We were blown away by Steven Alvarez at the 2016 Appalachian Food Summit. We spent the day immersed in Appalachian food culture at Berea College, and all the speakers were fine but Mr Alvarez was a whole ‘nother beast.

Alvarez, a former University of Kentucky professor burst onto the national scene when he began teaching “Taco Literacy: Public Advocacy and Mexican Food in the US South” at the Lexington campus of the state’s university.

Field work was one of the most important parts of the curriculum, and that meant visiting Mexican restaurants and eating lots of tacos. We imagine he was the most popular teacher on campus.

Unfortunately Alvarez has left the school and relocated to New York City where he’ll be teaching at St. John’s University in Queens.

One of our favorite food writers Gustavo Arellano caught up with Alvarez recently and wrote this article.