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Welcome back to a new episode of the All Things Croatia podcast.
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I'm your host, Stanko Zovak.
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Born and raised in Los Angeles, I'm now living in Zagreb and studying the Croatian language.
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Before we start, just do me a favor and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're
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listening, as well as the Facebook and Instagram page.
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In this series, I'll be talking with people both in the homeland and around the globe who
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have connections to Croatia.
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We'll hear from startups, returning to Aspora, musicians and athletes, and the biggest Croatian
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celebrities and what returned my calls.
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But enough about me.
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Either modalia, or let's get started.
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Alright, welcome back to the podcast everybody.
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Today our special guest is Richard Grujca.
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Richard is a Croatian-American chef born in Jamaica.
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He started Good Eats and Meats, an online based dining and socializing group that brings together
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lovers of food to break bread.
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Richard has also started Croatian food initiatives, such as captivating Croatia tours and Sites
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and Bites, which is a unique food and history walking tour of Dubrovnik.
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Most recently, he opened up Fuego, a Latin fusion restaurant in Zagreb, Croatia's first.
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In this episode, we're going to learn about his inspiration for cooking Croatian cuisine
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and starting his many food related projects.
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Richard, thanks for coming on the podcast.
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Well, thank you for having me.
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I really appreciate it.
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Yeah, thank you for coming on.
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You know, a lot to delve into here.
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You've got a lot of different projects.
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Yeah, sometimes too many.
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Yeah, I'm sure you're busy.
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I appreciate you taking the time to do this.
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But I sort of want to get started by getting to know you a little bit more.
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So as I understand, you were born in Jamaica to Croatian parents.
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Is that correct?
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Yeah, it's funny.
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I thought I was the only one, but I ended up finding out there was another Croatian-Jamaican.
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So I'm not unique, but there's only a couple of us.
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But yeah, it's a unique story in the sense that it's very random to have a Croatian
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in Jamaica.
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But my dad had a company that he did with one of his good buddies who was also Croatian.
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And they decided on having the company in Jamaica.
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My parents moved there and started the company and we're living there.
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And then I was the after effect of a weekend getaway.
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And so I was born and raised in Jamaica until about eight.
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And my parents ended up splitting up.
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And then my life took a drastic turn after that as well.
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But yeah, so Jamaican Croatian.
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So it's a little bit different.
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Yeah, that's definitely unique.
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Although I guess there's a couple other of you guys as you mentioned, but still, I mean,
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that's not you don't hear that every day.
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Where in Croatia were your parents from?
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My parents are both from Zagreb.
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So they're Pravi Purgari.
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So for people that don't understand Croatian, a Purgari is a local person from Zagreb.
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So both my parents were born and raised in Zagreb.
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Okay, cool.
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And I mean, I imagine your upbringing was unique because that seems at least in my opinion,
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three, you know, wildly different cultures, maybe not wildly different, but you know,
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American Croatian and Jamaican.
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What was that like?
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What was your upbringing?
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Well, I mean, the American part honestly didn't happen until my parents split up.
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Now my dad was an American citizen.
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My mom was not.
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So I was actually born in Jamaica as an American born abroad because, you know, you just have
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to have one parent.
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So I was officially American from the time I was born.
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But I really didn't have much of the American culture until my parents split up and moved.
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I ended up moving with my mom to Miami.
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So that's where the American culture came in.
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I mean, I honestly, she was a pretty sheltered too.
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I mean, I didn't have McDonald's until a few years after that.
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So it was a little bit different for me.
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I mean, I'd never had Taco Bell until college.
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So it's a little bit different.
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Well, it's the most important time to have Taco Bell at me.
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Yeah, exactly.
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That turned out to be like the late night runs in multiple ways.
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But you know, for me, it was a situation where it wasn't so much American.
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It was more Hispanic, which is sort of the tie in with the Latin thing because my mom
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ended up leaving Croatia while Yugoslavia at that time and ended up going with her father.
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And to Venezuela.
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So they moved to Venezuela and he was working for Shell Petroleum there.
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And so my mom, from the time she was in her late teens, was actually raised in Venezuela.
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So you know, that was that.
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And then my dad, he ended up doing the sort of, hey, I'm not a big fan of Yugoslavia and
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ended up leaving, escaping if you want to call it.
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And you know, ended up in Germany and then from Germany ended up in the United States
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and in New York, just like most other Croatians.
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And so that was sort of like his American side of things.
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So for me, it was definitely weird growing up, hearing all the different languages.
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And my dad was more of a proponent on not really speaking Croatian much.
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He's like, you know, you're American, I want you to speak English.
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I want you to speak it with no accent.
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I'm like, well, dad, you screwed up.
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You had me born in Jamaica and I had a Jamaican accent.
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So, you know, it was my, my accent now is actually more, not even mine.
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It was more what I would hear coming to the U.S.
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And I used to get teased for having, being a white kid speaking with a Jamaican accent
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that was Croatian.
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So I ended up adopting a faux pseudo American accent, which is what you hear now.
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Wow, really?
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So that started as just, you were, you know, purposely speaking like that and then it just
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became, you know, natural.
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It was, it was a situation where I ended up going to school, you know, grade school in
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the U.S. after coming here, after coming to the U.S. when I was eight.
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And like I said, this was around the time growing up in Miami, you had a lot of weird
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things happening.
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You had the Cubans coming in on the Mariel boat lists.
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So I was actually one of the few people that actually spoke Spanish because my mom raised
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me speaking Spanish.
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And you know, I used to go to the, you know, the principal office to go help because nobody
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could translate and you had all these new students coming in.
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So it was weird, you know, I used to get teased for speaking Spanish.
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I used to get teased for speaking, you know, Jamaican.
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And for me, it was just a lot easier to avoid any conflict, to, to not get bullied and stuff
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like that, to just start talking normal American quote unquote, you know.
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So that was what I adopted to basically avoid getting picked on all the time.
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That's interesting because especially nowadays, or at least in my experience, you know, I
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wish I spoke more languages.
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I mean, I grew up only speaking English and then, you know, I'm here living in Croatia
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and, you know, here in Croatia and Europe, you know, everyone speaks, you know, two,
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three, even four or five languages sometimes.
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Yeah, they're polyblocks.
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It's crazy.
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And then you go to the U.S. and they can barely speak English sometimes.
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So yeah.
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It's weird.
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It's something that can be, you know, you can be bullied for now later in life, you know,
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you wish that you could be speaking more languages.
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Yeah.
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And it's funny because it did put a, I should say it did put a crimp on my language skills
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because I used to get teased for speaking Spanish.
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And so even at a certain point, I actually told my parents, I'm like, I'm not speaking
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Spanish and I didn't speak Spanish for like four or five years.
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I mean, I intentionally just avoided.
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I mean, you're in Miami and Miami is predominantly Hispanic.
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But I even have an aunt and a family in Spain and I used to go and visit and I was like,
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nope, not speaking Spanish.
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And honestly, it didn't change until I started being interested in girls into my early teens.
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And then it changed very quickly.
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But yeah, it's funny how that happens.
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And now I wish I would have spoken Croatian more.
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I wish I would have spoken Spanish more.
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I mean, I'm fluent in them, but I wish I would have been even more fluent.
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And, you know, coming here to Croatia in the beginning.
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I mean, it was I understood, but then I spoke horribly and I even still speak with a Nagla
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Zak like a heavy accent.
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But compared to some Americans, it's not heavy at all.
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But even for me, when I'm like, I know I'm never going to get accepted here as, you know,
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an accruation.
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I'm always it's it's funny because I even have people call me here, the American.
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And then when I'm in the U.S., I'm not the American.
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I'm, oh, you're the Jamaican or you're the Croatian.
