Christina's Journey from Dominican Republic

Speaker 1 0:30

Hi , my name is Christina and I own Fish Flavors by Chris and I'm in Northern Virginia and I serve . My clientele is from the area .

Speaker 2 0:42

Awesome . So bring me back to the beginning . Like , what got you started ? How did you get started in this ?

Speaker 1 0:50

So I think , since I was a little kid , we always back home . I'm originally from Dominican Republic , so they make us do like a little bit of seasoning peel the garlic , mash them and we don't have all those fancy gadgets that we have nowadays , so we just have to do all of that , and as a kid they would not allow me to use a knife , but they allow me to do certain things . So I started doing that and then when I moved here , I was 15 and I was just like hungry and I didn't want to wait for my mom to come home and cook . And I was like , okay , I need to make something . And that meal the first meal I ever made she loved it . She was so relieved that she came home with food and the table , so her face light up in a way that it just made me so happy . I was like , oh , I love this . And then I started trying more things in the kitchen , trying to make up recipes that I had read , and that's how it started . Make up like recipes that I read , and that's how it started .

Speaker 1 2:01

But I never went straight into like I want to be a chef , I want to become a chef , I want to go to school for it to become a chef . The school that I wanted to go to was too expensive and at the time I couldn't afford it . So I was like , okay , and I went into banking and I spent 15 years there . And when we moved here to Northern Virginia , covid hit . Everybody lost their jobs and we started working for our own . I came across a client that was looking for somebody that can cook for them at home , and that's how it all started . And I do Monday through Thursday like private chef . I go to my client's house , cook the meals for the week

Transitioning from Banking to Private Chef

Speaker 1 2:47

and then on the weekends I do events . And this is what I do and I enjoy it very much .

Speaker 2 2:54

I love that . Wow , such personal service that you offer .

Speaker 1 2:58

Yes , it's very customizable , from these boards to gracing tables , to the client's meal . Every week they tell me what they want . Either I look for recipes or they provide recipes . Some of them are very strict with what they eat , which is amazing because I've learned so much for ingredients that I never knew about growing up and choices that I didn't know we had Makes it very interesting .

Speaker 2 3:27

That's amazing . Tell me about this board . It's beautiful and it looks delicious and I can't wait to dive in .

Speaker 1 3:34

Yeah , I can't wait for you to try it . So this was like a simple thing . I don't know if I can qualify it as simple . But this is like the most simple for a couple of people to snack on while drinking a glass of wine or watching a movie it depends how fancy you want to feel . So we have some prosciutto , salamis , brie my favorite cheese , you can't go wrong and this kind of sharp cheese that is dipped into a carbonate wine and it's just delicious .

Speaker 1 4:05

You can eat the rime and everything and the combination with this fake crackers and the fake jam is just delicious . That's beautiful too .

Speaker 2 4:14

Thank you , I appreciate that . Yeah , it looks like an art piece to me . Oh , thank you . So you've said that Feast Flavors by Chris is about abundant joyful feasts and bold , unforgettable flavors . What does that ?

Speaker 1 4:29

mission mean to you ? In practice , it's all about trying different things . For example , my husband is from Ecuador , I'm from the Dominican Republic , so sometimes mixing and matching flavors it brings that explosion . So , like with travels I've done and learning from other culture , other ingredients mixed in , and my favorite part is like when we looked at the background , where all the culture we use the same ingredients but they just cook differently and the flavors are just incredible , but it's the same ingredient , so it's just the way it's cooked

Creating Unforgettable Flavors and Experiences

Speaker 1 5:05

. And learning that and bringing that to a table and getting the client saying , oh , my gosh , this is delicious and it was something simple . And I'm like , yes , this is delicious and it was something simple . And I'm like , yes , this is what I'm bringing , this is what I have .

Speaker 2 5:20

That's amazing . Why do you believe that food has such a powerful way of bringing people together ?

Speaker 1 5:27

It's just simple . We hungry and we enjoy something . We're all going to talk about it . We might be silent for a minute because we're just savoring everything , but once we like get into that , oh , I like the way this tastes . Now let's talk about it with friends , family . Anybody Could be your worst enemy . I bet you will enjoy the meal .

Speaker 2 5:55

Looking back , kind of reflecting on how you made that career jump from banking into your business today . Obviously it happened around that COVID era . But what's the most important lesson that you learned from turning your passion into a business ?

Speaker 1 6:12

I just thought it never could happen because I didn't know what I wanted . I know it was food related , because even though when I was in banking I was always cooking for family , friends , little events , I was baking a lot I even got to bake for weddings when I lived in New York but I wasn't sure how I was going to go , because I wanted to offer something very personalized for clients . Opening a restaurant wasn't an idea , and just the fact that I came across this option that I could just go to your home and make it to your liking , that was for me like the biggest hit . This is it . I don't need anything else For now . I'm very , very happy with the results .

Speaker 2 7:01

That's beautiful . When clients hire you , it's not just food . They're buying into a whole experience . What values guide how you and your team deliver that ?

