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04/26/2023 08:29 AMGreg Sharon knows what you’re thinking. “That’s the concern,” he muses, “The taco truck guy buys Clam Castle; he’s going to turn everything into Mexican food, right?” Wrong.
Sharon, the chef behind the popular Taco Pacifico food truck, has taken the helm at Madison’s Clam Castle, which opened for the 2023 season about a week ago. As we walk into the building just prior to the opening, he muses, “People tell me how much this place means to them. They’ve had first dates here, summertime memories…I’m not looking to reinvent the menu.”
In fact, the seafood menu will remain largely the same. But Clam Castle featuring Taco Pacifico will give lovers of Sharon’s SoCal-style Mexican food something that has never been available before: a consistent place to find it. The kitchen will be serving up freshly made tacos, house-made tortilla chips, and a few new favorites alongside the Clam’s existing offerings.
“[Previous owner] David Donahue will stay for the first few weeks, hold my hand and walk us through it. I want to do the seafood the way they did it because everyone seems to love it,” says Sharon, looking across the asphalt to Donahue’s neighboring restaurant. “I don’t need to take a traditional seafood menu and Mexicanize it. What we will do is bring in our expertise, which is the Taco Pacifico side of the menu, and maybe marry a few items appropriately.”
A Long Journey Home
Sharon’s own journey into the food world mirrors the many miles traveled by his Taco Pacifico truck. A Westchester County native, he grew up exploring New York’s diverse street food vendors.
“I couldn’t have been more than seven or eight, and I was walking the streets in Manhattan with $3 in my pocket while my dad was at his law office,” he says. “I would just find myself going to a street vendor…street food, cart food, it was ingrained in me from a very young age. And when I look back on how I wound up doing a food truck, it doesn’t surprise me all that much. Because those were the kind of places that attracted me the most.”
After obtaining a film degree from Boston University, Sharon followed his (now) wife Adrienne to her home state of California, where he fell in love with the fresh, vegetable-forward Mexican cuisine.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I had no support system out there. It was a very Mexican community I had chosen [to live in] that I was very excited by, and I just went out to Mexican food every day — like just drive around and find a different place.”
Still convinced his career path was supposed to be in a professional setting, Sharon moved to Denver to complete an MBA. Meanwhile, he continued exploring, cooking, and perfecting his homemade tortilla chips. He and Adrienne lived in New York and Massachusetts before settling in Madison, where they live with sons Fletcher and Sam. Sharon launched Taco Pacifico in 2009, having finally found his way home not just to Connecticut but to the kitchen.
“I spent way too many years struggling, to not even find myself, because I always knew what I wanted to do,” he reflects. “My escape was always back to food. I lived so much of my life trying to please others. Now I’d rather just please customers. I’ve always just been happier around food.”
Fresh Above All Else
When designing the menu for Taco Pacifico, Sharon took inspiration from another California visionary: In-N-Out founder Harry Snyder. “Keep your menu simple,” he says, “Stick to a few basic things.”
Soft tacos and nachos will anchor the offerings at both the truck and the brick-and-mortar location. But the simplicity is somewhat deceiving, as it is clear that Sharon has carefully considered every ingredient of each dish. The meats used in the chicken, beef, and pork fillings are never frozen. The barbacoa alone takes a full 48 hours to prepare, the beef slowly melting into its own luxurious sauce. Nachos are built on house-made tortilla chips, and even the special blend of lettuce and cabbage topping is chosen to maximize flavor and crunch.
Fresh ingredients, says Sharon, are the cornerstone of his approach to cooking. “I think that’s the secret to success, and people taste that. You can’t fool the palate.” He admits that his insistence on freshness isn’t always the easiest or most cost-efficient business model, “...but I don’t care. That’s the artist in me. It has to be authentic; it has to be fresh.”
Taco Pacifico’s sous-chef, Mario Silva, shares Sharon’s drive to create well-balanced, deeply flavored food. He has been working in restaurants since childhood, starting with his mother’s business in his native Brazil. The Wallingford resident will be managing the kitchen at Clam Castle this summer when Sharon is needed at the food truck.
Flavors of SoCal and of the Sea
“I saw the passion [Greg] had in his recipes, and that kind of translated,” Silva explains, describing why he took the position at Taco Pacifico two years ago. “I have that same passion.”
Silva is hopeful that having Donahue’s involvement for the launch “will set the tone for consistency on the seafood side. Hopefully, customers will feel more secure…I think people will be happy with what we present.”