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So it's like, you just never fit in.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Well, that's always been one of the plikes of, you know, sort of the the Aspera community
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that, you know, you always feel like you don't have the right identity and you have a different
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identity in whichever country that you're in.
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Yeah.
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And that's for me one of the reasons why I love I know there's big fans and people that
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aren't fans of EU.
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But I mean, I think it's it's a beautiful thing that you have something like that, whether
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you support it or not, but I just think that it just makes a, you know, learning about
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the different cultures, experiencing them and traveling around so much easier.
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And you know, for me, I love that you can actually go to three countries in a day and
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speak so many different languages.
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I mean, that's cool for me.
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Yeah, definitely.
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That's cool.
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So growing up, were you was there a Croatian community at all in Jamaica?
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No, virtually none in Jamaica.
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I mean, there was like a handful, but it was I, I wish that I would have grown up in an
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area that had more.
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So I always get jealous when I hear about friends that grew up in Chicago, grew up in
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New York, grew up in Pittsburgh or Cleveland, and they have huge communities.
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They have a Croatian church.
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They have, you know, you know, the kids do activities and everything else, Tamburica,
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Klapa, whatever.
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I never experienced that.
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So I mean, I don't, I, my parents never said, Oh, here's some Croatian songs to learn or
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anything like that.
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No.
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And it was funny.
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I was in the actual opposite because there are more Serbs in Miami and we used to go, there
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was a Yugoslav club and then, you know, after the war, we're like, Oh, where's everybody
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going to go and everything.
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So it changed because I mean, I, the community was cool, but I mean, it was definitely more
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Serbian Bosnian, that type of thing.
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And I mean, even now in Miami, which is where I grew up, I mean, there's, I could probably
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name 30 families that I know that are Croatian and that's it.
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So there's not a lot.
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Well, then when did you first start getting involved in, you know, the Croatian community?
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You know, for me, it was always something I would have to venture to say I'd be more
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like a tourist because I would actually come, my mom was a single mom after my mom and dad
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split up and she, you know, would work really hard and we worked really hard.
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I mean, I used to work at the flea markets on the weekends with my mom and we would save
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up money and then she'd send me to Europe every probably two years, three years.
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And you know, one year I'd go with my dad, another year I'd stay and then another year
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I'd go to Europe and she'd save up money so I could actually come to Croatia and spend
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the whole summer.
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And so I would always see it more from, you know, a kid, teenager side, you know, let
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me go hang out with friends, let me go, you know, go to the beach every day, get sunburned,
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you know, have crappy food and it wasn't until I started working with a really cool organization
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called Slow Food and Slow Food is basically sounds what it sounds like.
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It's the opposite of fast food, but it's basically reinforcing old food traditions and food cultures.
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And I got invited to speak here in Dubrovnik for one of their extensions.
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They did like a Balkan version and I actually came down and this was in my, oh God, mid-30s,
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probably a little bit later than that.
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And you know, I got actually to experience Croatia from not a tourist standpoint, actually
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finding out about the people and the products and all the stories that are behind everything
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and all the passion, all the love, all the dedication and that's where I really fell
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in love with Croatia.
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I said, I need to do more.
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I need to spend more time here.
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I need to reinforce it.
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So that's when I actually, I wasn't even a Croatian citizen at that point.
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That's funny because when I was born, my parents never registered me in the book if you want
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to call it.
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And being born in Jamaica, I never had automatic citizenship because they didn't have any
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diplomatic ties.
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So well, it should have been an easy process with my parents since both of them were Croatian
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and all the way back, it goes back Croatian.
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It should be a couple of months.
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It actually took me three years to get my citizenship.
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So it was a long process, but that was sort of like the telltale for me was like, I want
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to spend more time here and now look, I'm here eight, nine months of the year.
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I still go back to the US for other work purposes and to see family and to check on my properties
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and that type of thing.
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But I'm still now I'm spending majority of my time here in Croatia.
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You mentioned Dubrovnik and I know you have one of your tours, one of your, you know,
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food initiatives there.
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The Sites and Bites tours, is it that one?
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Yeah.
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So Dubrovnik is, you know, when you think of Croatia, even as a foreigner or somebody
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that doesn't know about Croatia, Dubrovnik is probably the number one thing that people
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know about because it's, you know, the city that when, you know, you go on a go visit
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Croatia, I mean, that's the city that you go to.
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Now what happens is that there was an overabundance of crappy tourism and just really not thought
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out stuff that you'd have a gazillion tour guides.
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They do basically the same tour.
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They'd be, it's like they train from the same person and it's almost like verbatim.
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One person could just duplicate the next and it's exactly the same and you pay your 20
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euros and they walk you around a little bit and then you're done.
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And I was like, no, there has to be more.
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And with the food story and the history, there's so much interesting cultural history in Dubrovnik
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that even the Dubrovnik residents don't know about.
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And I wanted to showcase that.
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I wanted to basically raise awareness for how unique Dubrovnik is and why Dubrovnik
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is such a cool city.
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And I said, this can be done by still showcasing the history and the architecture and the scenery,
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but do it in a way that people can enjoy some of the amazing wines.
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So on the tour, we featured decanter award-winning wines, which decanters like in London, it's
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the premier wine awards in the world.
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And there's some really good wineries that are local.
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So we serve a wine from Konavle that's a Cervic winery that's amazing.
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We serve another one from Dingach, which is a nice amazing Pala Tsmali as well.
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And then we have a poshik from Korczula.
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So we feature some really amazing wines on that.
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But the idea behind it is, is still see it, but now you get to stop, eat, drink.
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So the idea behind it for me was finding amazing tour guides.
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So like right now, we have a handful of tour guides in each one in their own way is pretty
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unique.
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But my main tour guide, he's going for his PhD in etiology, so in wine.
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So if you want an expert, he's as close as you can get.
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I guarantee you there's not many tour guides down there that are going for their PhD in
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wine.
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But he really talks about, and he's passionate about the wine and the wine production.
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So people aren't just getting a basic history tour.
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They're getting, you know, sometimes too much, you know, but he bases it on the people.
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If they're really winies, then they, he talks a lot about production.
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He talks a lot about the varietals and everything else.
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So it's not just a basic tour, but then we showcase some beautiful food places that
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actually show old traditional food, but just done in a nice way.
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So one of my favorites is Kulpun.
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So it's a great location.
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It's right at the stairs in Dubrovnik, and they just do some beautiful food.
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Traditional recipes just done in a nice way.
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And the tour is three hours and people get to sit down at three different spots and just
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eat and drink and then walk around some more.
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So by the time they're done, they've seen the city.
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They know what they need to do.
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And actually most of the time people end up going back to the places for lunch or dinner
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after the fact.
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So, you know, we're also trying to help the local economy and also showcase Dubrovnik
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in a slightly different way.
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And so far it's been, you know, very well received.
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Yeah, it sounds like a great time.
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I mean, so it's more of a full immersion type thing than just, you know, hearing facts
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about the city.
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Yeah, totally.
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And I mean, that's what we try and talk about the stuff.
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So like when our tour guide is walking, so to give you an example for the people that
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have been there, you go down to the old harbor.
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I mean, it's weird.
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I mean, we, we get a lot of people that just get a little shocked by it.
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I mean, I have, we have motar that grows, it's a seagrass that grows along the walls.
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And it's usually within a meter off of the sea surface.
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And we just pick it and we give it to the people here, try it.
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And they're like, what?
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What do you mean?
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Try it.
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You just picked it off.
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You didn't even watch it and like, no, just try it, you know.
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So it's full of salt and the sea and, and then they have it and I go, listen, you're
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going to see it in other places throughout.
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You'll have people that pick will listen.
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They're going to serve it in their restaurants and they're like, oh, okay, cool.
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And then, you know, people really go, that's different.
