Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlos Brescia.
Dr. Limon opened its doors to the public in its Kendall location on April 17th 2012. However, this story, as so many others, begins long before this date.
Carlos Brescia, Executive Chef and founder, has been involved in culinary arts since his childhood years. He learned the basic techniques and developed a keen sense of taste and smell at his parents’ Italian trattoria in his hometown of Chiclayo, Peru. Just as he learned to ride a bicycle, like other kids of his age, he learned how to cut his juliennes and understand the fundamentals of seasoning which were passed on to him by his grandmother La Nona.
Carlos moved to South Florida in the early 2000s. One of his first jobs was at Miyako, the Japanese restaurant in South Miami. Here he learned the discipline and skills required to operate efficiently in a demanding cuisine. Later, he continued nurturing his curiosity and passion in different kitchens across Dade County. By the end of his first decade here, a lifetime friendship and partnership with Jose Antonio Combina and Fiorella Terrazas was formed. Jose-Antonio and Fiorella brought with them, not only a knowledge of the industry, but also strong experience in social media and communications as well.
Miami has always had a strong restaurant scene and when it comes down to Latin food, Peru’s prodigious gastronomy has earned its place amongst the most exquisite cuisines of all. Carlos and his partners decided to take a leap of faith and deposit all their personal savings into a project they named: Dr. Limon.
Why Dr. Limon? Peruvian food, and most of Carlos’s dishes, revolves around one key ingredient: lime (Limon in Spanish). Aside from its high vitamin C content, and its anti-oxidant and revitalizing properties, lime leaves everyone feeling good after its consumption, which is precisely the same feeling everyone should have after visiting a doctor.
In 2012 Dr. Limon took over the location of the posthumous La Cabaña restaurant which served Peruvian rotisserie chicken in a sleepy shopping center in west Kendall. The concept of Dr. Limon was created with a funky menu designed to simulate a hospital. Guests were to set an appointment to indulge, rather than treat, their cravings by ordering dishes such as: “Remedio Casero” (Homegrown Remedy) a traditional ceviche, “Fiebre Amarilla” (Yellow fever) yellow-pepper ceviche, “Los Amigos del Doctor” (The Doc’s Friends) a scrumptious layered-potato sampler) and of course, their flagship dish: “El Loco Calato” (roughly translated as Buck-naked Lunatic), a delicious Fried Ceviche.
Despite its secret location, its first clients soon started passing on the word to their friends and family. Lines of people started forming outside its doors and the food clinic’s waiting list incremented progressively.
Dr. Limon started its operation with 8 employees. Carlos was behind the ceviche bar, Jose Antonio took care of the guests and Fiorella manned the cash register 7 days a week, from opening to close. By the fourth month, they had grown to 20 employees. The increasing demand and potential for further growth was evident and soon a plan to expand the premises was proposed. Putting together all the permits wasn’t an easy task and it took some time to reach the organic growth which the partners had envisioned.
In the meantime, service, creativity and enthusiasm were the bread and butter at Dr. Limon. Every employee strived to offer quality and, thus, guests’ perceived consistency. Finally, in 2015 the expansion was completed. The tired-looking, 13-table locale, expanded to a modern 20-table restaurant with minimalistic features and an ample, clear glass window which allows guests to enjoy the artists and ‘food doctors’ at work. This last detail is very important for Carlos because it symbolizes his transparent relationship with guests, a value his family has always carried.
Just a few months later, on November 11th, 2015, Dr. Limon opened its second location in Sweetwater, right across FIU’s south campus. The subsidiary has 11 tables and 9 seats at the bar. The result was the same as with the Kendall location: more people came searching for the Doc’s palatable cures.
The year 2016 arrived full of good news and the first franchise projects were born. After a long year of planning and building its first franchise opened its doors to the people of Miami Lakes in August 2017. Soon clients in Weston and Hollywood will be able to treat their hearts to Dr. Limon’s delightful recipes and trademark service. Moreover, Carlos and partners have already started the construction and development of a new concept called Ceviche Power which will be opening in the first months of 2018 in Doral.
Behind the scenes, Carlos, Jose-Antonio and Fiorella count on a strong management team headed by Ivan Fuentes and Alejandro Puga. Ivan has over 20 years in the industry a Bachelor degree in Management & Supervision and is a graduate in Culinary School. He has led the way in the external part of the business: organization and logistics, planning and development, training strategies, finances, contracts, franchises and corporate agreements. Meanwhile, Alejandro, with over 10 years in the industry and a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from FIU, oversees the internal part of the business which is focused on client satisfaction: tip-top service, the highest standards of cleanliness and efficiency, the wine & bar program and social media communications.
Carlos Brescia’s trajectory reminds us of those dreams-of-youth-come-true. From his early days in northern Peru next to his grandmother, La Nona, where he learned to carefully chop one onion at a time, to today: a successful chef, headquartered in the Magic City, with over 100 employees, and a contagious franchise devoted to healing their appetites. Dr. Limon’s recipes are already marvelous and yet, they do believe, the Doc’s best days are still to come.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Definitely not a smooth road. They are dozens of stories, however, some of toughest moments were when we just opened. Probably the biggest challenge was having people noticing us. We never thought (at the begging) word of mouth would be as powerful as it is. Our formula since we opened, has always been offering food that inspires with quality and consistency. People do notice this and we are very happy to see they do.
Please tell us about Dr. Limon.
We are a company that opened in 2012. Our slogan is “ceviche starts here” hence we are known for our ceviches, especially for our flagship dish: “fried ceviche”. Dr. Limon is a funky concept inspired in traditional Peruvian cuisine with a Miami twist.
What I’m mostly proud of Dr. Limon is seeing how much we have grown. It’s amazing to see how we started off with 8 employees in small establishment and now we have over 100 employees with several restaurants. We carry a heavy sense of responsibility, we are aware that dozens of families deepened and are (without a doubt) key to our success.
Dr. Limon sets itself apart from others because we are a company that puts passion and reason into every little detail: food and service, We have created our own culture which is reflected to our guests in their overall experience, A couple of examples: no one sits at Dr. Limon and doesn’t receive a welcome shot of “leche de tigre” (ceviche juice) and cancha (Peruvian fried corn) which is perfect to open up the pallet. We have specialty dishes every weekend, which don’t repeat, so we always keep it exciting for our guests (and our employees).
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I can’t think of a better city. It’s perfect because it’s a city that has an open mind for different types of cuisine and it’s also competitive, which elevates the standards. I like to feel challenged, because I it’s the only way to keep on growing.
Contact Info:
- Address:
– 13766 SW 84th street 33183
– 10548 SW 8th street 33174
– 7341 Miami Lakes Drive, Miami Lakes - Website: www.drlimon.com
- Phone: 3052289200
- Email: info@drlimon.com
- Instagram: @drlimonofficial
- Facebook: drlimon
- Yelp: drlimon
Image Credit:
Luis Fernando Tazoe
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