Taco Sisters in Lafayette’s Golden Glow Juice Recipe
Lynn Jenkins, co-owner of Taco Sisters in Lafayette, finds inspiration in the good, bad and crazy of restaurants and life
For Lynn Jenkins, co-owner and creative director of Taco Sisters in Lafayette, food has always been a love language. Her early influences were Martha Stewart, whose culinary and homemaking creativity felt “both elevated and attainable,” and later, Julia Child and Ina Garten. “It was over for me,” says Jenkins. “I was hooked: the craft, the flavors, the fun of feeding people. All of it.”
Taco Sisters, which opened in 2009, started as a small drive-thru stand with a dream and a smoker, growing alongside the downtown Lafayette community. Jenkins’ partner and “taco sister” is Claire Zimmer and, in true family business fashion, the general manager is Jenkins’ husband John Jenkins.
Born in San Clemente, California, Lynn Jenkins remembers a childhood of frequent moves as a military kid “before landing in Louisiana around middle school.” Louisiana became the place “where we finally put down roots.” Her curiosity is the stuff of family lore. “There’s a story about me bending down to smell a flower as soon as I could walk and somehow turning that into my first big injury,” says Jenkins. “I needed stitches at 18 months old. A very on-brand introduction to beauty and chaos, and I guess I never stopped chasing flowers after that.”
Her high school home economics teacher, Mrs. Janice, further solidified Jenkins’ path.
“She ran her classroom like a kitchen: honest, warm and with very high standards.” Mrs. Janice’s no-nonsense advice, “If you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean,” became a mantra Jenkins carried into her restaurant life.
Today, her family grounds her, but Jenkins’ wellspring of inspiration remains “shared human experiences. The good meals, the joyful tables full of friends, the hard seasons, the late creative nights, the celebrations and everything.”
Golden Glow Juice | Sipper
Turmeric stains (worth it) so use a cutting board you don’t mind getting a little sunshine on. We especially love the turmeric from L4S Farms, who pop up at the Lafayette Farmers Market every Saturday morning.
Serves: 1 (12oz)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Difficulty: Easy
4 medium carrots, scrubbed
2 oranges, peeled
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled
1/2 inch fresh turmeric root
- Prep the produce: Scrub the carrots, peel the oranges, trim the ginger and turmeric.
- Juice: Run carrots, oranges, ginger and turmeric through a juicer. Feel free to add a squeeze of lemon if you like a little extra brightness.
- Serve: Pour into a glass or over ice. Enjoy!
Meet the Cook: Lynn Jenkins
Hometown: Happily planted in Lafayette
Item in my kitchen: My grandmother’s coffee mugs. Holding them takes me right back to her porch in Cotopaxi, Colorado.
Music to Cook to: Anything soulful, funky or a little nostalgic — Al Green, Talking Heads, Maggie Rogers, Khruangbin, Fleetwood Mac — plus a healthy dose of ‘90s and early 2000s millennial pop-punk, and even some Mastodon and sludgy metal in there for good measure.
Taco Sisters • 3902 Johnston St • Lafayette • 337-234-8226
tacosisters.com • @TacoSisters • @taco_sisters