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Then when you walk around, I mean, we talk to people, uh, giving an example, Americans,
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I mean, they know what a caper is, but virtually no one has ever seen how a caper grows.
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So all around Dubrovnik and all around Croatia, you have caper bushes and they just grow randomly.
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I mean, and we show them as they're walking, I'm like, look, what's that flower?
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What's that plant?
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And they don't know.
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And they're like, caper.
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And then I'm like, really?
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You know, and then they just, they love that.
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Um, you know, there's just so many cool things in Dubrovnik and around Dubrovnik and the
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history, uh, that we showcase.
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Uh, I mean, like, look, I'll throw you for, I didn't know if you're going to be tested,
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but, uh, do you know why Dubrovnik was as wealthy as a republic as it was?
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Why did it become a trading center?
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I mean, there's a lot of people don't even know it that live there.
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Hmm.
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Uh, I'll pretend I don't know, which I don't.
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And let you tell me.
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All right.
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Well, think about it.
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If you think historically, I mean, it's, it's not a amazing location.
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I mean, the city itself is, but from when you're trading, it really doesn't, there's
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nothing that is produced there really.
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There's nothing that is, uh, you know, uh, that's like, oh, we got to get this.
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No, but what ended up happening, if you think about during the days, why was Dubrovnik such
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a strong republic, a raguza, um, and why it had such a strong naval influence was, um,
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just north of Dubrovnik, you have stone and stone is, uh, one of the sea salt areas.
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So you have, uh, producing salt.
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Um, so salt back in, you know, the middle ages, ancient times was a very valuable commodity
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because that's how you preserved your foods.
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You, why do you think Przuch and, uh, all the sausages and everything else you needed
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to find a way there was no, you know, refrigeration, like we are used to now, but you had to preserve
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it in an ancient way.
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And salt was a big way of preserving your foods.
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And, uh, salt, you remember the saying, I don't know if you know it, but it's like you're
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worth your weight in salt.
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So it was a very expensive commodity.
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And that's one of the reasons why any place that was close to where sea salt was being
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produced was a trading center.
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And that's what happened with Dubrovnik.
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And then it started growing from there.
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And then you had other reasons, of course, why it just grew, but that was one of the
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main reasons historically why it was so popular.
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Oh, and you're saying things like this are going to be, you know, sort of the experiences
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that you're getting on these tours.
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Yeah.
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And then we talk about the, you know, the typical architecture that you'll find and
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why are there always three level homes.
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Uh, and the historical reasoning behind it.
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And then like in Dubrovnik as well, I mean, you have to think about, uh, some of the cities
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that we have here in Croatia, everybody thinks about like England being, you know, the, you
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know, the king and the queen or whatever and the monarchy and everything.
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But yeah, they're walking on dirt and slop and, you know, and there might be in their
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fancy gowns and everything.
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But like Dubrovnik at that time was having marble streets with indoor plumbing where,
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you know, in other parts of Europe, they're throwing their crap outside the window and
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then dropping it down to the street.
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And, you know, it just begs to be explored and go, huh, things were a little bit different
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here and things were, you know, relatively much more pristine in a lot of ways.
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So I, I like to showcase that and go, huh, you know, did you know that we had indoor
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plumbing?
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Did you know we had this?
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And, you know, that's pretty cool.
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And, you know, so there's a lot to be seen.
375
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Yeah, that's really cool part of the full immersion process.
376
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:59,920
I want to backtrack a little bit and go back to your, you know, cooking roots.
377
00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:07,600
When did you start getting into cooking and if pretty much from the time I could walk,
378
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my dad was a very added cook.
379
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He was actually a train chef but never worked as a train chef.
380
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Like he went through the whole program because he just found it interesting.
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This was while he was already, you know, doing his whole profession and everything, but he
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just never wanted to do it at his job.
383
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I mean, he was actually a mechanical engineer, but he just had a passion about food.
384
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So I mean, like for me, my dad passed away.
385
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:38,640
Unfortunately, when I was pretty young in my mid twenties, but my vision of my dad was
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basically him wherever he was at.
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He had two or three pots on the stove with always some type of stew or soup going.
388
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It didn't matter if it was summer or winter, there was always a stew or soup that he was
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making for everybody and just passing it out.
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And then he was making sauces.
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So, you know, when people are doing powders and bouillons, my dad was like, hell no, we're
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making our own stock.
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We're making our own demi-glace.
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I'm like, you know, so it was a totally different world.
395
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And I wish I would have really appreciated what he was doing.
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I mean, here he was telling me, hey, you know, I didn't have a lot of time with him.
397
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And even when I did, I was like, oh, I'm going to go, you know, to the beach with my friends.
398
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And he's like, hey, let's go make some sausage.
399
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And I'm like, who the hell wants to make sausage?
400
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I'm like, no.
401
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And then now I would cut off my fingers to be able to make sausage with my dad.
402
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,560
So you know, it's just funny in retrospect what you see.
403
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:40,360
I mean, my dad and my dad's best friend, my dad's best friend actually had the top French
404
00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:41,960
restaurant in Miami.
405
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,040
So I used to work there on the weekends.
406
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:49,800
And I mean, I've always had either a knife in my hand or prepping something or helping
407
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out in the kitchen, you know, doing that ever since as far as I can remember.
408
00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:58,160
I mean, now he would have probably gotten arrested for having a kid in the kitchen because I
409
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:03,360
mean, I was doing stuff at, you know, 10 years old that now, you know, you have to be an
410
00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:09,920
adult to do, you know, so child labor laws were not not really strictly enforced back
411
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then.
412
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:11,920
Yeah, I'm sure.
413
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:17,040
What was your, what were some of your favorite dishes to cook back then when you're starting
414
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:18,040
on?
415
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,640
I mean, I gotta tell you, it's funny how it revolves.
416
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,760
I never thought I was going to be going into culinary.
417
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:24,640
I actually did it more like my dad.
418
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:25,640
I loved it.
419
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:26,640
I had a passion for it.
420
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,560
I appreciated it.
421
00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:35,320
I remember there was this one restaurant in Miami that just had a simple dish, but it
422
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:37,000
was so good.
423
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,080
And it was, it was a restaurant called shells.
424
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:44,040
I don't even know if they still exist, but it was a, they used to make a pasta with a
425
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,760
pink sauce, pink vodka sauce with shrimp.
426
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:50,880
And I'm like, you know, that's like one of the, I mean, you have it on a gazillion menus,
427
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:52,880
but I was like, this tastes so good.
428
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,400
And I said, I'm going to recreate the dish.
429
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,600
So I even told my mom, I'm going to make it so we don't have to go there and spend the
430
00:24:58,600 --> 00:24:59,600
money for it.
431
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:00,600
I'm going to do it.
432
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:01,600
She's like, yeah, whatever.
433
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:06,360
And I worked on it and I did it and I got it down to, it tastes exactly like it.
434
00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:07,880
I was like, okay, I can do this.
435
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:09,320
This is fun.
436
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:12,120
And it was more so for me at teenagers.
437
00:25:12,120 --> 00:25:19,200
I just wanted to impress some girls and, you know, you know, get to their heart through
438
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,240
their stomach, I guess or something like that.
439
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,960
But for me, it was just, you know, how cool is it that you like, you know, you're in high
440
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:31,240
school instead of taking a girl out to, you know, hey, let's grab a burger and a movie.
441
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:32,800
I'm like, you know, I talked to my mom.
442
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:37,240
I'm like, hey, mom, can I have a girl come over and I want to cook something and she
443
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:38,600
would like disappear for a little bit.
444
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,280
I mean, it was nothing crazy going on.
445
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:44,840
I mean, but I would make, you know, dinner and yeah, I would slip in some wine and we're
446
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:45,840
in high school.
447
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,680
So yeah, don't, don't moms don't get mad at me.