Guests visiting the newly reopened Clam Castle featuring Taco Pacifico can expect to see familiar favorites and a few new offerings on the letterboard menu. Classic fried clams, oysters, shrimp, and scallops; fish and chips and onion strings will be served fresh to order. Fried calamari will be available in traditional style or spicy, fried with hot chilies. Fish sandwiches, lobster rolls, and the much-beloved clam chowder will also be among the seafood options available.
Fish tacos will bridge the two sides of the menu, featuring fish marinated in Baja-style cilantro-lime seasoning, sauteed, and wrapped in a soft tortilla. The Taco Pacifico menu offers five fillings for their signature soft tacos: marinated grilled chicken, seasoned ground beef, shredded beef barbacoa, slow-cooked pork carnitas, or a medley of seasonal vegetables.
Sharon is pleased to have added a sixth option at Clam Castle: filet mignon. “Customers have asked for years for steak on the menu,” he admits. “So we’ll have the filet mignon tacos and a surf ‘n turf, too. You’ll get steak tacos, lobster roll, and a few cool sides.”
All tacos come topped with fresh house-made pico de gallo, shredded lettuce-cabbage blend, and cheese. Quesadillas, nachos, burritos, and cinnamon sugar churros will be featured along with sides. Taco Pacifico will also be launching a packaged version of their house-made tortilla chips, which will be available for purchase at the Clam Castle location.
Most shoreline residents—including Greg Sharon—never imagined a local taco truck chef taking over a favorite seafood restaurant. But he’s always followed an unpredictable path with invariably delicious outcomes.
Clam Castle featuring Taco Pacifico, 1324 Boston Post Road, Madison, 203-245-4911
Super Salsa Verde
Recipe by Chef Greg Sharon
While I do consider this salsa to be indeed super, I've named it based on its dominance of avocado - a superfood. It is more of a chunky dipping salsa than one I would lavishly garnish over tacos, although just like a Reeses, there is no wrong way to eat it!
2 lbs raw tomatillos
1 jalapeño pepper (or serrano, depending on spice perference)
2 garlic cloves
2 medium size avocados
1 medium size white onion
1 bunch cilantro
salt
Remove husks from tomatillos, if applicable. Rinse tomatillos under cold water until no longer sticky. Place in a deep glass dish along with garlic and jalapeño and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, until tomatillos are soft and blistering. Remove from oven and allow to chill completely in refrigerator, 1-2 hours.
Peel onion and slice in half. Reserve one half and chop the other into 1/4" pieces. Place chopped onion in a medium bowl.
Rinse cilantro and remove any tough stems. Set aside.
Slice open avocados, discard seeds and scoop out halves with large spoon. Cut one avocado into 1/2" chunks and add to bowl with chopped onion.
Place unsliced onion, unsliced avocado, and cilantro to a blender along with chilled tomatillo mixture. Add 1T. salt and blend until cilantro is fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt if needed. Once desired salt level has been reached, pour contents into large mixing bowl and add chopped onions and avocado chunks and stir slowly. Serve immediately (or chill in fridge) with Taco Pacifico tortilla chips.
Feeds 4-6
Pollo Pacifico Street Tacos
Recipe by Chef Greg Sharon
1 t. cumin
1 t. garlic salt
1 t. coriander
1 t. smoked paprika
1 T. corn oil
1/2 c. chopped cilantro, divided
1 lb chicken breast, 1/2” thick
1 lime + 1 t. lime juice
1 small white onion, chopped
Pacifico beer (1 bottle)
8-10 4” corn tortillas
Combine cumin, garlic salt, coriander, smoked paprika, lime juice, 1 tbsp corn oil and 1/4 cup cilantro in a mixing bowl and whisk. Add chicken and turn over in marinade until well coated. Cover and let marinate in refrigerator at least 30 mins.
Heat griddle or large frying pan on high. Once hot, add chicken and remaining marinade to pan for at least 3-5 minutes/side, or until center is thoroughly cooked. Quickly pour 1/4 cup of beer into pan and let sizzle 30 seconds. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
With heat still on, place tortillas (one perfectly stacked atop the other) in the hot pan and cook 30-60 seconds/side, or until slightly crispy. Remove from heat and stack on plate. Cover with a damp paper towel to avoid drying. Chop chicken into 1/4” chunks. Place 1-2 tortillas on each plate and fill each with chicken, remaining cilantro and chopped onion. Cut lime into wedges and serve to accompany. Enjoy with remaining Pacifico beer!