Gustock in Samborondón, the ‘intrepid’ festival that fuses gastronomy and music in its first edition

Those close to Antonio Hanna (50 years old), a member of the Guayaquil group Los Intrépidos, know two of his passions: cooking and music. He has been working on the latter for 31 years together with his bandmates Luis Caputti and Miguel Cabrera, even since they were in high school. But now the drummer decided to start an event that combines what he likes the most: Gustock, the first festival of music, art and gastronomy.

It was something that he had been cooking for some time, especially during the start of the pandemic when he started a course at the School of Chefs, where he learned to cook because before he did not know how to prepare a fried egg. “The name of Gustock, when MTV was MTV, there was a cooking show where fabián cooked little fox Von Quintiero, keyboard player for Soda Stereo, some 25 or 30 years ago. That name stuck with me, so I decided to do it, I even thought about it before the pandemic. Two of the hardest hit sectors were catering and entertainment; It is more to the latter that the doors were opened to the latter. Just as they say that doctors were the heroes during that pandemic, I also say that restaurants and musicians are, they practically survived, they had to reinvent themselves to survive. So more than a festival, Gustock is a tribute to them”.

Hanna wants this first edition to be the beginning of others. “One of the ideas I have is to institutionalize the festival. This time, due to time constraints, I did it faster, so it kind of leans a little more towards the music. But for next year I want it to be three days and not two. I want there to be presentations, talks, workshops with local and international chefs and that gastronomy students go to these presentations and learn more about pastry, chocolate, pasta and at night give space to entertainment without forgetting, well, to the entrepreneurs who will show the best of their cuisine and they will sell their products”.

Is this first edition like a test? “I really liked the concept of the Roots Fair when they first launched it, but in recent editions I have seen that they have left more of the academic part and it has become more of a food court. I don’t want to deviate from that route, I want to have more of the academic part. It’s true, everyone is looking for an economic goal and that’s fine, but also that students can listen to presentations by chefs from abroad, some of them are even in love with the products that Ecuadorians have and we don’t even realize it. That would be very important at the festival.”

Hanna had virtual classes for a year to learn how to cook during the pandemic. “I started to sharpen my knowledge. My dad didn’t cook, neither did my mom. My two grandmothers did cook, my aunts too, but I never went into the kitchen. I even had restaurants and I didn’t get into kitchens either. It was after I got married that I got into this cooking thing because my wife doesn’t cook either. At first it was a bit more complicated, but now with YouTube you have channels that teach you how to cook. I remember I only had Gourmet Channel and I kept watching that program, I bought books, I cut myself, I burned myself, I burned my food, in short, everything happened to me, but little by little I found out more about this world. Of course, it’s not that I’m a chef now, I’m a cook who likes Rock And Roll”.

In Gustock there will be great exponents of ventures that have already achieved a trajectory. “We have looked for the most successful gastronomic proposals such as Comal Taquería, Morán The Artisan Kitchen, Encanteria Helados, Sweet & Coffee, Jurgers, Sánduches del mostro, Parrilla Brava, among others, such as Love Tatoo, because for me tattoos are an art. This will be a range of already established businesses with very professional people.”

Other gastronomic exponents that will be part of Gustock are: Dipping cookies, Don Cruz, Manos al Fuego, Dragon Bites, Casa Julián, Deli Gourmet Oro Verde, Johnny Pines, Ikura Sushi, Georgios Mediterranean Grill, Chick Fale, La papería, Hangar Pub. As well as Bee Vinyl and Vapers Society stores; and the art of Carla Bresciani. In total there will be 25 stands.

In the musical part there will be seven bands in total that will perform on Thursday, September 8, starting with Matt Galiano, La Voz Valiente (whose vocalist is Israel Maldonado), Mamut and Dynamo (tribute to Soda Stereo). And, on Friday, September 9the Bluray bands, Los Intrépidos (they couldn’t miss it) and Verde 70.

Gustock will take place in the Samborondón Historical Park from 4:00 p.m. on both days. Tickets are $15 for Thursday the 8th and $25 for Friday the 9th of September and can be purchased at TicketShow. Those costs include only the entrance to enjoy the shows musicals and a complimentary beer.