TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — "I thought well, whose job would I want to have regardless of how realistic it is," Jackie Tran said. "I thought Anthony Bourdain because he's traveling the world, immersing himself in so many cultures, and he doesn't have the kind of glitz and glamour of other celebrities."
Jackie Tran followed in Bourdain's footsteps in college but was unsuccessful.
"I didn't realize how competitive it was in Portland, so I wasn't really able to get that cooking job that I wanted," Tran said.
He ended up moving back to Tucson, where he grew up, and found a new way to get into the food industry.
He worked as a food photographer in Tucson, but once the pandemic began, he needed to look for other options.
"I was furloughed a couple of times and at the second time I was like I can't sit around or quit a temporary job on the fly," Tran said. I got to make something more permanent for myself; something more dependable."
That's when he decided to bring his talents from his apartment kitchen to El Torero. He worked there as a line cook and they also let him make some of his own specialties.
After a successful stint there, an investor liked what he was cooking, and Tran will soon be opening up a food truck in Tucson.
Tran's Fats Food Truck will primarily serve Asian street food and dumplings. You can see more of Jackie's work here.