Almost Paella, Not Chocolate - Part I

A near miss, and then a giant pan fell into my lap

It might not have been chocolate.

Many have heard the tales about the beginnings of Kakao — how I wanted something new after 20 years in business marketing, how I opened myself up to the universe and got my answer in the form of a friend selling her chocolate-making equipment. I started my chocolate business right then and there.

A less-known part of the story happened a month or so later, when I was watching a Food Network show about a guy in San Diego who snorkeled and speared fresh fish and seafood to use in the giant paellas he made for special events.

I love paella, and had been making a midwestern-US version for years. I saw huge paella pans at a market in France and Spain, and they fascinated me.

And so when I saw this guy on television making giant paellas in California, I immediately thought, wow, I could have done that! But alas, I was already well along on the chocolate path, and it became a big Oh, Well in the back of my mind.

Several years later, a guy named Inigo (yes, like Inigo Montoya - it’s a real name) shows up at the Saturday farmers market with several giant paella pans, and he’s making them every Saturday and selling out and they’re delicious and wonderful and I’m thinking, “Hey, he stole my idea!”

Of course he didn’t, actually, and far from being resentful, I talked to Inigo almost every market, and asked him what he was making this time, and watched for a bit before getting back to the business of my chocolate booth.

Fast forward to 2020, when Kate and I open Tale to Table, the pandemic markets are starting back up, and Inigo shows up at my chocolate booth.

“Brian, I am moving back to Europe and selling everything — are you interested?”

“Yes, of course, let me see what you have and how much it is!”

I look over the big spreadsheet, and pick out a pan and burner and table…

“No, Brian, I am not selling pieces, I’m selling the whole business!”

Heavy sigh. “I already have too many businesses, Inigo. I really just want a big pan.”

Heavy sigh. “Okay, let’s see what happens.”

A few weeks later, having mostly forgotten about that exchange, I hear from Inigo.

“Brian, I have a pan and burner and table for you, but you need to pick it up tonight because I’m closing on the house tomorrow.”

That evening, I’m looking at the back of my car and the one-meter paella pan, along with two propane burners and a sturdy metal table inside. And then I realize — this may not surprise some of you — I really don’t know what I’m doing here.

“Inigo, I know how to make a small paella, but how can I learn how to make one like this?”

“Start with just rice. It’s easy!”

The next day I looked it up. That pan takes 15 pounds of rice.

And it’s not just testing with a hefty investment of rice. Making a one-meter, 15-pounds-of-rice batch of paella is a spectacle, a show, an attention-grabber. It’s not a subtle thing.

And so the pan leaned against the counter at Tale to Table. Taunting me.

“Come on, Brian, when are we going to do this thing?”

For almost a full year.

To be continued…