Speaker 1 7:12

Yes , definitely the experience . I just tried my best to provide that family feel , that friendly feel , once it is transferred to the plate , if that makes any sense , just transfer it to the plate so one day , enjoying it , they will just love it and feel comfortable . They feel home . Yes , it is your home , but you know and that homemade meal makes it more special when it's with family . Like some of my clients , I get just experience to eat with them after I make the food and just the way that they enjoy it . It makes me very happy . So just bringing that and making them feel like yes .

Speaker 1 7:53

I'm working for you , I'm doing this for you , but at the same time , I'm putting all I have , all my love , into this and be transferring felt to that day , felt that then that's I'm done with that . That this is it , this is perfect .

Speaker 2 8:09

Yeah , so quick question the way that you spell flavors is that wasn't a mistake , is like the British way , right ? Yes , what inspired you to do that ?

Speaker 1 8:20

So

Fear, Risk-Taking, and Following Passion

Speaker 1 8:20

, for whatever reason , I thought it would be like more flavorful . I don't know if that makes any sense , but yeah , that's what I thought it was Like . Okay , it looks more flavorful to me , like doing it this way and I've been corrected so many times I'm like nope , it's with a U , it's the gritty version . And I even look it up because I didn't know and I'm like okay , this is a mistake , Let me look it up . And when I look it up , it's like no , this is a fist and it's a lot of flavors . That's right With a U .

Speaker 2 8:54

So I love that . So how do you hope that your journey inspires others who may be afraid to step away from their safe career path to pursue their passions ?

Speaker 1 9:06

If you don't take that push , you will never know . I was having this conversation on my way here with my husband and I'm like how am I going to answer these questions ? How am I going to do all of this ? But it is simple . He kind of pushed me I was a little bit afraid of , but he pushed enough to me realizing that it's doable . And if you don't try , you don't know . Once you try it , once you're there , you know what do you want to do ? How do you want to go with it ? How is it going to change for you if you need to make changes to an idea that is already out there ? Something simple yeah , there's tons of companies that send you meals at home already make you just put it in the microwave and that's it . But I'm going to your home , I'm making it special for you . I'm not making a big bash for different families , it's just you . So that makes it a special , that makes it a little bit different . Let's go with that . Just don't be afraid , like I was , yeah .

Speaker 2 10:15

Yeah , I heard somebody say the other day when I was talking to them stop running away from fear , or stop letting like fear chase you , like run towards it .

Speaker 1 10:25

Yeah . Yeah fear , chase you like , run towards it . You know , yeah , I have a fear of snakes and when we decide to move here , I'm like I love being in nature , so I have to learn and I learned that we have over 30 species of snake , two venoms and then . But I love hiking in the winter because I know they sleep in it . So hopefully no snakes have chased you , so no , but I have been very close to them . That I couldn't handle before , now I can .

Speaker 2 10:56

So I completely understand why somebody will say that what legacy do you hope feast flavors by Chris Leaves in your community ?

Speaker 1 11:08

A good time with food , a good time with family and friends , a good time with just something to relax , something to I don't know like purify you from the inside out . Like food is good and you can go the wrong way and have the no good stuff and eat the stuff that you can't . You know that's not going to be good for you , but you enjoy it . But if you get something homemade , fresh , with love , you're

Communicating Through Food Across Cultures

Speaker 1 11:40

going to treasure that forever , I guess . Yeah , that's at least how I feel . I just love when people come over to eat and then tell me how much they love it , and then that's my rewarding part of the whole process , doesn't matter how tired I am . That makes me very happy .

Speaker 2 12:01

When someone sits down at one of your grazing tables , what's the one feeling you hope they walk away with ?

Speaker 1 12:08

Photos and then tell me how much they love it . I just back in the days , nobody takes photos of food . But now it's all about taking photos and the wow factor , just because it looks appetizing to your eyes , and like , oh , let me take a photo first . And that means like , hey , you already took a photo of it . You're going to look at it , it's in your phone . You're either going to post it somewhere , you're going to talk about it somewhere , you're going to do something with that photo and it's just going to go . Oh , where do you get it from ? They got to talk about me .

Speaker 2 12:50

That's smart . So you want them to feel like inspired , almost to yeah one way or the other .

Speaker 1 12:56

I had a client a long ago and she saw a table that I did for another client and she's like we love to cook , we love to do all of this , but I want to feel special that day . I don't want to do the cooking , I don't want to do anything . Can you make me something like this table ? And I'm like , okay , yes , I can . And the next day that was the same day that my nephew , my dog , had passed away and the next day I got the most beautiful message . And the next day I got the most beautiful message . She took a photo and she's like this is the best thing that ever happened . I was right by hiring you .

Speaker 2 13:36

And I'm like , okay , yeah , this is good .

Speaker 1 13:39

And she took a photo Of course , it's all about the photos you have to .

Speaker 2 13:47

Yeah , yeah , it's all about the photos you have to . Yeah , yeah , um . Is there anything else specific for part of your journey , your story or any pieces of advice you'd like to share with the audience before we wrap up ?

