60 SECONDS WITH - Simon from Trippy Taco
What is the name of the restaurant, and what do you do? Trippy Taco, we do Mexican style street food.
Why Mexican? I was obsessed with eating Mexican street food from my time living in Southern California and Baja California. I just kept making it when I came back to Australia because I loved it so much. I also discovered other people loved it as well.
Why do you think there has suddenly been an explosion of Mexican food in Melbourne? Not sure exactly, but tacos really suit our climate and way of life. It's simple, fresh, and accessible, as well as fun.
What makes your restaurant different? Trippy Taco has its own flavour, which has developed over the last decade. Our main focus is the food, and making it accessible to all. Although we don't use meat, I have never labelled Trippy Taco as vegetarian or even Mexican for that matter. I think the food stands on it's own.
What is your favourite meal on the menu, and why? My favourite is breakfast tacos. I always love the combination of eggs, salsa and fresh corn tortillas. It's a very light, fresh and satisfying way to start the day (with a glass of fresh OJ). I also find it difficult to go past our Original Tacos and of course Trippy Fries!
What has been your proudest achievement to date? Probably seeing how happy and proud, relieved my parents and family were when I opened the new shop. Mum, Dad, Myself, as well as my good friend Sandy, pretty much did the entire shop fit out ourselves. They have really put in lots of hard work to get it off the ground!
What makes you happiest about what you’re doing? Seeing long time Trippy's customers still coming in and enjoying our food, as well as many new faces.
What are your plans for the future? Not sure, things don't move too quickly in my world. I'm happy at the moment. We will be looking expand the cocktail menu before next summer and always work on improving our customer experience.