This San José Food Truck Is One of the Only Dominican Food Spots in the Bay

A half-mile stretch on the outskirts of south downtown San José has become a hotbed for food trucks from across Latin America. In the past two years, new trucks have launched specializing in corn cachapas from Venezuela, tender nacatamales from Nicaragua, and, as of last May, the slow-cooked stews and savory mashed plantains of the Dominican Republic.

Wrapped in the characteristic blue, red and white of the Dominican flag, the El Fogon d’Geny truck shares a small, picnic table–lined lot with a few other food trucks. Its arrival is great news for fans of Caribbean food: Dominican dishes used to be nearly impossible to come by in the Bay Area. Now, El Fogon d’Geny is putting in the work to introduce the cuisine’s hearty flavors to the South Bay.

Owner Vanessa Rodríguez was born in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, but grew up in Nagua, a smaller city on the island’s northeastern coast. As a child, she learned to cook alongside her mother, grandmother and aunts. In 2002, she moved to Bávaro, Punta Cana, a more touristy area where she began her career as a professional cook. Over the years, she blended what she learned working in restaurant kitchens with her family’s recipes to develop her own style centered on patient, low-and-slow cooking and aggressive seasoning.

After immigrating to San José in 2016, she continued working at restaurants and, seeing the lack of Dominican representation, felt inspired to introduce her cuisine to the Bay. Three years ago, she finally gave it a shot, giving away plates of Dominican fried chicken to neighbors and friends. Eventually, she launched a home-based food business, selling habichuelas guisadas and moro de guandules via social media.

“Starting a business here isn’t as easy as it is in my country,” says Rodríguez, “I saw it as a difficult dream to achieve, but I did it. Here I am.”

The number one reason to visit El Fogon d’Geny is to devour a plate of mofongo. While the savory plantain dish originated in Puerto Rican, it’s also popular in the Dominican Republic. Rodríguez says it’s the most difficult item on her menu to prepare, as she incorporates several personal twists. Traditionally, mofongo is made by frying green plantains, then mashing them with garlic and chicharrón. Rodríguez shapes her version into a crater and fries it to develop a crispy exterior that contrasts the fluffy, meaty interior. It’s topped with shrimp, sliced cheese and a creamy sauce that overflows onto the plate.

You can also try the distinctly Dominican take on mashed plantains called mangú, in which green plantains are boiled instead of fried before mashing. Rodriguez serves it as part of a traditional Dominican breakfast known as los tres golpes.The mangú has a texture reminiscent of refried beans but even creamier. It comes with fried eggs, two crisped slices of Dominican salami (like extremely beefy-tasting sausage patties) and slabs of fresh cheese that are fried until golden on the outside.

El Fogon d’Geny’s menu highlights a host of other Dominican specialties like habichuelas con dulce (sweet beans), pica pollo (fried chicken) and sancocho (a hearty stew). Rodríguez wanted to offer a large variety of dishes to reach as many people as possible. “I have Dominican and Latino clients, but there’s also a lot of people that aren’t familiar with the food,” says Rodríguez.