Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorge Alcocer.
Hi Jorge, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Jorge joined the four seasons hotel at the age of 18 as a line cook. He gave the hotel 30 years, the hotel supported his career when they realized he had a passion for cooking. He took many cooking classes, traveling to china, New York, Hawaii and finally Costa Rica, the hotel made him Executive chef and he was fortunate to experience many amazing times, such as participating in The James beard foundation.
In 2017 we left Costa Rica and the four seasons to open our restaurant. It was my husband dream to open his own place some day. We started in round rock in a small place and quickly outgrew it. While there, the Food network called and changed our lives. The show invited both chef and manager ( myself) and the publicity was unreal. After the pandemic we had to move, our landlord raised the rent.
We were fortunate to find a great location in Georgetown Texas. While in Georgetown our kids, 2 are autistic and our daughter had mastered the restaurant concept and we all became inseparable. We were very successful until Georgetown almost doubled the rent. After 5 years in Georgetown we finally purchased our 1st commercial building in Giddings Texas.
We are an hour away from our clientele and they still make the trip to dine with us. We are so blessed and grateful for the loyalty of our customers as well as the new customers in Giddings and surrounding towns. We have been in business 8 years and managed to keep our 4.6 rating on yelp, not easy to do, we love our restaurant. It’s hard work and long hours, we do the shopping ourselves but our entire family is employed and thriving. Our kids have grown more independent and confident with all the exposure and interaction with the public. Chefs dream came true with a cherry on top, he did not plan the family to be part of it. God works in mysterious ways, we are very lucky it has worked for us. Working with family is definitely a challenge. I cannot tell you how much we have learned, management, payroll, running a full bar for me has been an adventure. Thank goodness my husband is excellent at keeping food cost low and a super clean environment. He is very talented and I add my people skills and patience with high stress front of the house. Our kids are 20, 23, 26, Daisy, Ivan and Daniel are amazing, supportive and responsible adults, we would have a hard time without them. We have told them many times to venture out of the restaurant but they enjoy their work with us. Free food and good pay has been a good compensation.
Thank you for your interest in our story, we have experienced many hard times but we are going strong after 30 years of marriage.
8 years working together and overcoming obstacles as a unit with our kids.
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?
A tight budget was the 1st struggle in 2017
Hiring employees who care was rough, that is the reason for me ( wife ) to quit my job and join the crew. Long hours for both of us is why I started taking the kids with us to work, I wanted to make sure they ate properly and were not neglected. They ended up helping to clean tables and greet our guests at the door, it was adorable and a huge accomplishment for special needs kids.
Our plumbing and electrical had several problems in all 3 of our locations, my husband is also an amazing handyman. He fixed most of our problems and hired people for others. The first big disaster was the pandemic. We lost our savings to rent, landlord did not help us and expected rent even while the city closed down operations in March and April. During the pandemic we had to move and that was very very hard. Expensive and back breaking.
Restaurant #2 was great location but building is very old 130 years old and plumbing and electrical are always an issue.
We made it thru 5 years and at the end of our lease, we were given 1 month notice to leave. A big investor was moving in and taking over. We cried and worried and prayed, ran out of savings again and we were forced to find a business partner to purchase our current property. Again our building is from 1932, we put in lots of work and painted most of it ourselves. Ripped out carpet and scrubbed floors. We are used to working hard, this time it’s our building. The peace and satisfaction of owning the building is very fulfilling. We did lots of work in our other rented properties, installing nice fixtures, new floors and fans and it was taken for granted. Every item and repair has been made with love and care and it feels good to see our work every day. It’s only been a month for us but we foresee a promising future.
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?
When the owner of the restaurant is Cooking for you, it will be better. He dreamed of the opportunity to open his restaurant for more than 10 years. Our reviews reflect the experience, we are blessed with many happy guests. He is known for delicious flavor-able and beautiful presentation. The four seasons had high standards, he learned from the best. The concept of Latin food has been a hit. chef offers a trip around South and Central American food with a few diverse dishes. Our cocktails are also a fun innovation, from Brazil to Cuba and Chilean food and cocktails.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Too many to list, but we clearly need each other, not just our immediate family but other people, friends, employees and a big support system. Treating others with respect will always guarantee others to be there when you need them. We had employees stay with us over 6 years. Loyal, experienced Servers and cooks are essential to maintain stability and better food and service.
Communication with our team is vital, we try to show them how we appreciate their efforts and celebrate them as much as possible.
Patience is key to maintain positive outcomes from inevitable equipment failures or systems breakdowns. It never surprises us if our refrigerator stops working or the pos system is frozen during a rush.
Stressful but all you can do if your best and wait for it to wake up.
Money management has been hard. We work together to be organized and careful. Keep a close eye on our budget.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fglatinogastropub
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1695855249207572