448
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:50,920
But you know, it was cool from that standpoint.
449
00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:54,600
It would be a way for me to like, oh, impress the ladies.
450
00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:56,280
And that's how it started basically.
451
00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:01,160
Yeah, definitely standing out from probably the majority of other dates too.
452
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:02,160
Yeah.
453
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:03,160
Yeah.
454
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:04,240
So that was cool.
455
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:08,320
And then why did you start Good Meats and Eats, which I think was your first food initiative
456
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:09,320
project?
457
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:14,200
Good Eats was, let's fast forward quite a few years.
458
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:19,200
I mean, I ended up, I was supposed to be going to law school and like two weeks before starting
459
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:20,480
law school, I had an epiphany.
460
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:22,400
I'm like, this is not going to make me happy.
461
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:29,760
And I ended up going to like an advanced program for culinary because I had a lot of the background
462
00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:31,200
with my uncle and everything else.
463
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:38,040
And we sort of fibbed on my CV, even though it was the program you actually had to do an
464
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,440
actual practical and show them that you could cook before you could get into the program.
465
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,120
So that was easy peasy.
466
00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:49,680
But all the people that I went to culinary school with were already getting their second
467
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:50,680
or third degrees.
468
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:57,000
And I finished college, but I mean, in terms of like my culinary stuff, I was about 10
469
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,480
to 15 years younger than everybody else in the program.
470
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,600
And so it was pretty cool, but also challenging.
471
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,680
But to fast forward, I mean, I cooked in kitchens.
472
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:15,200
I started from grunt chef all the way up to executive chef and had my own place as well.
473
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:22,000
But then I got married and basically wanted to have more time with the family.
474
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,920
And so I made a decision to get out of the kitchen, but still be related to it.
475
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:32,400
So I actually worked for a big, the largest food service distributor in the US called
476
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:33,400
Cisco Foods.
477
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,280
So not the computer one, but S-Y-S-E-O.
478
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:41,160
And I worked as a corporate chef and did management for them.
479
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:48,360
And for me, Good Eats was born out of thinking of finding a way to increase business and
480
00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:49,360
sales.
481
00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:52,360
So I used to travel and go to different cities and work for them.
482
00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:56,960
And I'm like, you know what, I always used to go and eat by myself, which is fine.
483
00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:58,920
I never had a problem with that.
484
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:03,640
But I was like, there's got to be a way that we can leverage business and also getting
485
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:04,920
people together.
486
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:10,360
So Good Eats was a way to, in the beginning, was bringing extra customers to some of our
487
00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:11,840
client base.
488
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:17,600
And when I'd go away for a weekend or something like that, and I'd do an event in Atlanta,
489
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:22,120
I'd pick a restaurant that was one of our clients and actually talk to them and say,
490
00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:24,800
hey, would you mind me putting a dinner together?
491
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:26,400
And I could bring some people in.
492
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,800
And in the beginning, people were like, what are you talking about people?
493
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:29,800
I mean, like, I don't know.
494
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,320
I said, look, I'm going to just put this up and we might get five people to show up
495
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:34,320
or we might get 50.
496
00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:35,320
I don't know.
497
00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:39,600
And a lot of people were like, this is weird, but we did it.
498
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:45,760
And it started out like, I had 30 members and 300 members and 3000 members and 30,000
499
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:46,760
members.
500
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:52,520
So, I mean, like right now, we're still going strong in seven different cities.
501
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,520
I don't even know the exact number right now.
502
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:59,600
It's probably close to 150, 200,000.
503
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,400
I got to check the numbers right now.
504
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:05,200
But it's, you know, and we just basically get people together.
505
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:09,720
Sometimes Americans are totally different than Currie, since I got to say doing that
506
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,840
type of model here would not work.
507
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:14,240
You know, Americans have no problems.
508
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:15,920
Hey, I'm in a new city.
509
00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:17,280
I just took a new job.
510
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,000
Let me go, you know, try and make some friends.
511
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:24,040
You know, here it's either work or people you know, that type of thing.
512
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:26,000
But in the US, they're a little bit more open to it.
513
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:30,840
So I would do these things and you just get random people.
514
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:35,160
And what's funny is now through good eats over the years, I mean, we've had marriages
515
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,840
divorces, kids from people that have met at our events.
516
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:45,680
You know, and even now I have some of my long term friends or people that I met through
517
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:46,680
my good eats group.
518
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,040
So, you know, it's really cool.
519
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:54,760
It was basically a conduit for me to start doing other stuff, just getting people together
520
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:59,200
and making people happy over food and drinking and having a good time.
521
00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:04,200
Wow, that's pretty cool to now grow to almost, what, 200,000, you said?
522
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:05,840
Yeah, it's crazy.
523
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:10,440
I honestly, I should do a better job of keeping track of all the numbers.
524
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:15,400
But with me doing all this stuff, I mean, honestly, I haven't been as on top of it as
525
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:16,400
I should.
526
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:19,840
So, luckily, I have, you know, quite a few organizers and stuff like that.
527
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:24,440
So, yeah, they sort of handle the day to day stuff.
528
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:28,880
I want to get into two other of your projects before we talk about Fuego.
529
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:34,360
But the captivating Croatia tours and the gypsy table pop-up events, you talk a little
530
00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:35,360
about those two.
531
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:43,640
All right, so captivating Croatia came about after leaving Cisco and actually going back
532
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:45,320
into the professional world.
533
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:50,360
I worked for another company and which I can't name for legal reasons, but anyhow, I'll tell
534
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:53,840
you, it was a sad story that worked out well.
535
00:30:53,840 --> 00:31:00,000
I ended up having an owner at a company that took advantage of some business that I brought
536
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:10,800
on and basically, I had to sue him for lost commissions and some other stuff.
537
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:17,080
And we ended up settling out of court, but part of my arrangement was that I got paid
538
00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:19,560
salary and commissions for two years, but I had a non-compete.
539
00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:24,680
So, my non-compete would not allow me to go back into the same type of typical field.
540
00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:28,560
So here I am getting a salary for two years, but I can't work in essence.
541
00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:30,360
And I was like, screw this.
542
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,840
So this was the opportunity and the ability for me to start captivating Croatia.
543
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,640
So I wanted to spend more time in Croatia.
544
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,960
And the idea came about really showcasing all the amazing stuff here in Croatia.
545
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,640
And I started putting together these gourmet food and wine vacations.
546
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:49,440
So I'm like, heck, I might as well be in Croatia and research and learn.
547
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:56,960
So, one year was mostly spent here just going around, getting to know the country, really
548
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:02,320
experiencing it from a firsthand knowledge, talking to people, hey, what's cool?
549
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:03,880
What's not?
550
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:05,840
Which places are doing really good food?
551
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,000
Who are the nice people?
552
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:13,480
And I spent the mass majority of that in and around Dubrovnik and the southern area.
553
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:21,880
So pretty much from the border of Croatia all the way to Khoroslav, I know every road.
554
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:22,880
I've driven it all.
555
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:28,680
I've gone every turn down every dead end road just to see what was there for the get-go.
556
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:33,840
And so that's why captivating Croatia came about out of, first was Sites and Bites tours
557
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,480
and then captivating Croatia grew out of that.
558
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:39,480
Because I had people that would go on the Dubrovnik tours and say, can you do something
559
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:44,880
else for us and then can you do some wine trips or whatever and then boom, started doing
560
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:45,880
that.
561
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:48,800
And so that's how captivating Croatia grew.
562
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:53,680
But instead of just being a regular vacation, we do these hand curated, I mean, every place
563
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:57,880
I've gone to, every place I know, I mean, when I'm taking my guests there, I mean, I'm
564
00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,520
greeted like now they're old, old family friends.
565
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:07,160
The places that we go to hugs, kisses, how's the kids, everything else catching up.
