Greenville chef and restaurateur Dayna Lee-Márquez appeared May 30 on the Food Network.
Competing on the show “Beat Bobby Flay,” Márquez and El Paso, Texas, chef Enrique Lozano were given a flat iron steak to prepare a dish, in which Márquez made a breakfast taco and Lozano made a tostada.
Marquez is the owner of Comal 864, located on Woodside Avenue in the City View neighborhood.
Her steak was prepared medium-rare and accompanied by chunky guacamole using diced red onion, jalapeño and grape tomatoes. She folded her steak into scrambled eggs, setting it on a steak-rubbed flour tortilla topped with the guacamole and finished with cotija cheese.
Márquez noted during the show that for breakfast tacos, you have to use flour tortillas — It’s a Texas thing.
“Most people consider San Antonio to be South Texas, but I’m from four hours south of there. There’s a whole entire culture of breakfast tacos. I thought that everybody had breakfast tacos everywhere, and I was very sorely mistaken,” she said. “Breakfast tacos on corn is not a bad idea. It’s not a wrong idea. It’s just not my idea. That’s not how we grew up eating it.”
Márquez was taught to make tortillas by her grandmother and learned how to make flour tortillas first.
Although Márquez was not victorious, she gave the network a homegrown meal that’s close to the heart. For her, it was all about facing fears and owning a space.
“I did it because I was scared,” Márquez said. “It was something that feels like it was definitely out of my league … but if an opportunity comes your way, you have to take it.”
Comal 864 opened its City View location in 2021. Márquez was a semifinalist for the 2023 James Beard Awards for Best Chef in the Southeast. Recently, an expansion of the brand was announced to Greenville’s Nicholtown neighborhood in the location formerly occupied by The Seafood Spot.
