Nuevo Mexico is open for business in Portland, Ore.

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Since writing a story about the convergence of rock music and foodie culture, I’ve gotten quite a few e-mails pointing me in the direction of further examples of musicians-turned-chefs. And just now a friend sent me a link to an episode of Vendr.TV that chronicles street-food-fanatic host Dan Delaney, testing the food served at the food cart Nuevo Mexico in downtown Portland, Ore. I mentioned the cart, which was opened by former Shins drummer Jesse Sandoval, in my story but wasn’t aware that it was already open.

In the clip, Sandoval appears in the window of his little bright red-and-yellow trailer, handing sopapillas to customers, expounding on the importance of chilies to New Mexican cooking and talking about his newfound understanding of the ‘food cart subculture.’

In a post about the video, the music-news website Pitchfork takes note of the fact that in the clip the Shins is never mentioned. Either Delaney didn’t realize how important the band was (not likely), or Sandoval is sensitive about his dismissal from the band (likely).

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: The Shins, with ex-drummer Jesse Sandoval at right