566
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:10,560
And then I introduce them to the guests and everything.
567
00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:13,320
But we have a really hands on experience.
568
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,400
It's usually private time.
569
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:18,200
So if we're going to a winery, it's just us.
570
00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:22,120
If we're going to a restaurant, we book out the restaurant.
571
00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:28,480
And we have really a nice group of guests that come in, but they get to experience Croatia
572
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:30,200
from a very intimate standpoint.
573
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:36,160
So even if it's peak tourist season, we're not around a lot of tourists.
574
00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:42,760
We get to experience things directly with the winemaker, directly with the producer.
575
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:48,440
So it's a totally different experience for everybody.
576
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:53,160
And then also the places that we visit, they love it because they get to see people in
577
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:54,600
a totally different way.
578
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:59,080
It's not your typical wine tasting where a tour bus pulls out 50 people come out, they
579
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,400
get three glasses of wine and then they're at the door in an hour.
580
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:05,600
No, we want to just enjoy, relax.
581
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:09,920
Take advantage of the pomalo mentality and just take it easy.
582
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:15,360
And instead of spending an hour, we might spend half a day at that place and just really
583
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,560
get to know the people that are producing the products.
584
00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:20,200
And to me, that's really important.
585
00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:23,840
And how long then has that been going for?
586
00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:26,040
Now we're in our sixth year.
587
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:33,560
So COVID, we should subtract two years from that because pretty much not much happened
588
00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:34,560
during that time.
589
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,920
But right now there's telltale signs.
590
00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:44,080
I mean, still this year has been okay, not great because of now the recent conflict in
591
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:48,640
the Ukraine and Russia.
592
00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:51,240
Groups have been a little bit slow in coming back.
593
00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:55,280
We do have a lot of guests that are coming privately, like families or individuals, which
594
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:56,280
is great.
595
00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:57,920
It's a good sign.
596
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:01,840
But I think next year is going to be even better.
597
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:06,000
We'll see what's going to happen with the global recession, but I still think it's going
598
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:07,000
to be okay.
599
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:08,720
It might affect things a little bit.
600
00:35:08,720 --> 00:35:14,520
But for me, it's just now, to give you an example, I mean, I'm just learning about Croatia
601
00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:16,520
myself.
602
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:23,280
I'm actually putting together the first tour in Slovonia, which is not a super, it's
603
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:28,240
a great area to visit, but it's not on everybody's radar, especially for tour companies.
604
00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:30,200
Everybody focuses on the coast and everything else.
605
00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:32,400
So we're actually going out of season.
606
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,680
We're doing fall and we're going to Slovonia.
607
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:37,840
So the tour is booked out.
608
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:39,440
We have 20 people coming.
609
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,560
I'm very excited and I'm looking forward to being in a new area.
610
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:45,240
Yeah, that's pretty interesting.
611
00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:50,520
You don't hear, I mean, one out of season, but yeah, also in Slovonia too.
612
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:51,520
Yeah.
613
00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:59,480
But right now, I ended up, I've probably done 12 trips to Slovonia just doing research and
614
00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,560
then 12 trips have been over two years.
615
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:06,480
So whenever I have time, I go and I mean, I think my first Slovonian trip was like five
616
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:08,120
years ago.
617
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:14,920
So it's not a quick process and I don't want to put it together until I absolutely have
618
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:18,480
all the bits and pieces together and get to know everybody.
619
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:20,440
I don't go to places that we've never visited.
620
00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:24,520
I don't put stuff together that comes from recommended from somebody else unless I actually
621
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:29,520
go there and meet the people and do a game plan and do something else.
622
00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:32,160
So yeah, this trip is going to be fabulous.
623
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:34,040
I'm super psyched about it.
624
00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,160
Yeah, that sounds really cool.
625
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:39,560
And then where did the gypsy table pop up events?
626
00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:45,640
The gypsy table was honestly, it's a sad story, but it worked out well.
627
00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:57,120
So my mom, as we talked about earlier, was from Zagreb and grew up here to a good portion
628
00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:03,640
of her youth, but she also needed to come back and she would come back periodically,
629
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:07,240
but she wanted to spend more time here.
630
00:37:07,240 --> 00:37:14,000
So she was retired and the plan was that I was going to have the kids here and my mom
631
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:16,040
and we're going to spend the whole summer together.
632
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:22,200
And this was about six years ago and about 10 days before she was going to be coming,
633
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:23,280
we had everything planned.
634
00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:28,640
We had what we're going to do the whole summer was going to be just fun, me, mom and the
635
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:32,040
kids and she ended up passing away suddenly.
636
00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:35,480
And it really shifted things.
637
00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:43,520
I mean, we had the funeral here in Midovoi and in Zagreb and the whole summer was weird.
638
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:48,440
But my mom, the one thing that she was awesome about was just having a great time and wanting
639
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:49,880
everybody to have a great time.
640
00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:57,680
So I actually did the first event sort of like a tribute to her and in her honor.
641
00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:02,480
And I also wanted to tie in a charity because that was always as important to my mom.
642
00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:07,960
So the first event was a charity for the dog shelter in Dubrovnik and we actually did it
643
00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:08,960
in Dubrovnik.
644
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:14,920
We did the Lazareti, which is the quarantine area.
645
00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:19,680
And it was all the different people that I told you about the winemakers, the chefs
646
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:20,800
and everything that I got to know.
647
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:25,560
I asked them for help and I said, hey, can you support this crazy idea of mine and putting
648
00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:31,000
together a one night pop up restaurant in a weird location that doesn't have a kitchen
649
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:32,720
and let's just have a great time.
650
00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:38,160
And I ended up getting a nice handful of people to really support and do it and everybody
651
00:38:38,160 --> 00:38:39,160
loved it.
652
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:43,640
And that was sort of the idea behind the gypsy table.
653
00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:48,720
And the reason behind it, two people asked me to because there's a lot of bad connotations
654
00:38:48,720 --> 00:38:50,640
when you mentioned gypsy.
655
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:57,720
And so for those that speak Croatian, my mom's name was Tsiganka.
656
00:38:57,720 --> 00:38:59,640
And Tsiganka means gypsy.
657
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:07,600
And the reason why is that my mom had super black hair, black eyes and dark skin.
658
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:13,560
So in a way, it was sort of her nickname, not also in the most favorable way either, probably,
659
00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:16,680
but that she was nicknamed the gypsy.
660
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:24,320
And then also with me being bi-continental and doing all having my food groups in seven
661
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,800
different cities and just doing stuff everywhere.
662
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:28,280
I was like a food gypsy.
663
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:33,080
I was going everywhere and putting events together, cooking, doing everything.
664
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:37,040
So I just didn't think gypsy, food gypsy was a great name.
665
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:41,560
So that's where the table came in, that it was always like a roaming table.
666
00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:44,920
And I sort of did that as an ode to my mom.
667
00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:48,640
And even the logo has a caricature of her face.
668
00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:51,200
And that's the idea of gypsy tables.
669
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:58,880
So now it's tied into and morphed that I do gypsy tables to whenever I have a chef tour.
670
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:03,000
Usually if I can pull it off, we do a gypsy table event during every chef tour, which
671
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:05,600
are these captivating chef tours.
672
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:10,320
And then we focus on having our chef that comes in from the US showcasing some of his
673
00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,440
food and specialties or their food and specialties.
674
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:17,480
And then we also have partner up with some of the best chefs in Croatia and best producers
675
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:20,120
and showcase all the amazing product here.
676
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:26,200
So it's actually grown to the point that now I'm also doing them in the US and I'm showcasing
677
00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:30,280
now Croatian products over there, wines, olive oils.
678
00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:35,120
So I did one last year in September for a really big food and wine festival, which we're
679
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:37,280
doing again this September.
