Versed in the arts of shit-talking and Cocina Criolla, Chef Mendoza Diaz dives head first into the world of Yakitori Boricua with FOWLMOUTH.

Mayagüez, PR

[The Beginning]

1999

Ozzie Mendoza Diaz started cooking at age nine, often helping his mother prepare dinner for himself and his siblings. Sofrito was never a missing component. His mom had made it a daily fixture of their upbringing, as it remains the culinary lifeblood of all Puerto Rican cookery. It was young Chef Osito who pounded these aromatics in his pilón, a formula he perfected as he grew into his teens.

Many years later, then a traveling salesman in Kansas City, he would host elaborate Puerto Rican dinners for lovers, colleagues, and friends. In his own way, he maintained this connection to the island for several years and took a particular shine to the equalizing nature of good food for all those present at the dinner table.

New Orleans, LA

[The First Ventures]

2016

After an exhausting career in sales, Chef Mendoza Diaz felt too old and worn to start over and go to culinary school or even cut his teeth in a place like NYC. A lucky trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, however, would expose him to a kaleidoscopic array of local street food personalities at its peak of non-regulation. Inspired by this, he immediately thought to himself, “you know what? I could totally hack it out here.”

The following week Ozzie had quit his job, and after a summer eating across Thailand and Japan, flew to the “Big Easy” with a one-way ticket. A few grills, six long years, and many tears later, he’d cultivated a style of cooking on the street that was larger than the sum of its parts. He wasn’t classically trained, but he knew that so long as he remained true to himself he’d have something unique to offer.

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San Juan, PR

[A New Challenger]

2023

The streets of New Orleans are in no way hospitable. Through continuous refinement of his craft Chef Mendoza Diaz was able to carve out a name for himself in FOWLMOUTH, resulting in the sort of notoriety that only those versed in the rules of both street vending and fine dining can know. Now, fully capable of expressing his vision, Chef Mendoza Diaz returns home with the intent of setting up the sort of place that would make young Chef Osito jealous.

FOWLMOUTH is a street food concept that brings a distinct fusion of Puerto Rican and East Asian cuisines to the table. Chef Ozzie Mendoza Diaz, aka YAKIPAPI, draws on inspiration from his upbringing, his grandmother’s foul mouth, and a love for all things Japan to introduce a fresh take on Puerto Rican flavors.