Fork Off

We are all artists in our own way and our expression of love varies whether it’s through food, or poetry or singing.”

Dorian Varada

Dorian Varada is a creator.

He creates art, music, hair styles and food. Today, food is his focus as he can be found Thursdays through Mondays at the corner of Texas and Yankie streets in Silver City dealing his creations out of his food cart, Fork Off.

“Essentially I’m from Los Angeles and I love food,” Varada said. “I love to create.”

Coming to Silver City from the California coast, one of his inspirations for Fork Off was just a lack of variety. While he loves the New Mexican/Mexican food here, sometimes he said, he would like something different.

“In LA, you can find Korean, Indian, every type of continent is at your fingertips,” he said. “So, the inspiration was trying to bring the world to everybody’s fingertips. Like basically all the amazing things that the world done.”

Varada calls the food he sells, worldly fusion. He wants those around him to enjoy the best they can in life. Food is one of the ways he connects with people.

“We all deserve that decadence, and I was just trying to create this decadent menu that really showcases affordable prices, you know, with all those flavor profiles and the way its brought together harmoniously,” he said. “Who would have thought that Moroccan meets Japanese, or whatever I fuse, would work? And it’s really exciting.”

The Fork Off menu evolves as it changes, sometimes every week and sometimes every day. There have been a lot of requests lately for burgers, he said, so he makes worldly burgers. For example, the recent Juicy Lucy burger has appeared on the menu.

“The Juicy Lucy is a cheese stuffed patty,” Varada said. “It’s amazing. It got the name because when this chef made a variation of a burger and he said this is my creation, when the first person said, ‘WOW that’s a Juicy Lucy.’”

Describing something he created on the morning of his interview; Varada described a Korean fried chicken sandwich with a cucumber marinade served with pickles.

“It’s going to be delicious,” he said. “It’s all about how to conceptualize something to evolve further, to keep creating, and that’s the purpose of Fork Off.”

His work never stops, he said. His mind is constantly creating new things that have not been invented yet. Sometimes it keeps him up at night.

When Varada arrived in Silver City some 8 years ago, he worked with the Food Corps of America at the county’s Commons to bring diverse vegetables and fruit to local tables. Now he still works at the Grant County Commons facility, in the commercial kitchen there, where he brings together the worldly fusion his mind creates.

This is where he marinates and cooks the meats and sides for his cart.

“To marinate all those meats it takes time,” he said. “Of course [the marinade] works better if you give it time to let it marry and those flavors come together.”

The next step for Varada is doing breakfast at Fork Off. He is “conceptualizing” his breakfast menu, thinking about burritos.

Word of Fork Off spread through town and county following Fork Off’s beginnings in February of 2023. Referrals, neighborhood walk-bys and food adventure seekers all seem to find the little cart on the corner.

“It’s working,” he said. “I am very grateful.”

Varada calls cooking a form of love.

“When I cook its love,” he said. “Because I’m part Italian, we show that the best form of love is through our food. We are all artists in our own way and our expression of love varies whether it’s through food, or poetry or singing.”