Speaker 1 14:03

on a little personal note , just the journey coming from a third world country to the United States the dream for so many people . It was very challenging , not knowing the language , not knowing the culture . Thankfully , I came to New York and I felt there's a lot of my people there , but the culture shock was a big thing for me , like going to school and having a uniform and seeing these girls with shorts and I'm like , oh my God , this is not something I did , then getting bullied because of my accent and so many things . Then I got really sick and it was kind of like it hit , hit me because I had to have a big surgery and if I didn't have it it was going to be no more than three months for me to live and a couple of weeks is going to be 19 years since then . That didn't make me I did get sad and all that , but it made me realize that we can do a lot and I did change the way I thought , the way I did things and that kind of pushed me to go a little bit on the right path .

Speaker 1 15:28

I just wanted to change and I think we all hit one wall that will tell you okay , it's time to change . That was mine . And having that second chance to experience new things , to do wild things jumping off a plane , things like that that I never thought in my life I would do and then being here right now and being able to communicate with people through food , it's just the way to go for me and I will encourage everybody to find excuse me , to find that way to hopefully you don't have to hit that wall and you can find your calling before then . But just pay attention to your surrounding . You find your calling and it will take you to greatness . I think I'm doing great .

Speaker 2 16:20

I think that's beautiful and I love what you said , that you're communicating through food . Because you're right If you don't speak the same language , no matter where you are at in the world , food is the perfect way to touch people . Food is the perfect way to touch people .

Speaker 1 16:35

It is All my clients . I have four families One Monday , tuesday , wednesday , thursday and they all have different backgrounds All of them and the clients that I hire me for events all different backgrounds . And seeing them enjoying and seeing them looking at the food and getting all the oh so excited to eat it and we don't speak the same language . I'm winning I don't know about anybody else , but I'm winning . And then getting to see them having that first bite , just like your mama did .

Speaker 2 17:14

Exactly Back in the day , right , exactly , just like your mama did . Exactly Back in the day , right , exactly .

Speaker 1 17:17

So that's just winning right there .

Speaker 2 17:20

Yeah .

Speaker 1 17:21

I don't need anything else , just show me that I did what I did and it was right . It's just that simple .

Speaker 2 17:30

Simple things in life .

Speaker 1 17:32

Yeah , that you will always remember .

Speaker 2 17:35

Anything else you'd like to share ? Hire me for your next event well , I was gonna say I definitely had that reaction . When I saw that board . I was like , oh , this looks so good . Look at that cheese , look at the fig spread , look at the you know going on , the kiwi is so cute the way that you displayed it too .

Speaker 1 17:57

I was um , it was funny because yesterday I'm in a bunch of groups on facebook and yesterday somebody asked it's like a catering group . And somebody asked what was your like ? Oh , it was one of the groups and they asked what was your worst mistake when it came to doing boards ? And I was like the first one I made and I made it based on what the person wanted . So I added things that you don't typically see in a board , but that's what the person asked . And when I posted online and I think I still have it posted , but I didn't delete it just because I want to see what I did and how far I have come but I got roasted and it's like Oreo cookies and feta cheese and things that I'm not typically in .

Speaker 2 18:51

It sounds like a pregnant woman . It was actually . It was .

Speaker 1 18:55

It was a craving type of thing , so I'm like but I'm not gonna judge .

Speaker 2 18:59

Hey , yeah , no , judging's on here .

Speaker 1 19:02

Here's your cookies , here's your feta cheese but you know like , and I'm like okay then I started adding different things and I'm like I started it make me

Learning and Growing from Mistakes

Speaker 1 19:10

look more into like , okay , what appears better with what , and how this goes together with this , and it's just like you know , instead of making the changes .

Speaker 2 19:22

And but , um , yeah , that one was brutal but I know she enjoyed it , though that would be fun to do a post before and after . Here's's where I started , here's where I'm at now , but I can still always go back to this board if you really really crave the Oreo cookies and feta cheese .

Speaker 1 19:42

I've got to look into it and do that because that'd be funny , but at the same time it's like something okay , you see how you threw everything in here and look at it now how it is and you know . And what I love about these boards is just this like family style , yeah , and again , family , yeah , it's all about the family , it's all about the friends . So it's not like plated meals are beautiful , it's a work of art . But when everybody's together , but all the food is right there for them to serve themselves and enjoy the conversation , I think that's more meaningful to me .

Speaker 2 20:20

It physically brings people together to the grazing table . They are talking .

Speaker 1 20:24

They have to talk . Whether they like it or not , they're going to talk . Oh , I like this cheese . Oh , what is that Are ?

Speaker 2 20:30

you going to eat that last one ? Yeah , I know , can we share the last ?

Speaker 1 20:33

piece they're going to talk .

Speaker 2 20:35

Whether they like it or not , they're going to talk . Thank you so much for being on the podcast . You did an amazing job sharing your story , and this masterpiece is beautiful and can't wait to dive into it .

Speaker 1 20:46

I appreciate it . Thank you for the invite .