Chaska Herald | www.chaskaherald.com
August 25, 2011 | Page 11
Pronto pups, mini-donuts and … fish tacos? OUTSIDE THE BOX
Chan family runs food stand at state fair BY UNSIE ZUEGE uzuege@swpub.com
Remember that recent reality show called “America’s Next Best Restaurant?” A bunch of contestants from around the country come up with a restaurant concept, come up with a menu, a logo, and a marketing plan? Michael and Sarah Wentzien of Chanhassen laughed when they heard about it. “We didn’t have to watch it,” Michael Wentzien said. “We’ve lived it.” For 50 weeks out of the year, Michael works at OptumInsight in Eden Prairie, a company which provides technology, information, analytics and consulting to the health care industry. Sarah is a CPA and former IBM business consultant. When they started a family — Paul, 8, John, 6, and Lauren, 3 — Sarah became a stay-at-home mom. But she was cooking up ideas for a food stand at the fair. Sarah comes from a Minnesota State Fair family. Her parents, Richard and Delphine Sunderland, have owned and operated the Red Barn Root Beer Stand and the Galaxy of Drinks for nearly 46 years at the state fair. The root beer is made locally with an old family recipe and is made in St. Paul. It’s only available once a year, during the 12 days of the state fair. Growing up, Sarah spent her time at the family’s fair booth, pretty much from the time she learned how to count back change, Michael said. It just never left her blood. Over the years, she and her family would brainstorm food concepts for the fair. Sarah’s sister, who lives in southern California, suggested creating a fish taco.
A fish taco? “I know,” Michael said. “If you’re from the Midwest [he grew up in Gladbrook, Iowa] that doesn’t sound right.” Though they played around with lots of ideas, they kept circling back to the fi sh taco concept. “So Sarah put a business plan together based on a fi sh taco stand,” Wentzien said. “We fiddled around in a test kitchen with different fish, toppings, sauces, and how you blend it together.” About seven years ago, they submitted their idea to the state fair. “‘We love it,’ we were told,” M ichael said. “ T hey said, ‘It’s in our top 10 for new food booths.’ But we didn’t make the fi nal cut. So we tried again the second year, and again we heard ‘We love it.’ The third year we were told that the fair was reconfiguring the International Bazaar and we should base our submission on that location. So Sarah wrote a whole different plan. But we didn’t get it. Then we heard that someone had moved out of the Food Building and there was, fi nally, an opening. This time, they invited us in. “But we had only three to four months to build the stand, layout and design the space, fit in the refrigerators, the freezers, the sinks, griddles, the hot and cold tables and develop the signage.” Michael said, ‘Fortunately, Sarah’s parents were able to give us a hand, along with family and friends. “Our fi rst year, we were up all night before the fair opened, getting ready and fi nally had everything set up at 6 a.m.” he said. “And then we opened for business at 8 a.m.” Their fish tacos swam out the door, so to speak. Local food reviewers raved about the new food concession at the fair, and Los Felipe Tacos made the list of top 10 best new foods. Since then, Los Felipe Tacos has ex-
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panded its menu. In addition to the famous fi sh taco, there is also jerk chicken, beef, and vegetarian tacos. Los Felipe Tacos have developed a following. “I know there are people who come to the fair, pay the admission, just so they can get our tacos, and then they leave,” Michael said. “And people always ask if we have a restaurant. We don’t, but maybe we should.” They’re introducing a new taco t his yea r — Ca r nitas Asian Fusion Taco — made of pulled pork with a special marinade, cabbage, fresh cucumbers, red peppers and jalapeño, served with a cusabi (cucumber/wasabi) sauce. They also have nachos and churros. This year, they’ve replaced the fried ice cream with xango cheesecake, deepfried and rolled in cinnamon sugar, raspberries and whipped cream.
NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT The Wentziens watched an episode of the America’s Next Great Restaurant knowing just what the contestants were going through. “We did the show when we created Los Felipe Tacos,” Michael said. “The hardest thing about opening a restaurant is how to manage the ordering.
PHOTO BY UNSIE ZUEGE
Come and see them at the state fair. Michael and Sarah Wentzien are the owners of San Felipe Tacos, located in the Food Building at the Minnesota State Fair. Their special fish taco has made it a destination booth for thousands of fans. Our fi rst year, we were left to our own devices. ‘How many tacos will we sell?’ You don’t know, but you have to order supplies and keep them on site. “The fi rst year was tough,” Michael said. “We almost ran out of fish the first day. We didn’t’ know how successful
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or popular it would be. We kept everyone busy to meet the demand. It’ll be tricky again this year. If the new items are a hit, we’ll fi nd out right away. “We’ve got a good crew,” Michael said. “Sarah does a good job hiring our crew. We’ve got family and friends and people from work helping
out during the 12 days, and a lot of kids from Chanhassen High School. “It’s a lot of fun being out here, meeting all kinds of people. It’s a real change from my everyday job. And by the end of the fair, I’m almost glad to get back to a regular office routine!”
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