Chef Rocky Rocks French Toast for The Rock
/
Brique LA’s French Toast (Photo by Miguel Carrion)
On Sunday, May 2, at the Sundaze Brunch event hosted by Anthony Presents, Chef Rocky, personal chef to none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, served up some of her famous brique toast through her company Brique LA.
The brique toast, famous for being one of Dwayne Johnson’s favorite cheat day meals, consists of a fluffy four-inch thick slice of brioche french toast, topped with vanilla bean whipped cream, peanut butter coconut syrup, and toasted coconut chips.
Brique LA is owned and operated by Chef Rocky and her husband, Chef Daniel Briez. The pair met at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.
In an interview with Kapwa Kollective, Chef Rocky explains how The Brique originally began as a family tradition, “Brique started out as a special treat that we would celebrate with our families for birthdays and stuff… One day he (Dwayne Johnson) requested french toast, I thought ‘Oh perfect, I have the perfect french toast for you,’”
Chef Rocky, whose full name is Racquel Rockquemore-Breiz, described her and her husband’s journey in the world of cuisine, beginning at home with her family’s support in pursuing culinary school.
Chef Rocky (Photo by Miguel Carrion)
Chef Rocky and Chef Daniel then went on to launch a catering venture called Crave, which ended in 2005 when they were hired as private chefs for a client in Aspen, Colorado. They eventually ended up in Los Angeles where Chef Rocky now works for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“I had mutual coworkers from a previous employer that we all used to work for, and when the opportunity came, they recommended me to The Rock,” says Chef Rocky.
Brique LA’s pop-up in San Francisco was part of District Six’s (formerly SoMa StrEat Food Park) Sundaze Brunch and Marketplace event organized by Anthony Schlander of Anthony Presents.
Anthony describes District Six as an act of desperation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The last year has been really tough for every event planner in the country, maybe the world. Knowing outdoor activities were gonna be the first thing to open up, that’s what kind of inspired it.”
The Sundaze event had begun in 2014 and was described by Anthony as “a heavy hitting dose of nightclub, day party, day club, Vegas vibe, Bay Area vibe, LA vibe combined into one space,” which ended in 2019 .
Anthony decided to bring it back as a food-oriented festival event, “What we did in 2021 to kinda bring the brand back is to start off with brunch, so now you see it with brunch, food vendors, different kinds of beverages, and now we’re adding a marketplace… being able to have local food vendors was a big thing.”
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Miguel Carrion is a Photojournalism student at San Francisco State University whose work has been published in BBC News and Inquirer.net. You can follow his work and contact him through his Instagram: @miguel.flcarrion
More from Miguel Carrion
