Credit: Jordan Braun
You may not know Scott Linquist’s name, but you definitely know his tacos. The man behind Coyo Taco helmed the kitchen at New York’s legendary Dos Caminos with Ivy Stark before coming to South Florida, where he started the taqueria-with-a-speakeasy trend that’s enveloped Miami.
Eleven years on, Coyo has become an international success with spots in Lisbon and forthcoming locations in London and Medellin. More importantly, a new Coyo is coming to Bayside early next year, so cruise passengers from across the world can enjoy his creations.
We caught up with the affable Lindquist as he’s putting the finishing touches on Xico, his latest project in Asheville, North Carolina. He dished on what he loves and doesn’t love about the Miami restaurant scene, and what he eats when he’s in the mood for leftovers.
Name: Scott Linquist
Nickname: None I want to tell you about. Though at Dos Caminos, my executive chefs called me “Big Daddy.”
Place of work: Coyo Taco
Favorite leftover memory: My father did a lot of the cooking, I remember him making crock pots of chile verde with pork or Texas style chili. We would have it for a few days. Both my parents worked so I’d come home and fend for myself, and a lot of the time it was stuff my father left in the crock pot.
Favorite restaurant for leftovers: Thai House. I always like spicy food as leftovers, and I like to let the papaya salad age overnight. It gets soggy and juicy and that’s when it’s really good. Then you get a big thing of the red or green curry and it heats up really nice.
My last meal would be: A 2-kilo tin of the best caviar in the world, with all the accoutrements and a couple bottles of champagne. If you’re gonna go out, you might as well do it with really good caviar.
What music is on in your kitchen? I came up in a time when the kitchen was silent, so music in the kitchen is still a conflict for me. I like something with a good vibe, that’s not too agro. The kitchen is tense enough, you don’t need Nine Inch Nails on in there. So, like, classic rock or Led Zeppelin.
Favorite thing about the Miami restaurant scene: The network of chefs and the camaraderie of that network. I have really great friends – Jose Mendin, Brad Kilgore, Jeremy Ford, Michael Schwartz – and that network of people makes Miami special
Least favorite thing about the Miami restaurant scene: Since COVID there’s been this overhyped speculation from restaurants from outside Miami, coming in with deep pockets and big budgets and spending outrageous sums of money on buildout. And it hurts people who’ve been working hard here for years. It’s arrogance, they come in and think they’ll show Miami what’s up, but I don’t think they’re getting the message that people don’t think they’re better.
After work, I drink: In New York, when I was younger, I used to have a “Chef’s Service Point,” which was basically a Styrofoam cup with tequila. I can’t do that anymore, I’m too old for that and running a restaurant with a hangover is prohibitive. But there’s nothing better than tequila to take things back to a normal level.
What would people be surprised to know about you? I own about eight guitars. I wanted to be a rock star but I suck, I just don’t have the gift. I am good with my hands though, and I built three of them. Painted, finished, did the electrical wiring, everything.
Go-to spots in Miami: Toni’s Sushi. I think that’s the best sushi spot in Miami. Michael’s Genuine, that’s a great restaurant to eat at the bar and the food is always on point. I love Capital Grille, love sitting at the bar there and if I want a wedge salad and a martini that’s the place to go.
Kitchen tool you swear by: An immersion circulator and a vacuum machine. Basically, you can cook a bone-in ribeye to a perfect medium rare, and it cuts down on cooking time. It also allows you to break down the fibrous tissues and make it a little more palatable. You don’t purge as much of the juices because you keep it at a low temperature, and the fat doesn’t render out.
If you weren’t a chef, what would you be doing: If it was up to my mother, I’d be a dentist. But I didn’t have the grades. So I’d probably be working construction. When I first started out I worked construction in the morning, then was a waiter at night. It was a grueling life but it taught me a great work ethic, which is what a chef really needs.
Advice for aspiring chefs: You gotta work for a couple of years before you make that leap. The Food Network and celebrity chefs and influencers have glamorized cooking, so kids are coming straight out of high school and going to culinary school. But getting out of school with $50,000 in loans and having to work for $15-20 an hour as a line cook isn’t gonna sit well with some people. It’s 10 years of hard labor before you’re gonna have any quality of life, and you’ve gotta work your ass off to make somebody believe in you enough to invest in a restaurant.
Most notable guest order pet peeve: Ordering a good piece of meat well done.
Favorite cities to visit for food: Mexico City and Paris. Mexico City because I’ve been cooking Mexican food for the last 30 years. I’m passionate about the cuisine and the culture and the history, and Mexico City is really a melting pot of all the regions around Mexico. Paris, because in culinary school you learn French technique, and I learned by working under French chefs. But I didn’t have the money to travel back then, so now when I go, I spent a month the first time, three weeks the second time.