Drug Addiction, Ponzi Schemes, a $35,000 Mistake, and Guy Fieri! The MIND-BLOWING (and Inspiring) Story of Vida Cantina's David Vargas

David Vargas was a f**k-up.

As a teenager in Santa Ana, Calif., the devil tapped him on the shoulder every day. Without a clear direction in life, he started smoking marijuana, which quickly turned into doing all the drugs: Cocaine, ecstacy, ketamine, and more. Drugs were the only thing David believed he was good at.

Until, one day, he prepared a fried bologna sandwich for his friends while they were high. David realized then that maybe cooking was something he could pursue professionally. Food is life in his Mexican culture, and what better way to honor that than by bringing people together through delicious food?

From Noble High School in North Berwick, M.E., Chef Vargas of Vida Cantina and Ore Nell's Barbecue sits down with host Troy Farkas to discuss his rampant teenage drug use in southern California, getting kicked out of high school after threatening his teacher's life, bone-chilling experiences with racism, attending culinary school in Minnesota, his near-death experience in The Virgin Islands, the $35,000 mistake food truck mistake, supporting a family of four on $12 per hour, the Food Network appearance that changed the trajectory of Vida Cantina, his new career, and SO much more.

CHAPTERS:

• Seacoast Stories Dinner Club details! (00:00)
• How drug addiction derailed David's early years (01:35)
• How Chef turned his life around (11:15)
• Attending culinary school in Minneapolis (15:40)
• SPONSORS: JOBTALK LLC and Samonas Realty (27:00)
• Working as a private chef on St. Croix (29:55)
• Moving to Maine and living on welfare (35:40)

• Chef's failed food truck experiment (49:35)
• How Vida Cantina BLEW UP after "Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives" (51:25)
• Co-owning Ore Nell's Barbecue (59:07)
• Why he started New England B.I.P.O.C. Fest (01:03:00)
• Chef's new job (01:10:50)
• How do you want to be remembered? (01:19:02)

To support Chef Vargas, you can attend and/or⁠ become a sponsor⁠ of the New England B.I.P.O.C. Fest on 8/17 in Portsmouth!

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

• Visit ⁠⁠⁠SamonasGroup.com⁠⁠⁠ or stop by Samonas Realty in downtown Portsmouth to learn more about how you can find the Seacoast home of your DREAMS!
• ⁠JOBTALK LLC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Get 50% off ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠JOBTALK Academy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ courses with the code "SEACOASTSTORIES50" for the rest of 2025!

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