Today we’d like to introduce you to Jae Camino
Hi Jae, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Growing up in the Bronx, my passion for cooking started in my mother’s kitchen. Having immigrated from the Philippines at a young age, I learned early on how to prepare traditional dishes from my culture. My mom used to cater local events, and I remember sneaking in to her kitchen to try all the different flavors. I was caught many times experimenting and adding all kinds of spices to whatever was cooking on the stove. Filipino cuisine is not subtle. Full flavor was ingrained into my being as a child and stayed with me throughout my adulthood.
Later in life, I attended college with a concentration in marketing. I ended up in the corporate world, thinking I wanted to do something creative. So, I worked various jobs in advertising, marketing and events. The creative part didn’t really happen for me. I was working the grind on the business side of things and didn’t find it fulfilling. It wasn’t until I was involved in a hit-and-run situation getting home from work one night that it all came to light. It’s crazy how an almost near death experience can change your life and put things into perspective. During the year that I was recovering from my injuries, I came to the conclusion that I needed to follow my passion.
I created, “Jae’s Sinful Delights,” right after my traumatizing experience. I always wanted to make desserts and custom cakes, so my business at the time was focused on just that. I started by working my contacts in the LGBTQ+ community and catered events for non-profit organizations. That led to bigger events all over NYC and Miami. Years later, I had the opportunity to open a brick and mortar bakery and cake studio in Northwest Florida. It was my first venture having a bakery, so I was very excited. Jae’s Sinful Delights would later go on to win “Best Desserts” in all of Bay County from Panama City Living Magazine.
During my time at the bakery, I was also a competitor on the Food Network show, “Bakers vs Fakers.” It was surreal seeing my self on television for the first time, but I felt like that was the culmination of everything I had worked so hard for all those years. It was definitely a milestone in my life that I was thrilled to be a part of.
After years of creating custom cakes and desserts in Panama City Beach, I decided to relocate my business back to Miami. At this time, I was introduced to plant-based cuisine. Feeling that an entire world had opened up to me, I wanted to gain more knowledge on the culinary techniques involved in making plant-based food. It was then that I made the decision to enroll in several culinary academies specific to plant-based cooking and desserts. I learned invaluable lessons about the benefits of a plant-based diet, classic and modern techniques of preparing plant-based foods, and the science and studies to back it all up.
Subsequent to receiving plant-based certifications and transitioning into a 100% plant-based lifestyle, I created my second culinary venture, PLANTATUDE. I now provide private chef services and promote health-supportive plant-based eating through plant-based product and recipe development consulting.
Currently, I’m also working on a cookbook about modern, elevated, plant-based cuisine that focuses on a specific ingredient. I won’t reveal the ingredient yet, since I’m all about the element of surprise. If you’d like to see my style of plant-based cooking, you can check out a show I was on recently called, “Evolving Vegan.” I was in the Miami episode of season 2 and had a great time being featured on the series.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It wasn’t always smooth getting to where I am today. Being the victim of a hit-and-run, dealing with the stress and anxiety that affects overall mental health, and the long hours are not easy. It takes a lot of determination and patience. You need to dig down deep and hold true to what you really want. That’s something you can’t lose sight of. Looking back on what I learned along the way, what kept me pushing through was my passion for creating food and possibly making a difference.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
PLANTATUDE is about empowering people to take their health into their own hands through plant-based food. We do this by providing private chef services and plant-based product and recipe development consulting. We work with our clients to provide concept development, menu development and feedback/analysis of alternative plant-based proteins.
As plant-based cuisine gains more traction and becomes higher in demand, restaurants and food companies need to keep up. Plant-based cuisine is highly specialized and can take years to learn – not just the execution of it, but also the nutritional knowledge that goes along with that. PLANTATUDE has the culinary expertise and nutritional knowledge that will give the competitive edge to any restaurant or food business looking to incorporate or focus on plant-based offerings.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://plantatude.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jae_chef_miami/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plantatude
