.
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The trajectory of the business changed, and they eventually graduated as a food truck. The Peached Tortilla morphed into a full-service catering business, two full-service restaurants, and one fast-casual restaurant at the airport.
Penetrating the Market
Food trucks were gaining steam on a national level back in 2010. Austin, however, did not have that many mobile food trucks. The Peached Tortilla hit Austin with the right timing. According to Eric:
“Had we opened a few years later, we probably would not have been able to generate the same type of noise. We were able to penetrate a larger part of the market because of our timing and having the first-mover advantage.”
© Inked Fingers
Sourcing Ingredients
The Peached Tortilla sources ingredients from a wide variety of vendors, including one broadliner. Their most important vendor is probably their Asian food distributor who supplies their Asian ingredients — especially those hard to find ones.
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For bread and pastries, they source from local bakeries such as Easy Tiger and New World Bakery. For pork, they have just started to source from Tenderbelly. And they also take pride in being in partnership with Vital Farms.
The Peached Tortilla Menu
Their restaurant menu had undergone a creative process in terms of coming up with it. They spent about a year in taste-testing everything and going through iteration after iteration. Eric even flew to Seattle to collaborate with some chefs on certain dishes.
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Perfecting the Menu
In terms of producing each dish, the hardest part is getting them consistent. It's about repetition with the prep team and cook — and it took years to perfect recipes. They had to consider whether the recipes work during the preparation level, when to execute a dish on the line, and of course their customer’s feedback.
The Peached Tortilla acknowledges that a customer has to be happy with the final product. If they receive a bunch of poor feedback on a dish, they go back to the drawing board and potentially re-work on it.
The Bestsellers
The tacos and brussels sprouts (how long do brussels sprouts last?)are their “main” bestsellers. The Southern Fun, Dan Dan Noodles, and Pork Belly (What wine goes well with pork belly?) Buns are also some of the crowd’s favorites.
Where to Catch The Peached Tortilla
If you’re one who fancies food trucks, you can spot one of theirs around Austin! But if you’re one who prefers dining in a brick-and-mortar store, you may visit the following The Peached Tortilla branches on:
Burnet Road, and
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
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You may also head to The Peached Tortilla's sister restaurant, Bar Peached, for similar cuisine and vibes. They also run a full-service catering company out of their event space, Peached Social House.
Interested to learn more about their recipes? Lucky you! Eric released his first cookbook in May of last year entitled, “The Peached Tortilla: Modern Asian Comfort Food from Tokyo to Texas,” available for purchase on Amazon as well as on their website.
Photo credits: Inked Fingers and Consumable Content.
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