New pop-up food stand Tantay brings Peruvian food to Lansing

Jose Aste grew up in Miami attending his parents’ dinner parties where Peruvian food was always on the menu. 

"My mom and dad were entertainers. There was always a gathering around the kitchen,” Aste explained.

His parents had emigrated from Peru when he was a child. Everything he knew about Peruvian cooking, he learned from them.

When he came to Lansing six years ago, he found that Peruvian dishes and sauces weren’t offered anywhere. Nor could he find the ingredients he needed in local grocery stores. 

But Aste found a way to offer authentic Peruvian food to the people of Lansing, a pop-up food stand called Tantay at the Allen Neighborhood Center. 

So far, the public has been receptive. 

His spicy cheese sauce, Huancaina, has a kick to it, but that was often the best part for the people who tasted it. 

Aste blends together cheese, milk, spices and Peruvian peppers that he purchases in Ann Arbor and sells the spicy cheese paste he creates as a dip.

“Huancaina is from a town called Huancayo in Peru,” Aste explained. “The sauce was poured over boiled potatoes and given to the railroad workers to eat. It became a Peruvian staple dish called Pappas a la Huancaina.”

Aste is one of 19 food entrepreneurs involved in Allen Neighborhood Center’s incubator kitchen program, which allows participants to rent commercial kitchen space by the hour. 

This opportunity gave Aste the confidence to leave the aviation industry after 12 years and become a full-time food entrepreneur.

Tasting Peruvian food

Aste learned about the incubator kitchen program from his mother-in-law.

He couldn’t afford to start a food truck or open a restaurant. And seeing the closing of several area restaurants worried him. 

“I didn’t have the means to open a restaurant and wait for people to come to me,” Aste explained. 

Signing up at the Allen Neighborhood Center in July allowed Aste to pursue his dream. He is now one of three food vendors featured at the center’s year-round farmer’s market on Wednesdays.

“The great thing about the incubator kitchen is you can give it a try without much risk,” said Lindsay Tarrant, kitchen and facilities manager at Allen Neighborhood Center. “You’re not responsible for the maintenance of the building. You give your idea a try and see if the public is receptive.”

Operating during the farmers market has allowed Aste to network, interact and get feedback on his recipes. 

Within one hour, seven people came to Aste’s booth and sampled his Huancaina. One customer enjoyed the sauce so much she returned to the stand with a friend.

“People have been incredibly excited about (Jose’s) food,” added Tarrant. “They’ve taken a liking to it.”

Customers also tried Aste’s Solterito de Quinoa, an Andean quinoa salad. 

“It’s very healthy,” he told one woman. “I add oregano and lime.”

Peruvian food is a fusion of other cuisines, such as Chinese, Japanese and barbecue, he explained. 

His recipe for Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian beef stir fry dish, is a prime example of Peruvian culture fusing with Asian spices and ingredients.  

But Peruvian food is also influenced by other cultures, such as African, Italian and Spanish, which can make finding ingredients locally difficult. 

Aste usually travels to Ann Arbor and brings back what he needs. 

A start at Allen Neighborhood Center

Aste felt conflicted about leaving aviation, but he was tired of working upwards of 50 hours a week and not seeing his wife, Melissa, and their two children Nelly, 6, and August, 4. 

“My wife was like — ‘You don’t seem happy. We don’t see each other. I want you to fulfill your dreams’,” Aste said. 

Allen Neighborhood Center helped Aste on his journey.

“We walk our (food) makers through the licensing process and how to be in compliance with the health department because they are serving hot ready-to-eat food,” Tarrant said.

Food vendors must be licensed through the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. They also must be licensed through the Ingham County Health Department like a traditional restaurant, Tarrant added.

The Wednesday farmers markets also provide vendors with access to customers. 

During the outdoor season in warmer months, vendors will see up to 700 customers, and during the indoor season in the cold months, vendors will see upwards of 200 people, explained Julia Kramer, farmers market and breadbasket food pantry manager at Allen Neighborhood Center.

Food entrepreneurs also benefit from the fact that Allen Neighborhood Center hosts the only farmers market in Lansing that is open all year long, said Joan Nelson, executive director at Allen Neighborhood Center.

“There are 26 markets in Mid-Michigan. Twenty-three are seasonal. Three are in Lansing. Two close in the winter, but the one opened all year is ours,” she explained.

Accelerator kitchen program

A $10 million expansion of Allen Neighborhood Center will boost its incubator kitchen program, which started in 2014. 

The Center announced in August it is introducing a next-level accelerator kitchen program for graduates of its incubator kitchen program. 

The new program will include a 1,200 square foot commercial kitchen as part of a 36,000-square-foot redevelopment project called Allen Place, near Shepard and Allen streets. Overall, Allen Place will include more than 20,000 square feet of commercial space. 

“They are paving the way for entrepreneurs. I got here at the perfect time,” Aste said. 

After operating in the upcoming accelerator kitchen for a time, Aste hopes to open a family friendly Peruvian restaurant. A place that welcomes everyone of all ages is important to him.

“‘Tantay’ is a word in Quechua, the native language of the Incas,” he said. “It means to bring people together.”

Contact Kristan Obeng at KObeng@lsj.com or 517-267-1344. Follow her on Twitter @KrissyObeng.

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