680
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:43,080
And we had over 40 different Croatian items that we used and featured at the dinner, which
681
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:44,960
was very cool.
682
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:46,600
So I loved being able to show that.
683
00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:47,600
Yeah, that's really cool.
684
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:51,200
What kind of reviews were they getting?
685
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:52,200
Everybody loved it.
686
00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:56,000
I mean, we were, it's funny, if I had wood here, I'd knock on wood.
687
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,360
We were for the food festival, the quickest selling event.
688
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:02,440
We sold out tickets last year in 20 minutes.
689
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:03,920
We've sold out.
690
00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:05,960
This year it was like a day.
691
00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:09,720
So we were also one of the fastest selling events.
692
00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:14,000
And you know, so for me to hear that it's cool.
693
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,560
And also it's even more shocking because we don't tell anybody the menu so they don't
694
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:20,560
know what they're eating.
695
00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:23,560
We don't tell them the location because they don't know where it's going to be.
696
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:27,360
So it's a little bit of a mystery, but some people are really open to it and some people
697
00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:28,360
are not.
698
00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:31,480
But the people that are open to it, then they get a really big surprise.
699
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:37,200
So like in here, we've done it like I said in L'Azarete, which is the quarantine.
700
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:38,580
So it was really cool.
701
00:41:38,580 --> 00:41:42,400
We turned it into like a little Turkish bazaar.
702
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:45,000
I've done it at the aquarium in Dubrovnik.
703
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:49,880
So we actually did a seafood dinner where you were actually eating what was, what you were
704
00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:55,960
viewing in the glass in the tanks, which is sort of a little bit macabre, but I have a
705
00:41:55,960 --> 00:41:58,920
dark, scentsy humor.
706
00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:01,840
And we've done one in a church.
707
00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:05,080
We've done them in an abandoned building.
708
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:08,760
We did one in a condemned building that was going to be ready to be demolished.
709
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:15,080
Luckily, not on the day that we're doing it, but it was pretty cool that we just had some
710
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:17,480
lights and you're in this empty shell of a building.
711
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:19,880
So I mean, it's just, we never do it in a restaurant.
712
00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:22,160
So that's one of the weird things.
713
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:26,480
I know I could make my job a lot easier and logistically a lot easier, but I think that
714
00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:29,500
that's sort of like boring.
715
00:42:29,500 --> 00:42:30,920
So I always like a challenge.
716
00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:36,000
And if anything, it just makes it harder, but then more gratifying because you can actually
717
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:38,960
say, look, we pulled this off in some place.
718
00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:44,080
Like I did one in a beach and I mean, we're literally on the sands of a beach and there's
719
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:49,920
nothing around and we pulled off this beautiful dinner for a hundred people right on the beach.
720
00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:53,440
So those settings alone, I'm sure would make it worth it.
721
00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:54,440
Oh yeah.
722
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:56,800
It's a little different vibe than just eating at a restaurant.
723
00:42:56,800 --> 00:42:57,800
Yeah.
724
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:01,760
And the cool thing is too, especially here in Croatia is like when we do them, people
725
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:04,480
actually love not knowing where it is.
726
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:08,960
So I will always showcase stuff that is off the beaten path.
727
00:43:08,960 --> 00:43:13,040
So I did one and actually it wasn't Dubrovnik, we did one in Molunat.
728
00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:18,280
So for those of you that know Dubrovnik, it's like the furthest south part before you get
729
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:28,320
to pretty close to the Montenegro border and we did it at this place that typically is
730
00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:35,680
like a little beach fried fish shack and we took it over for the night and converted it
731
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:36,960
into this really great place.
732
00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:42,640
And we actually had the people eating on the banks of the water that normally people are
733
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:47,160
sunbathing and people would never look at it as a place for, you know, a fine dining
734
00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:52,240
meal and you know, literally in three hours we converted it from that into this place
735
00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:57,600
where you know, we had a Michelin star chef cooking right there and it was pretty cool
736
00:43:57,600 --> 00:43:59,600
to see that come and happen.
737
00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:00,600
So that's pretty fun.
738
00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:03,920
Yeah, that sounds awesome.
739
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:07,760
You mentioned you're living most of the year in Zagreb now.
740
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:10,760
And you recently opened up, how long ago?
741
00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:12,600
Only, what, like less than a year ago?
742
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:13,600
Fuego?
743
00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:14,600
Yeah, less than a year ago, November.
744
00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:15,600
We have Fuego.
745
00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:20,480
What was your inspiration behind opening that up?
746
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:27,720
Honestly, my stomach, because when I come to Croatia, I love Croatia.
747
00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:30,280
Look, I'm one of the biggest fans of Croatia.
748
00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:31,880
I'm one of the biggest supporters.
749
00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:36,480
I'm always going to be pushing Croatia with, you know, wherever I am, I'm always mentioning,
750
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:40,080
you know, to the point that people get sick of hearing about Croatia.
751
00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:45,560
But while it has so many positives, there are a few negatives and we're not going to go
752
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:46,720
into all the other stuff.
753
00:44:46,720 --> 00:44:48,800
I'm just talking about the negatives from one standpoint.
754
00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:51,640
And for me, it's getting so much better now.
755
00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:56,760
But if you think about it 10 years ago, five years ago, the cuisine was very limited.
756
00:44:56,760 --> 00:44:59,960
So when I mean limited, it's not limited in a bad way.
757
00:44:59,960 --> 00:45:01,920
So that's what I'm trying to tell people too.
758
00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:06,400
If you want to get your hostile and fish on a grill, God, we got lots of that.
759
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:12,400
But in terms of variety, it was pretty not, not a lot of variety.
760
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:17,840
So when you'd come, especially to Zagreb, you would think that it would be more variety,
761
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:18,840
but it really wasn't.
762
00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:22,800
I mean, like right now in Zagreb, there's no Vietnamese restaurant.
763
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:25,240
There's one Korean place.
764
00:45:25,240 --> 00:45:27,360
There's three Indian places.
765
00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:30,680
There's two Thai places that are owned by the same place.
766
00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:34,880
So if I can throw that off in a city that's a million people, and that's all we have for
767
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:37,240
variety, that's not a good sign.
768
00:45:37,240 --> 00:45:40,880
So I'm happy to say that there's more stuff happening.
769
00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,120
Like right now, Asian food is starting to get more popular.
770
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:45,800
Sushi places are getting more popular.
771
00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:50,040
So the things that we're lacking for me when I would come here for extended stays are Latin
772
00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:53,080
food and Asian food.
773
00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:56,880
So it's good to see in that time, Thai places open up.
774
00:45:56,880 --> 00:46:02,400
Like I said, one Korean place open up.
775
00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:07,800
But from Latin side, there's just really not a lot of options and it's mostly Mexican.
776
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:12,520
And even Mexican at that, it's not really good.
777
00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:20,240
So I had the opportunity to have a really small locale that wasn't going to be super
778
00:46:20,240 --> 00:46:24,320
cost of a burden to try and do.
779
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:28,880
And the idea came about to do Latin.
780
00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:31,120
I mean, it wasn't my first idea either.
781
00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:34,880
I mean, I had a few other things, even as stupid as doing like a sandwich shop.
782
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:35,880
Like I love hoagies.
783
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:38,240
And I was thinking, yeah, Kareasans are going to love hoagies.
784
00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:39,240
I was like, yeah.
785
00:46:39,240 --> 00:46:43,000
And then I heard about how Subway has failed miserably here.
786
00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:44,480
I was like, come on.
787
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:48,520
I mean, I'm not going to say Subway is the best, but it's just the concept is still
788
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:50,360
a good concept.
789
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:52,720
But that's where I came up with Fuego.
