Chef Ulrich in Action in Guadalajara, Mexico
My first visit to Mexico was with my wife Nazarine in 1979, we stayed in Mexico DF at the Sheraton Hotel. From there a chauffeur was driving us to several sightseeing locations. The Pyramids were the most impressive parts of the trip, then there was the Donkey in front of the convenience store where we stopped the get a drink on the way; the chauffeur told us to make sure to buy a beer for the Donkey as well, so we did, we went outside and pointed the beer bottle towards the Donkey which grabbed the bottle by its neck and gobbled it down within a few seconds. The Shop owner laughing his ass off inside the store for the business the Donkey creates drinking beer all day!🤣 There was a huge pile of empty bottles in front of the Donkey!
The Versatile Cactus & the best Tequila
From there we drove through a desert-like area into a small village with native-looking people, there was this guy showing us what can be utilized and done with a Branch of a Cactus!
He pulled one of the spikes of the branch, which was just like a needle, and along with it came a long thread, the length of the Cactus Branch, which he then used for sewing together some leather parts for a jacket.
Then he skinned off some part of the branch on the inside of it and dried it in the sun until it was like parchment or paper. The rest of the branch then is used to produce a Tequila called Las Trancas, I am not a Tequila connoisseur but that stuff was unbelievable, it was like drinking a smooth, 100-year-old cognac, brewed by a small family-owned brewery with a very limited amount of production, the hand-blown bottles were very unique and rough looking.
The Famous Pyramids and Great Food
On the way to the Pyramids, we witnessed a less pleasant sight, driving on the highway outside of Mexico DF we saw a dead body laying on the side of the road, thinking that it was possibly just a drunk or a homeless person, we didn’t pay any more attention to it until we drove back many hours later that day and saw the same body still lying in the same spot as earlier in the day. The chauffeur told us that was nothing unusual around here! I guess maybe he forgot to pay his dues to El Chapo!😄
Well, just a couple of days ago I finished watching the Netflix Series El Chapo and it suddenly dawned on me, that our visit was during Chapo’s heydays so it probably was one of his enemies laying in the street…!??lol
The next day we went to a restaurant by a famous Mexican chef, Patricia Jinich, an award-winning Mexican chef and TV personality, the food was absolutely fantastic!
My visits to Guadalajara years later (1994 – 1997)
The visits to Guadalajara were strictly business but I fell in love with Mexico, its people, and the food!
As Vice President of Food & Beverage Operations for Picasso International and First Equity Management Corp. of Florida, it was my job to establish the food and beverage concept for the company and implement them in all the franchise-operated locations of which Guadalajara was the first one to open.
Months before the opening I had the chance to visit several zones or zonas of Mexico, during the search for local artisans to reproduce our Picasso ceramic products for the theme restaurants and boutiques. I have never met so many talented people in one place, when you watch the video contained in this blog you will see some of the Mexican artisan-produced products.
Chef Bryan Ogle, Executive Chef Daniel Correa, and I started the hiring process, implementing menu and training standards for the opening of the first unit in Guadalajara.
The restaurant was an Homage to the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and looked like a museum with his artifacts and everything he ever put his hands on from jewelry, clothing, ceramics, and of course paintings.
Everything was for sale in the boutique located in the lobby of the restaurant.
Chilaquiles and Pineapple Tepache
In the kitchen
I had some really talented staff members like Felix the pastry chef who produced some nice cakes for special events, the cooks grasped the idea of my menu items and recipes rather quickly. A memorable day was when partner Lucien came in to see how we were proceeding, and at that time it just so happened that the Executive Chef finished up making a big bowl of hot pepper chili sauce, Lucien asked him if that was Strawberry Couli? to which Daniel said “yes I just finished it” so Lucien dipped his middle finger into the bowl to taste it, and right away his face turned as a red as hot chili pepper, choking and coughing as the pepper sauce burned his mouth & throat! He called the chef a few unhealthy names and will probably never put his fingers in another bowl without making sure beforehand of its contents!!
Another unforgettable incident
was when I came on a routine trip to follow up on quality control and standards, I usually made it a point to eat in the dining room in order to see and taste the food, one day, however, I decided to eat with the staff in the cafeteria downstairs, the menu that day was Chilaquiles, and Fermented Pineapple Tepache juice, plus salad.
The pineapple juice is made with the peelings of the pineapple, sugar, and water and then fermented for at least a week, the Chilaquiles were made of tortilla chips, queso fresco, mole, and salsa, it’s basically something like Mexican lasagna, it all tasted great but the next day I was sick as a dog and couldn’t move for 5 days, sitting in my hotel room a friend of mine had to bring me some medicine and eventually some food so I could make it back to Miami. I don’t know if it was the Tepache or the Chilaquiles that didn’t agree with me, but I decided to stay away from the staff cafeteria after that!
Earthquakes
After I was able to finally travel again I went downstairs to the hotel lobby in order to checkout, as I stood in front of the desk I saw the huge mirror hanging behind the front desk clerk swinging back and forth! Suddenly everyone around me started to run towards the exit…holy crap it’s an Earthquake!! Running onto the street I felt the ground shaking for several seconds.
Another unforgettable incident happened two months before during the setting up of the kitchen, I was running around the kitchen wearing clogs on that perfectly white, smooth tile floor when I slipped on a wet spot and broke my heel, needless to say, that was the end of that trip, back to Miami in a wheelchair!
Mexico DF, The Commissary,
13 Outlets, and my National TV debut
After the opening of Cafe Pablo Picasso in Guadalajara, the next project was to convert 13 units of a restaurant chain that belonged to the owner of the Picasso Franchise in Mexico, the concept had to be changed from the name “Freedays” to the new name of “Freedom”, meaning the entire concept including the decor and the menus had to be converted away from Freedays which was too similar of the US-based TGIFridaWorking out of a commissary kitchen in Mexico City together with a team of 4 chefs from Miami we changed the menus of 13 units in 5 different zones of Mexico within a 3 week period. Each Chef from the selected restaurants, 3-4 at a time, came to the commissary to learn about the new menus, and then on a specific date & time, 3 trucks left the commissary early in the morning with the prepared, new basic menu items such as sauces, soups, dressings, composed salads, and basic dessert ingredients, etc. The Head Chefs of each of the 13 units were ready and waiting for us to implement the new menu with our help. The dining room decor concept was already changed ahead of time.
The home base for my Team was an apartment in the Zona Rosa district in Mexico DF, and they most likely have their own stories to tell, I am sure!
My debut on Mexican National TV,
was through a commercial announcing the opening and change of the new concept in collaboration with our US-based Management Company, it was nice to be recognized on the street by some people who saw the commercial the day before on TV.
Mexico City is a vibrant, cosmopolitan, and exciting city
I had a great time during my time there. I also had a chance to eat at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Mexico City, I made a reservation a week ahead to get a seat for myself, but my table was in the middle of a completely packed dining room! Across from me was a table of four women dining and they constantly looked over to my table, finally one of them decided to come up to my table to invite me to sit with them, I guess they felt sorry for me being all by myself! Of course, I declined politely and told her I appreciated the offer. Who knows what would have happened if I accepted the offer?! Anyway, I was not impressed with the food as I don’t remember what I had that evening, meaning it couldn’t have been that great otherwise I would remember what I had, or maybe it was the 4 beautiful Mexican women that clouded my memory!
Up until today, I am still in contact with staff members from Mexico and Santo Domingo (my other home for almost 5 years prior to Mexico) and it is great to see them and their families so many years later, thank God for Facebook and Social Networks
