Rafael
Growing up in Cuba we didn’t have a lot of variety. I studied culinary there, and as good as our education was, we were limited by our access to ingredients. I learned a lot about the ingredients we did have - I was resourceful, I made simple food taste amazing. I'm proud of my progress, and when I came to America I was hit by the variety of everything. It opened up my mind, and my palate, to different flavors and new possibilities. To me, it's always been about making the best out of what you have.
Sasha
"I feel like Miami is a place you can make a name for yourself, you know what I mean? I grew up in Boca but I’ve now been here for 6 years. There’s this energy here - I think in their own way, everyone is trying to make this a better city. The restaurant community here is amazingly supportive and makes you feel part of something bigger than yourself. We’re a city that gets more excited over a little restaurant opening by a home-grown chef than we are about international chefs coming in."
Jeffrey
"I’ve been around food my whole life. My father has a successful seafood restaurant in Hialeah, but he didn’t want this life for me. He always said, this industry requires a lot of work,and everyone always says it won’t make you rich. I went on to study sports administration, but I knew it wasn’t for me. Between classes I would work in my dad’s kitchen until finally, one day he noticed how much I enjoyed it. I enrolled in culinary school soon after and have been gaining further experience from other chefs. I think we do this job because we can’t imagine doing something else."
Brandon
"Worked summer jobs in high school as a dishwasher back in New Jersey. I then went to vocational school focused on culinary before moving to Miami to get my bachelors. I worked in kitchens to get as much experience and knowledge as I could for when I was out of school. It’s been five years now, what have I learned? Be loyal. Dedicate time to searching for the right hospitality group you want to work with, then give it everything you have. I guarantee, the reward will come."
Gian Carlo & Vanessa
"We've been together since we were still in Peru. One year we visited Disney World on holiday and we're amazed at what we saw. We immediately realized how much better of an opportunity we would have if we lived here. We ended up deciding to stay in Miami. At first our plan was to work and save enough money for our wedding. We both got jobs in restaurants and after twelve years of hard work and dedication, we finally had saved the money we needed for our wedding.
But after all this time, did we really just want to spend our savings on a celebration? We decided to use it to invest into our future. We may not have gotten our perfect wedding, but we definitely achieved a close-to-perfect life. Our kitchen and service staff have become our family and we are thankful everyday to share our dream with these amazing people."
Gabriella
"There’s always been something between me and pastries. I attended culinary school in Miami and fell in love. But I wanted more, it brought me to New York to keep discovering.
I’m still young and dessert is just part of the meal and the journey. I’m exposing myself to other stations to learn about more flavors, and how I could incorporate them. It’s about understanding the importance the rest of the meal has to dessert - you need to achieve a thoughtful balance."
Diego
“Growing up in the Dominican Republic I always felt good in the kitchen. It was always my favorite place at home - everything happened around that room. It made me realize at a pretty young what my passion was and what I was meant to do. I went to culinary school to learn, and started working as a dishwasher to gain real experience. It was an investment into my future. I went from prep cook, to line cook, always learning the most I could about each station, each restaurant and each chef.”
Dayan
It doesn’t matter who you are or how you got your position, there aren’t any short cuts in this profession. You could be the son of the owner, you still have to put in the work, make mistakes, get cut, burned, and chewed out. Because if you slow down, the entire crew slows down. You can ask any chef how they’ve reached their positions, they’ll all tell you it’s by getting cut, burned and making mistakes enough times to learn from them.
Bayu Kuncoro - F&B consultant and founder of Psycooks
I’ve always been an entrepreneur looking for my way in. My business wasn’t doing well, and instead of paying myself a salary, I took a job working as a dishwasher in a restaurant. I found myself surrounded by talented people who were proud of our culture and our cuisine – I was immediately captivated. I worked hard, made my way through each station. I’ve always been very proud to come from Indonesia, and cooking gave me an avenue to express it.
I never lost my sense of entrepreneurship. I was always keeping a close eye on trends, and on the increasing power of social media. I wanted to promote my culture outside of the kitchen and show the world what we were all about. I knew the first thing I had to do was to build a strong audience, one that would engage with my content – that’s when I started Psycooks. It’s been incredible the amount of support I’ve garnered from other chefs who share with me their daily lives.
I want to make this mean something. I want to share with people that there is more to Indonesia than what they think they know. We are craftsmen who care about dedication and quality, and we have one of the best culinary scenes in Asia. Lately I’ve been trying to use the tools at my disposal to push Thai products and support small businesses within my country.
Joyce
Growing up in my grandmother’s Kitchen, I always knew I wanted to be a chef. But at that moment in Venezuela, it wasn’t a career I could depend on and my mother always encouraged me to follow my other interest- graphic design. Once in Miami, I enrolled in art school and started working.
I quickly realized I was following the wrong path. I got my first restaurant job and enrolled myself in culinary school. I don’t regret the time I put into becoming a graphic designer. I see the benefit of that decision everyday when I’m plating. It helped me better understand color and geometric symmetry. It’s also allowed me to design my own menus and graphics.
There’s always value in everything you learn, you just need to find how to use it. It enabled me to approach food through aesthetics.