790
00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:59,080
And the idea is showcasing different cuisines from South America, Latin America, and doing
791
00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:01,280
them in a way that we're approachable.
792
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:05,600
I mean, right now our most expensive thing, if you calculate the difference, it's about
793
00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:06,600
$10.
794
00:47:06,600 --> 00:47:13,840
So our main dish is all these are bowls or sort of like Chipotle-esque.
795
00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:17,680
You can go in and order pork beef chicken.
796
00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:19,720
And we have them flavored in different ways.
797
00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:23,760
And you can get your different accompaniments and that type of thing.
798
00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:26,880
And it's been really well received.
799
00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:29,920
We have a lot of people that come in, never had anything like it before.
800
00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:31,040
They don't know what to expect.
801
00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:32,560
They don't know what to order.
802
00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:33,880
So a lot of it's hand holding.
803
00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:38,240
But then once we do and we explain it to them, I mean, we're making everything fresh in
804
00:47:38,240 --> 00:47:39,320
house.
805
00:47:39,320 --> 00:47:41,520
All our appetizers are made in house.
806
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:42,520
We're making empanadas.
807
00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:44,920
I mean, it's so crazy right now we can't keep up.
808
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:48,720
So now I have a guy who's actually making empanadas during our working hours.
809
00:47:48,720 --> 00:47:52,240
And we have already a small kitchen and he's like, the guys in the kitchen are just like
810
00:47:52,240 --> 00:47:53,740
bumping into each other.
811
00:47:53,740 --> 00:47:54,740
It's not the best.
812
00:47:54,740 --> 00:47:58,640
We need to expand, but we're doing the best that we can to keep up because I hate being
813
00:47:58,640 --> 00:47:59,640
out of stuff.
814
00:47:59,640 --> 00:48:01,880
It's one of my big pit peas.
815
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:07,560
So we're also doing deliveries.
816
00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:14,320
And right now, actually, Volta said that we're one of their most busiest places for deliveries
817
00:48:14,320 --> 00:48:15,320
in Zagreb.
818
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:16,920
So that's a good sign too.
819
00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:19,720
So I'm excited.
820
00:48:19,720 --> 00:48:23,760
I mean, right now, we're actually going to be closed for Gweliyshnia.
821
00:48:23,760 --> 00:48:30,320
And people told me that Zagreb dies down and we've decreased a bit, but it's not enough
822
00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:31,640
to justify closing.
823
00:48:31,640 --> 00:48:35,520
So we're actually going to stay open and see how Gweliyshnia goes for the next couple
824
00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:36,520
of weeks.
825
00:48:36,520 --> 00:48:37,520
So never know.
826
00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:38,520
I'm pretty cool.
827
00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:42,480
Well, I mean, personally, coming from being born and raised in Los Angeles, I've missed
828
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:44,640
Mexican food when I'm over here.
829
00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:52,320
But I know also Latin food as a whole is lacking that scene in not only Zagreb, but all of
830
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:53,320
Croatia.
831
00:48:53,320 --> 00:48:55,360
Oh, I'm not even going to say all of Croatia.
832
00:48:55,360 --> 00:48:56,360
I mean, all of Europe.
833
00:48:56,360 --> 00:48:57,760
I mean, I looked around.
834
00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:03,800
I mean, there's really not a lot of Latin places that would be even good, even in other
835
00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:04,800
places.
836
00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:10,880
So one of my best compliments that I get are people that are from those countries, actually
837
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:16,120
from Peru and they try our Peruvian and they should go, damn, this is good.
838
00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:21,880
Or I have somebody that tries our beef barbacoa, which is our Mexican barbacoa dish.
839
00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:24,760
And they go, how do you know how to do this?
840
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:28,080
And I'm like, come on, you know, so we're trying to do it.
841
00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:30,400
I mean, I'm talking about EU.
842
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:31,960
So I'll give you a perfect example.
843
00:49:31,960 --> 00:49:36,280
I had a hard time trying to figure out about ingredients in the beginning and I started
844
00:49:36,280 --> 00:49:37,480
doing research and everything.
845
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:42,120
So that's why right now we are a little bit more heavy on the Mexican side.
846
00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:43,320
It's not intentional.
847
00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:47,440
The only reason is that those are the ingredients that I could source out easier.
848
00:49:47,440 --> 00:49:51,080
So some of the other Latin ingredients have been harder, like let's say the typical South
849
00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:53,840
American stuff has been harder for me to source.
850
00:49:53,840 --> 00:49:59,440
So in the beginning, it was easier for me to source out the Mexican stuff, but talk about
851
00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:00,440
the EU.
852
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:02,240
So the company is based in Germany.
853
00:50:02,240 --> 00:50:03,840
My salespeople are in Spain.
854
00:50:03,840 --> 00:50:07,760
So I speak Spanish to them and the warehouse is in the Czech Republic.
855
00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:11,160
So when I place the order, I'm placing it to the guy in Spain.
856
00:50:11,160 --> 00:50:13,080
The German part, they hardly do anything.
857
00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:16,240
And then the truck comes from the Czech Republic, which is great for me because the shipping
858
00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:19,200
cost isn't exorbitant.
859
00:50:19,200 --> 00:50:21,360
And that's how I get my Mexican products.
860
00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:22,360
So it's cool.
861
00:50:22,360 --> 00:50:27,480
Well, it's funny you mentioned Peru because my girlfriend is actually from Peru.
862
00:50:27,480 --> 00:50:32,640
We were living in Zagreb and she went to your restaurant and that's how I first had heard
863
00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:33,640
about it.
864
00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:38,720
And she gave rave reviews maybe six months ago or something.
865
00:50:38,720 --> 00:50:43,520
Last school semester she was over there and she always complained to me about the lack
866
00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:46,000
of Latin food in Zagreb.
867
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:50,000
So to give you an example, I mean, my chicken dish is called ajide gallina.
868
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:53,480
So if you've been to Peru or had it from her, you'll know.
869
00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:58,280
So ajide gallina is like a staple for chicken and Peru.
870
00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:00,480
It's one of the home style dishes.
871
00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:06,200
So it's basically, ají is a chili, gallina means old chicken basically.
872
00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:08,360
And it's creamy chili chicken.
873
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:11,880
And so on our menu, it's actually called itas.
874
00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:18,000
Ajita is my mother-in-law and it's a short name for abuelita, which is grandma.
875
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:20,680
So it's basically grandma's chicken.
876
00:51:20,680 --> 00:51:22,720
And it's her recipe.
877
00:51:22,720 --> 00:51:27,680
It's one of my dishes that she would make for me whenever I need to pick me up or she'd
878
00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:30,560
see I'd be stressed out or just something special.
879
00:51:30,560 --> 00:51:32,680
She'd make the ajide gallina for me.
880
00:51:32,680 --> 00:51:39,240
So I even asked her when I was doing this concept, I said, hey, I'd like to do this recipe in
881
00:51:39,240 --> 00:51:41,080
your honor and actually name it after you.
882
00:51:41,080 --> 00:51:44,560
And she was like super happy that I would do that.
883
00:51:44,560 --> 00:51:45,560
And she was touched.
884
00:51:45,560 --> 00:51:49,800
But for me, it was like I was touched with her because she showed me different flavors
885
00:51:49,800 --> 00:51:50,960
and different things.
886
00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:53,160
And, you know, I love Peruvian food.
887
00:51:53,160 --> 00:52:01,640
So in the future, right now, Fuego's so small that we really can't expand the menu the way
888
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:05,760
I really want to just because of logistics.
889
00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:10,800
So right now we don't have any fish on the menu, which is sort of funny for being a Peruvian
890
00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:11,800
place.
891
00:52:11,800 --> 00:52:12,800
I would love to have ceviche.
