Today we’d like to introduce you to Venecia Jennifer Africa.
Hi Venecia Jennifer, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Cooking has always been my passion growing up.
Well after being unfairly dismissed at this country club I worked for in Palm Beach Gardens back in 2018, I was stuck at home with my newly born son trying to figure out how could assist my partner in terms of paying the bills. That experience made me lose my passion for working in a kitchen. I just couldn’t get over it and I needed time to process my then-new reality. I knew my situation was a difficult one to be in as I really wanted to contribute to the household. I wanted my son in school. I wanted free time and financial freedom to be able to do as I please whenever I please.
After being dismissed from my previous job, there was one thing I knew for certain and that was that I never wanted to work for someone again. The control and rude authority left a bad taste in my mouth especially because I, among others, was treated like a disposable wipe so to speak. As an owner today there is no way I would ever treat my staff as such.
As time passed, I finally slowly started to gain my passion back and began watching countless YouTube videos about different food and cuisines prepared in various parts of the world. That’s when I came across the “BIRRIA TACO”!!
I searched all over Florida trying to find a restaurant or food establishment that made this style of taco but the ones I found were either not making them the correct way or making their so-called version of the birria taco which wasn’t authentic to the original recipe. The chef in me kicked in right away and before you know it, I decided to put my apron on and give it a shot!
I made the first batch of tacos and my partner couldn’t believe what I had just made! These were solely Beef Birria Tacos. We shared it among friends and family and they all shared the same sentiments. We knew we had something special and different. As time went, I kept perfecting the recipe until I got it to exactly where I wanted it to be. This process took about a year to get right. I knew it was good but as a chef, you have this thing in you that will always tell you if you can add something to make it taste that much better. Honest feedback from close friends was also important in this process.
So at this point, I knew I had a good enough product to potentially sell. That was how I was gonna make some money to help contribute to the household expenses. I decided to put the food up on FB MarketPlace and see what happens. It was in God’s hands at the time. Then slowly but surely, people came across the post and we got out first order. We hand-delivered each order to a nearby location where we met the customers. We were doing this two days a week. Tuesdays and Thursdays. On average at the time we had about 8-10 sales on each day. That was a big Win for me because I had gone from making no money to now bringing in some money! My son could finally go to school!
There was a consistent steady flow of customers over the few weeks period until a local brewery reached out to us and pitched the idea of us selling our tacos to their customers since they didn’t operate a full kitchen. This was huge for us because now we had a set location and we could direct people to a venue to come and pick up or eat their tacos there fresh off the griddle. They offered us any day of the week to set up shop and We decided it only made sense to select TACO TUESDAYS. We announced it and created an Instagram page and boom, it started happening! Day 1 was a hit. We only had the Beef Birria on the Menu at the time. And we sold each meal as 4 Beef Birria Tacos with a side of mild or spicy consommé. Our numbers significantly jumped and more importantly, our brand name was growing. Word was spreading and as it was spreading we had guests requesting other forms of protein like chicken, shrimp, etc. I decided to try making a Chicken Birria Taco and it took off just as well as the Beef did. We didn’t want to do pork or fish. It required more cleaning more work and more precautions and religious conflicts. We did include a vegetarian option which is a delicious Black Bean substitute.
Word kept spreading and before you know it, many breweries started reaching out to us. Definitely would like to thank Ted from Ted’s Burgers who grandfathered us in the pop-up industry. He showed us the business and showed us the door. We love Ted!
At this point, we now had a weekly set schedule where people could find us and little by little the brand just kept growing. Our policy has and will always be “If every pop-up we can bring one new customer in then we will be alright”. And little by little, we have been growing. This time last year we only had 112 followers and now are fast approaching 7,000!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not. Like in any industry there will be roadblocks, “politics”, staffing issues and mother nature right?
Some brewery/cidery partners were shady and shiesty. Made us feel used once we brought a fairly decent crowd to their establishment. Covid in the beginning, was a struggle because even when it was safe for people to be outside people were still hesitant to socialize. Bad weather at times was and is still an unpredictable hurdle, especially here in Florida. And now that we are operating two pop-up locations here and there, staffing is fairly challenging.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a part-time stay-at-home mom and a full-time professional chef.
What do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc.
I specialize in Birria Tacos and South African Seafood Platters
What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of raising my son and seeing the smile on his face when I’m able to simply provide for him.
What sets you apart from others?
I do everything with absolute love and passion. You can taste it in my food and you can feel it when you come around.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Seeing my parents jointly cooking a Sunday Lunch buffet has to be the most vivid memory.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jennywiththepot
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennywiththepot
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/jennywiththepot
Image Credits
Venecia Jennifer Africa Keith Guzah Jade Levy
