WATCH: Bronx Chef Makes Thousands of Tamales a Day

29 year old Israel Veliz, owner of City Tamale in Hunts Point wakes up every day at 4AM to head to work and make…well not the donuts but tamales.

The popular restaurant was recently featured in The New York Times who wrote:

Tamales are more than ready for their big moment in New York, and Israel Veliz knows it. He has known it since 2014, when he dropped out of college to start making traditional Mexican versions in his Bronx apartment, in part because he wanted to help other New Yorkers appreciate this staple of his childhood in Puebla, Mexico, as much as he did. He also wanted to make really, really good tamales.

“You find tamale ladies on every corner, and the tamales are delicious,” said Mr. Veliz, 29, with a clear reverence for those who have preceded him in the Bronx. “But we don’t always know where the tamales are coming from.”

So he recruited his mother, Sara Muñiz, who had recently moved back to the Bronx from Puebla, Mexico, to teach him to make tamales. Mr. Veliz, who had spent nearly 10 years working in restaurants but never in a kitchen, lightly adapted her recipes and began selling about 100 a week on Facebook and Instagram, and then at weekend soccer games.

Now they’re featured in a video by Insider Comida.

Watch and let us know what you think!