892
00:52:12,800 --> 00:52:16,040
I'd love to have some other stuff, but that's going to be for Fuego number two when we have
893
00:52:16,040 --> 00:52:17,480
a bigger location.
894
00:52:17,480 --> 00:52:21,360
But for now, I mean, we're still trying to showcase like I do a Cuban roast pork, which
895
00:52:21,360 --> 00:52:22,560
is my Miami heritage.
896
00:52:22,560 --> 00:52:26,680
I have a Cuban sandwich that I would put on par with any Cuban sandwich in Miami.
897
00:52:26,680 --> 00:52:28,720
I do my own little change a little bit.
898
00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:32,040
So I've even had a couple of my friends in Miami go, that's not a proper Cuban.
899
00:52:32,040 --> 00:52:35,480
I'm like, well, it's a proper Cuban the way I want to.
900
00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:36,880
So, you know, yeah.
901
00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:40,120
But we're trying to do it as authentic as possible.
902
00:52:40,120 --> 00:52:41,120
Things fresh every day.
903
00:52:41,120 --> 00:52:45,120
And, you know, we just want to make people happy and give them a different alternative
904
00:52:45,120 --> 00:52:46,120
here in Zagreb.
905
00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:51,280
Well, I think it's really cool how you've been able to pay tribute to your family through
906
00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:52,280
food.
907
00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:53,280
That's really cool.
908
00:52:53,280 --> 00:52:54,280
Yeah.
909
00:52:54,280 --> 00:52:56,880
Well, I think in essence, that's what food is about.
910
00:52:56,880 --> 00:52:58,920
I mean, food is about family.
911
00:52:58,920 --> 00:53:00,440
Food is about celebration.
912
00:53:00,440 --> 00:53:04,600
Food is about that closeness because it doesn't matter if you don't speak the same language.
913
00:53:04,600 --> 00:53:09,280
I mean, that's why they say food is a, you know, a language that you if you give somebody
914
00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:13,720
a bowl of something and they'll try it, they'll give you a reaction, whether they like it
915
00:53:13,720 --> 00:53:14,720
or not.
916
00:53:14,720 --> 00:53:19,160
And you'll, you can actually bond over food without having to speak a common language.
917
00:53:19,160 --> 00:53:21,800
So for me, I mean, we try and balance that.
918
00:53:21,800 --> 00:53:24,560
I mean, I have people in our kitchen that don't speak Croatian.
919
00:53:24,560 --> 00:53:27,000
I have people that don't speak Spanish.
920
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:28,600
I have people that don't speak English.
921
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:32,720
And we're trying to, it's a little juggling act because I do want to make it authentic.
922
00:53:32,720 --> 00:53:36,920
So our cooks, when I'm not there, they're Latin.
923
00:53:36,920 --> 00:53:39,840
So right now they're learning about being in Croatia.
924
00:53:39,840 --> 00:53:42,240
They're, you know, learning to speak the language.
925
00:53:42,240 --> 00:53:46,920
And it's funny to see these guys, you know, open up and, you know, start chit-chatting
926
00:53:46,920 --> 00:53:47,920
in Croatia.
927
00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:49,280
And I looked at them like, where'd you learn that?
928
00:53:49,280 --> 00:53:50,280
You know, it's just cool.
929
00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:52,500
And then they say, oh, one of the customers stopped me.
930
00:53:52,500 --> 00:53:57,040
So for me, it's, we're trying to build a little community and we're trying to build something
931
00:53:57,040 --> 00:53:58,040
that is special.
932
00:53:58,040 --> 00:54:02,200
So when you come into Fuego, I want it to be like you're getting transported to someplace
933
00:54:02,200 --> 00:54:03,260
else.
934
00:54:03,260 --> 00:54:05,080
So our color scheme is different.
935
00:54:05,080 --> 00:54:07,120
Our ambience is different.
936
00:54:07,120 --> 00:54:11,000
And you know, look at it as like I want it to be like you're time warped into someplace
937
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:12,920
that you go, oh, I'm not in Zagreb anymore.
938
00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:18,240
And that's what we're trying to feel and make it be that you can actually have a dish that
939
00:54:18,240 --> 00:54:23,400
you can't get anyplace else in Zagreb and get transported and, you know, try our dessert.
940
00:54:23,400 --> 00:54:27,760
And you know, the idea is you're going to go, oh, look, I'm on this beach someplace
941
00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:29,160
because we have a coconut dessert.
942
00:54:29,160 --> 00:54:32,760
And like, you know, just, we want to give people an experience.
943
00:54:32,760 --> 00:54:35,760
Well, it certainly sounds like you've accomplished that.
944
00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:40,360
You know, Richard were running low on time here and you already went ahead and answered
945
00:54:40,360 --> 00:54:45,040
the last question I had prepared, which was, what do you think the importance of food within
946
00:54:45,040 --> 00:54:48,680
culture and why it's important to preserve that aspect of culture?
947
00:54:48,680 --> 00:54:51,440
You know, you pretty much just hit the nail on the head right there.
948
00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:55,920
But you know, I want to tell you again, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
949
00:54:55,920 --> 00:54:56,920
I know you're a busy guy.
950
00:54:56,920 --> 00:54:58,600
You got a lot of projects going.
951
00:54:58,600 --> 00:55:00,480
It was cool hearing about those.
952
00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:04,200
And definitely Fuego's on my list when I returned to Zagreb in a month.
953
00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:05,720
Yeah, I will for sure.
954
00:55:05,720 --> 00:55:08,320
Yeah, what part of, what part of Croatia are you in by the way?
955
00:55:08,320 --> 00:55:10,160
Right now I'm in Makarskana for the summer.
956
00:55:10,160 --> 00:55:11,160
Okay.
957
00:55:11,160 --> 00:55:12,160
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
958
00:55:12,160 --> 00:55:13,160
Nice.
959
00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:14,160
Jealous.
960
00:55:14,160 --> 00:55:15,920
See, that's the one thing I got to tell you is like when I, when I hear about everybody
961
00:55:15,920 --> 00:55:16,920
going, oh, you them no more.
962
00:55:16,920 --> 00:55:18,760
They're like, oh, you suck.
963
00:55:18,760 --> 00:55:23,320
So I'm going to, I'm actually going to pool this weekend.
964
00:55:23,320 --> 00:55:26,360
So yeah, I've got a little project.
965
00:55:26,360 --> 00:55:28,000
We're doing a gypsy table at the end of the month.
966
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:30,200
So I'm doing some additional scouting and all that stuff.
967
00:55:30,200 --> 00:55:33,080
So yeah, but okay, cool.
968
00:55:33,080 --> 00:55:36,480
Well, I'll definitely have to drop some links in the podcast to all your, you know, different
969
00:55:36,480 --> 00:55:38,080
projects so people can find you.
970
00:55:38,080 --> 00:55:40,800
And thank you again, Richard, for coming on the podcast.
971
00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:41,800
Well, thank you for having me.
972
00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:42,800
It's been a pleasure.
973
00:55:42,800 --> 00:55:48,920
And like I said, anything that I can do to reinforce how amazing Croatia is, it's, it's
974
00:55:48,920 --> 00:55:51,880
an important thing.
975
00:55:51,880 --> 00:55:55,360
That's it for today's episode of the All Things Croatia podcast.
976
00:55:55,360 --> 00:55:56,360
Thanks for tuning in.
977
00:55:56,360 --> 00:55:57,760
And I hope you all enjoyed it.
978
00:55:57,760 --> 00:56:01,840
You can subscribe to the Patreon and check out the All Things Croatia Instagram page
979
00:56:01,840 --> 00:56:03,360
to stay updated.
980
00:56:03,360 --> 00:56:07,840
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, tips or ideas and make sure to tune back into
981
00:56:07,840 --> 00:56:09,360
the next episode.
982
00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:28,320
Thanks again and vide most it.