Along with his tacos, Jordan Beatty is making two-pound colossal burritos at his Taco Tuesdays setup at Memphis Kitchen Co-Op.
Beatty, 29, isn’t Mexican, but, he says, “I would definitely say Mexican food is part of my vibe.” And, he adds, “I wanted to share my passion for Mexican food with other people who would enjoy it. I’ve been working on my Mexican food for about two years now. I’m really honing in on it. I’m really proud of my product.”
Tacos were Beatty’s introduction to Mexican food. “The first time I ever ate Mexican food was probably Taco Bell. My father was regional manager at Taco Bell for six or seven years. He managed four different stores, so we ate Taco Bell. I have three brothers my size. We are very large men. We ate Taco Bell almost every night ’cause that’s what my dad could get for free.”
Mexican food gives him “a good feeling,” Beatty says. “It’s very straightforward and honest. The ingredients speak for themselves without any real intense culinary techniques. It’s just pure flavors put together.”
Opera singing was Beatty’s first vibe. “When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an opera singer. Not a chef. I would sing opera music to anyone who would listen.”
A “true baritone,” Beatty, who sang in the choir in middle school, high school, and college, liked the “emotion, the intensity” of opera music. Cooking wasn’t on his radar. “I come from a long line of people who can’t cook at all.”
Little Caesars pizza was Beatty’s first restaurant job. “I was the sign shaker from 11-3 p.m. And then I would go inside and scrub and clean.”
One sign was shaped like a guitar. “You’d see me dancing on the side of the road with that sign.”
Beatty also cooked. “They showed me how to make pizzas. And then I started working the line. I learned how to make dough.”
In college, Beatty wanted to be a teacher. He later opened Tiger Paws Landscape, his own landscape business, but he closed it after he developed “an allergy to trees, grass, and weeds.”
Beatty, who married a professional chef, Lee Anna Beatty, while he had his landscaping business, told her he was interested in learning to cook. “I just didn’t really know where to start. It just so happened that week chef Spencer McMillin posted on his Facebook page that he needed a dishwasher for the space where he was. Caritas Village. I started the next day.”
He rose from dishwasher to sous-chef, thanks to McMillin’s guidance. “I loved it. I went straight into it. I haven’t looked back.”
Beatty also worked at Tamboli’s Pasta & Pizza, The Vault, and FLIP SIDE Memphis before he moved to Memphis Kitchen Co-op and began working for co-owner Richard McCracken’s Amplified Meal Prep.
He also became his wife’s chef at Busy Bee Catering. “We do a little bit of everything. I would say mostly we are Asian fusion, Mexican inspired, and classic Americana.”
Beatty’s Taco Tuesdays is a part of Busy Bee Catering. “We’ve been serving what I call a premium taco bar for a while.”
He held his first official Taco Tuesday on August 8th. “I make my own adobo sauce, which is the basis of a lot of my Mexican cooking. A mixture of peppers, onions, garlic, vinegar, spices, and oil.
“I marinate my meats in it and my mushrooms. And that’s how I make my taco sauce.”
He offers chicken, beef, shrimp, barbacoa, and marinated mushroom tacos. “And I do one chef special every week that’s going to change.”
His first one was pollo adobo blanco. “Adobo beurre blanc over marinated chicken.”
And, yes, Beatty still sings. “Constantly. But not really for other people’s enjoyment. Just my own.”
Instead of opera, Beatty sings rock, folk, Americana, and country music.
“That’s one of the great parts of being a chef. The kitchen is my stage. I can just enjoy my time and sing and just kind of have a good time. And as long as I’m doing that, I don’t feel like I’m working at all.”
Memphis Kitchen Co-Op is at 7946 Fischer Steel Road in Cordova.
Cordelia’s Market 