Man Spends 24 Hours In Bean Dip Vat To Support Valley Restaurant

CHATSWORTH, CA — Hunter Ray Barker really loves the bean dip from Los Toros Mexican Restaurant in Chatsworth. For his whole life, it's been the flavor of birthdays, graduations, and random fun Friday nights.

In fact, Barker loves it so much he's getting ready to spend 24 hours soaking in a vat full of it.

Yes, you read that right. On Monday, the man who runs the Stunt Players Directory, a sort of IMDB for stunt performers, is himself pulling the ultimate stunt. To promote one of his favorite restaurants that has struggled during the pandemic, Barker is putting on pants and a Los Toros brand t-shirt and climbing into a vat filled with nothing but his favorite bean dip.

"Obviously a stunt like this is ridiculous - it's absurd, it's wild, but as with any stunt, I'm always in favor of something that edges on the side of absurdity if it can celebrate and at least make a couple of people laugh," he said. "If we can get more attention and turn a few more people into lifelong customers, that's what I love about it too."

As nearby Los Toros fans support the restaurant at a tailgate party from 3-9 on Monday, Barker will be confined to his vat, covered in dip and talking to customers about why he loves the restaurant so much. He will not leave the dip even to go to the bathroom: "Once you're in, you're in," he said.

And if that's not enough to show his devotion to the restaurant, Barker announced he's putting Los Toros all over his body in all kinds of ways: while he's in the vat, he's also getting a tattoo of the three bulls that make up the restaurant's logo.

"I'm a Taurus myself," Barker said proudly.

And after the 24 hours are up: a nice long shower, courtesy of Los Toros.

Barker has been around all kinds of stunts his whole life. His father is director and stunt coordinator Wally Crowder, who has performed and directed the stunts in everything from "Training Day" to "Grease." Barker, who lives in Chatsworth but grew up in Camarillo, is a professional driver, runs the Stunt Performers' Directory that his father started, which helps connect performers with directors. He has also directed a number of documentary shorts, notably 2019's "Bunny" about Sandie Crisp, a transgender model, actress, drag queen and even 2020 write-in presidential candidate who suffered from polio, HIV, and eventually COVID-19.

Since stunts and film have been another casualty of the pandemic, Barker says he's shifting to helping small businesses like Los Toros. He also runs the Bullfrog Creative Agency, which does small business marketing.

"This will be our first in the theories of even more small business-related stunts. Events have always been a big thing we've done here and across the country, but this is the first time we've directed all of the traffic and those metrics towards a particular business as opposed to it being a general event or a networking event," he said. "We'll see what comes to the table. We are working on putting together a list of businesses close to our circle interested in doing something interesting and unique, and we'll see how it goes."

Los Toros, a Chatsworth institution since 1967, announced in December that it was worried it wouldn't be able to survive. But after a GoFundMe drive and successful tailgate parties brought in lots of money, and Councilmember John Lee and the CD12 Small Business Angel Fund provided a $25,000 grant, the business has managed to rebuild, especially now that outdoor dining is once again permitted.

"We've gotten a lot of love from the community," owner Nicholas Montaño told Patch. In February, Montaño and Lee delivered meals to ER and ICU staff at West Hills Hospital. Over the years, Los Toros has fed the homeless, firefighters, and funded scholarships and golf fundraisers.

"This is a tough time, and in the grand scheme of things, 24 hours to do something ridiculous and fun is nothing compared to what they've been providing for decades," Barker said.

For more information, visit 24 Hours In A Tub Of Bean Dip For Los Toros (24hourbeandip.com).