Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorge Alvarez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Wiser people than me have said to find something you love to do and it will no longer feel like work…. After 30 years in the corporate world, my wife, Maxine, and I took the jump into the cooking world! I’ve always been blessed with a talent for cooking delicious food. Maxine has always been blessed with great organizational skills and is the most outgoing and personable person I have ever met. A perfect partnership!
So…. We launched a GoFundMe fundraising campaign for friends and families to purchase a food truck. What a humbling and inspiring process. 75 people donated and made this dream a reality! Old friends, new friends, and especially from our prayerful community of Catholic ministries that we have had the honor of serving all these years.
When I first cooked on the food truck, I had no idea how to turn on the fryers! After a year with the food truck, Chef Gordon Ramsay called to say he was hosting a new television program profiling trucks from all major cities. We were chosen for South Florida! Chef Ramsay and I had a “cookoff” and I won in a blind taste test! That catapulted our business. We subsequently sold the truck and became a traditional caterer. Later we were profiled by Chef Tyler Florence on The Food Network and on other food shows.
Maxine and I are co-founders and co-owners. We love what we do, and our 100% 5-star reviews show it! 55+ Google 5-star reviews! We were voted the number 1 Cuban caterer in South Florida by the Miami Herald readers! We were named Best of Weddings for The Knot, and Couples Favorite for the Wedding Wire. And we were named the Small Business of the Year by the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Our cuisine expertise is all things Cuban, including being the creators of “The Cuban Luau!” We roast a whole pig and pair it with one of our signature paellas, cooked, carved, and served on-site! We have expanded from our home base in Southeast Florida, covering the Palm Beaches to the Keys, to the West Coast of Florida, from Marco Island to Cape Coral, including Fort Myers, Naples, and Ave Maria, Florida. A heartfelt thanks to all!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Taking the food truck from an abandoned, rusting heap of metal, to a beautiful, working truck was our first challenge. Food trucks are fun for the public but a tough business to monetize. From unexpected inclement weather to hosts that overstate the number of guests expected to food waste, to finding the right, permitted location. Once we beat Chef Gordon Ramsay and were able to transition to a traditional caterer, the effort was smoother.
We hit our stride, then Covid hit! We were cooking from our yard and folks would line up inside the cars, all around the block, to pick up our food! Since COVID-19, we have been able to become one of the premier Cuban cuisine wedding reception and corporate events caterers in South Florida. Our next challenge is duplicating and surpassing these results on the West Coast of Florida.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My wife Maxine was a professional model for around 10 years. She was a cover girl, had an International cosmetics contract on was part of the New York and Miami runway scene. After our first daughter was born, Camila, Maxine decided to open a performing arts school to help teach and guide young, artistic children through the sometimes unscrupulous world of modeling and acting.
Maxine’s Models Clique became the pre-eminent performing arts academy of the Southeast United States She trained over 1000 young women and men to help them gain self-esteem. Many ended up with careers on TV and radio, one made it all the way to Broadway! And most learned to carry themselves professionally in any field they chose. When our second daughter was born, Isabella, Maxine decided to close the academy to spend more time with her. She went to the other side of the camera and became a very successful fashion photographer.
Maxine co-founded the company with Chef Jorge. She always helped Chef Jorge in the food truck and then when transitioning to a traditional caterer. After COVID-19, they both decide to have Maxine join the Stuffed Cuban full-time. She is in charge of purchasing, staffing, and day of coordination. While Chef Jorge runs the marketing financing and cooking. They make a great team!
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I am an ordained Deacon in the Catholic Church; ordained for the Archdioceses of Miami. For Maxine and me, our faith is an integral part of who we are. We have recently moved into the very special Town of Ave Maria, on the West Coast of Florida. We continue to serve South Florida as we also develop the West Coast market.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TheStuffedCuban.com
- Instagram: @thestuffedcuban
- Facebook: @thestuffedcuban
- Linkedin: @The Stuffed Cuban
- YouTube: @The Stuffed Cuban Catering Company
- Yelp: @The Stuffed Cuban
